Ar15 barrel nut removal

[Handsome Rob]

Long story short, I need to remove the delta ring from my AR tomorrow, Sunday at the latest & I don't own an armorer's tool, nor do I have the desire to buy one.

A: Anyone in Tullahoma have one I could borrow for literally 20 minutes? or

B: Is there a makeshift alternative/Obama rigged option I could use?

All I'm doing is switching my magpul handguard for a budget free-float job....I can't imagine I'll ever use it twice!

[Handsome Rob]

Bump. Sorry, replied to another post & this is kinda urgent-er! 

[Garufa]

Is it a true free-float rail or one of those bolt-on jobs that uses the original barrel nut sans delta ring?  If the latter, I believe you can just dremel the ring off.

[Handsome Rob]

No, it's a true free float. Comes with it's own barrel nut. Not one of the handy clamp styles either.....

[walthermitty]

I'm 68, and I can get a delta ring moved enough to remove the handguard, with my bare hands.  You may not be holding your tongue right?  The free float conversion is one the best things you can do for mil spec A2 design.  Are you using the JP Rifle kit?

Edited March 23, 2019 by walthermitty

[Handsome Rob]

Sorry, I think I'm using the wrong words....

I meant barrel nut, not delta ring! 

[Fourtyfive]

I was wondering about that but keeping my mouth shut....

[joe4vol]

Obama-rigged. I am going to steal that phrase. 

[mikegideon]

The bigger challenge is holding the Upper without dinking it up. If you don't have a vice block, or some of the newer hardware like a reaction rod, then you risk twisting the upper receiver. If you are gonna throw the barrel nut away. then you can get by with a pipe wrench. Should be able to get enough bite by shoving the delta ring back, just like you would with an armorer's tool. You gotta get the gas tube out of there first, of course.