So yeah... i broke my AR....Advice wanted

[melkor41]

I had an slightly out of spec trigger guard hole and being my first AR I did not realize that it was supposed to be that hard to get the pin inside. After i flattened the head of the pin a tad I decided to try to get the pin back out and broke off one of the ears next to the grip. I had even rigged up a wood block with a small hole for the pin to back out through to try to support the ears, I guess the stress was just too much for its little aluminum heart

The break was rather clean so I decided to clean it with an alch. swab to get the oils off then a little JB weld. I got it set then let it cure over night and no luck. The JB weld just didnt stick to the aluminum. I took my dremel and my diamond cutting disk and made some tiny "file mark" looking cuts along the edges to give it a spot to bind with, same thing.

I am not much into metal working and I never took shop in middle school. If there something better than JB weld for aluminum? Am I doing something wrong? (other than breaking the rifle in the first place)

I have thought about getting a tiny dremel drill-type tip and drilling a hole into the receiver and one into the ear and trying to epoxy a "pin" in the hole to support it. Perhaps a stright pin or paperclip with the ends cut off.

Ideas? Suggestions?

I saw on another forum where a guy used some sort of double ended female sleave that he stuck into the pin hole and used two torx screws to hold it in place. His wasnt broken, just tired of his working loose. I guess if I can get the ear attached then I could try to work something like that to keep the stress off that ear. I ran a drill bit through the hole and got the burs out and that seems to help the pin quite a bit. Not just gotta get the ears on!


If this gets too crazy I may just cut off both ears and try to fashon something going out from the grip to the other set of ear holes on the magwell or break down and buy another receiver and chalk it up as lesson learned.

I have no intention of using the release pin to shoot with winter gloves.

[dukalmighty]

Only thing i can think of is find somebody that welds aluminum and see what they would charge to weld it up for you,afterwards you will have to do some grinding and fitting then touch up bare aluminum with some cold blue,i don't think anything else would hold up.If guy wants to charge as much as a new lower would cost then i'd opt for a new lower.

[shootthesheet]

That is why I don't build guns or buy used ones where I don't know the owners. Sorry, can't help.

[melkor41]

Eh, its fun and I am not going to stop building it.

I agree on the don't buy stuff that was built if you did not build it. That goes for reloaded ammo, rifles, computers, classic cars, etc.

UPDATE: Looks like the easiest and cleanest thing to do it cut off the other ear, grind it smooth, a little touch up on the exposed metal and install a Magpul MIAD with integrated trigger guard.

Still would like to know if anyone has seen anything that bonds to aluminum better than JB weld.

[Jason73]

You might try this product from Devcon. Its called DEVCON 10610 ALUMINUM-FILLED PUTTY

I dont have any experience with their aluminum putty but I use the stainless steel version at work all the time on everything from broken process equipment to cosmetic work on stainless steel parts I fabricate (think wood putty). I repaired a leaking weld on an 8000 gallon storage tank we use for corrosive liquids 4 years ago with it and its still holding strong. Once it cures its fully machineable too.

Good Luck,

Jason

[Dan20703]

Maybe this would work?

http://www.aladdin3in1.com/products.htm

or this?

http://www.durafix.com/

[propellerhead]

Why not just leave the trigger guard off and always know that it's not there?

[asleepatthereel]

UPDATE: Looks like the easiest and cleanest thing to do it cut off the other ear, grind it smooth, a little touch up on the exposed metal and install a Magpul MIAD with integrated trigger guard.

Still would like to know if anyone has seen anything that bonds to aluminum better than JB weld.

I dont think you are going to find any kind of epoxy that will be reliable, unless there is something new out there. Maybe try a hobby shop or jeweler. Short of that, it would take a highly skilled craftsman to weld it without being ugly. Perhaps you could find a good machinist that could cut it and fabricate something that would work. Good luck.

[propellerhead]

Wow! They have something for everything!

[Tactical_Texan_CHL]

That Magpul MIAD grip looks like your best bet. I checked it out too. It looks like even if you don't grind of the other tab, it would still fit. I haven't seen it in person, but it looks like it's designed to just slip right in between the tabs anyway and not use a pin. That looks like a good solution for you! I wonder if they designed it that way for that very reason? Magpul stuff is good quality. I've got the original M93 carbine stock on my M4 clone and it's a great stock. Hope it works for you, and don't forget to post pics when you're done!!!!!