What is with people hacksawing their A2 sights?

[Ronald_55]

Probably not anything new, but lately I have seen a bunch of ARs for sale where someone obviously cut off the A2 front sight instead of just replacing it. On these I see no special customization. Am I  just seeing "bubba'd" ARs that are coming to light after the bandwagon rush buyers get tired of them? Would not be hard to fix if they were not asking more than I can buy a new one for.  Reminds me of seeing a bunch of decent shotguns hacked off when "home defense" shotguns became the rage.

[GoneBallistic]

Most of the time, I think it's someone who wants to put an Eotech or Aimpoint on without changing the gas block. Pretty tacky, if you ask me.

[peejman]

5 minutes ago, GoneBallistic said:

Most of the time, I think it's someone who wants to put an Eotech or Aimpoint on without changing the gas block. Pretty tacky, if you ask me.

Why would one of those sights necessitate cutting off the front sight?

[joe4vol]

If the amateur gunsmith can’t cut the sight without making it look god then there is a good chance he can’t swap a new gas block. 

[GoneBallistic]

29 minutes ago, peejman said:

Why would one of those sights necessitate cutting off the front sight?

The A2 front sight post will show up in some lower profile holographic sights. I've put an Eotech on a rifle with an A2 post before and remember seeing it in the sight picture. I don't recall whether or not it actually prevented the use of the Eotech or not.

[Omega]

Seen a few YouTube videos of doing that, don't recall their reasoning for it though but possibly so they wouldn't have to replace the hand guards to cover the gas block and tube.

[Ronald_55]

Just now, Omega said:

Seen a few YouTube videos of doing that, don't recall their reasoning for it though but possibly so they wouldn't have to replace the hand guards to cover the gas block and tube.

A railed gas block would fix needing to swap hand guards. Of course a low profile one would look better without hand guards covering it than a cut off A2.

10 minutes ago, GoneBallistic said:

The A2 front sight post will show up in some lower profile holographic sights. I've put an Eotech on a rifle with an A2 post before and remember seeing it in the sight picture. I don't recall whether or not it actually prevented the use of the Eotech or not.

You could always set it up to co-witness I guess

[n0rlf]

I have a heard a few discussing this. They do not know how to get them off as there is no screw to use. I think a lot of them do not understand Taper Pins. 

Sad but it is the way of life as with most things. There is always someone that will bubba their way through it. 

 

[gjohnsoniv]

It's a quick, easy,  and cheap way to get a low profile gas block. 

[Ronald_55]

16 minutes ago, gjohnsoniv said:

It's a quick, easy,  and cheap way to get a low profile gas block. 

Makes me immediately start to wonder what else they did to it too though. 

[MP5_Rizzo]

I would not do it but not all of the hack jobs look horribly bad.

[tnhawk]

1 hour ago, Ronald_55 said:

Probably not anything new, but lately I have seen a bunch of ARs for sale where someone obviously cut off the A2 front sight instead of just replacing it. On these I see no special customization. Am I  just seeing "bubba'd" ARs that are coming to light after the bandwagon rush buyers get tired of them? Would not be hard to fix if they were not asking more than I can buy a new one for.  Reminds me of seeing a bunch of decent shotguns hacked off when "home defense" shotguns became the rage.

You can't fix stupid!  I know people who will never be able to use any tool other than a hacksaw or hammer.

[Whisper]

2 hours ago, Omega said:

Seen a few YouTube videos of doing that, don't recall their reasoning for it though but possibly so they wouldn't have to replace the hand guards to cover the gas block and tube.

I did this once, back in the late 1980s, on an HBAR that I wanted to make a dedicated optics gun.  Some of you are too young to remember, but in those days we didn't have the variety of low-profile gas blocks that are available now for AR builders.  My modified HBAR gas block looked pretty much like the one that MP5_Rizzo has posted.  Years later, when I converted the gun to a free-floater, low-profile blocks were plentiful, and I installed one of them.

Cheers,
Whisper

[Ronald_55]

43 minutes ago, Whisper said:

I did this once, back in the late 1980s, on an HBAR that I wanted to make a dedicated optics gun.  Some of you are too young to remember, but in those days we didn't have the variety of low-profile gas blocks that are available now for AR builders.  My modified HBAR gas block looked pretty much like the one that MP5_Rizzo has posted.  Years later, when I converted the gun to a free-floater, low-profile blocks were plentiful, and I installed one of them.

Cheers,
Whisper

I thought you guys only had clubs back then 

[Oh Shoot]

7 hours ago, gjohnsoniv said:

It's a quick, easy,  and cheap way to get a low profile gas block. 

Yeah, it's a viable way to go if you're going to change to a free-float handguard that needs to cover it. Especially since so many of the ones with set screws or even bolts come loose, which ain't a worry with the existing pinned one.

But leaving it visible has always seemed kinda tacky, even if well "finished".

- OS

[peejman]

8 hours ago, Ronald_55 said:

A railed gas block would fix needing to swap hand guards. Of course a low profile one would look better without hand guards covering it than a cut off A2.

You could always set it up to co-witness I guess

I thought co-witness was the whole reason those optics are that height. I guess I could understand if you were using a traditional scope, but I was under the impression you were supposed to see the front sight in a red dot.

[gjohnsoniv]

2 hours ago, Oh Shoot said:

Yeah, it's a viable way to go if you're going to change to a free-float handguard that needs to cover it. Especially since so many of the ones with set screws or even bolts come loose, which ain't a worry with the existing pinned one.

But leaving it visible has always seemed kinda tacky, even if well "finished".

- OS

Agreed on point 2. Don't get why people do that, or manufacturers for that matter. 

[No_0ne]

10 hours ago, gjohnsoniv said:

It's a quick, easy,  and cheap way to get a low profile gas block. 

... as quoted from the infamous "Bubba" Johnson ...

[gjohnsoniv]

5 minutes ago, No_0ne said:

... as quoted from the infamous "Bubba" Johnson ...

Careful, or one of your Mosins might get the "Bubba Johnson" treatments. 

[Dolomite_supafly]

I've done it and dare I say you would be hard pressed to find a more minimalistic gas block than one cut off. Also, it is pinned so there is no chance of it working loose like a gas block held on with screws.

[Garufa]

Having removed an A2 sight assembly/gas block the proper way I understand why Bubba reaches for the saw or Dremel.  If done right, a saw job is not that bad from a looks standpoint, but Bubba does not have have a phosphorus finishing tank.

[Chucktshoes]

I’ve done it as well. It was on a rifle I still have, have no intention of selling. I didn’t want to disturb a reliable, well functioning gas system and needed a very low profile to fit under a very narrow handguard. While a close inspection would reveal the difference in finish, the cold blue I used has kept it corrosion free for going on 5 years or so. I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again if appropriate for the job at hand. That’s the real problem with the bubbas of the world, determining when it’s appropriate to do something and then doing it well. 

[SWCUMBERLAND]

On 1/26/2018 at 5:19 AM, Ronald_55 said:

Probably not anything new, but lately I have seen a bunch of ARs for sale where someone obviously cut off the A2 front sight instead of just replacing it. On these I see no special customization. Am I  just seeing "bubba'd" ARs that are coming to light after the bandwagon rush buyers get tired of them? Would not be hard to fix if they were not asking more than I can buy a new one for.  Reminds me of seeing a bunch of decent shotguns hacked off when "home defense" shotguns became the rage.

Part and parcel of why, when I was selling firearms, I strongly recommended that the folks buying long barreled shottys for HD go to the manufacturerer's website and buy shorter "drop-in" barrels instead of cutting them back, or at the least find a reasonably skilled gunsmith to do the job.

As my intro to the AR family started  with M-16a1's and -a2's,  I'm perfectly comfortable with the stock iron sights. I've no problem with my AR-7's sight set either.

 

SWC a/k/a KI7CIL

[orientalexpress]

I did it to a carbine gas system that I put a longer FF handguard on. The main reason is because the barrel wasn’t parkerized where they drilled the holes for the pins. I figured it would be better to have the pins in there not exposing the bare metal to air. Also as someone mentioned its never going to work loose like a set screw could. I just hit it with some gun blue, then painted it exhaust header paint.  You weren’t going to see it so it didn’t have to be pretty.   

[A.J. Holst]

Never occurred to me that anyone would do this...have an AR type, I am as low speed and under the radar with my long guns as with my handguns.

Doing it for the legitimate reasons mentioned make sense. Having done a minor mod to a rail, some kind of finish does make a difference.

You may want to reconsider chopping it off because you don't know how to swap out, are not aware low profile blocks exist or your closest gun buddies are as ignorant as you.

Don't know how? YouTube? LGS? TGO?

I'd start with TGO