Seekins rail loose

[seez52]

Just got my upper from DSG Arms that I ordered on black Friday. Looks really nice and fits up good to my lower. I actually just finished putting it all together. The issue I'm finding is that the free float handguard/rail seems loose. The torx screws holding the actual rail are tight, but the whole assembly wiggles back and forth pretty easily. Looks like the barrel nut isn't tight enough. I know it has to be timed up with the gas tube, but it just doesn't seem to be very tight at all. Are there supposed to be shims under the nut so that it can be tight and timed?

 

 

[Shorty]

Which Seekins rail do you have? My MCRS went on so tight I could probably run it without the torx screws. The anti-rotation tabs hold it on tight. Is the barrel nut torqued sufficiently? The nut should have a series of holes that line up for the gas tube once it's torqued close to spec.

[seez52]

I think the bbl nut not being torqued down properly is the issue. I can look down the hand guard wiggle it and see that its the nut moving.

Sent a note to DSG this morning and got a quick reply saying they were sending a replacement complete upper out today along with a return tag for my existing one. Got a shipping confirmation a little later. Hard to beat that kind of customer service.

[rugerla1]

I think the bbl nut not being torqued down properly is the issue. I can look down the hand guard wiggle it and see that its the nut moving.

Sent a note to DSG this morning and got a quick reply saying they were sending a replacement complete upper out today along with a return tag for my existing one. Got a shipping confirmation a little later. Hard to beat that kind of customer service.

Yeah, unfortunate that it happened but nice that they jumped right on correcting it! 

[seez52]

My luck I guess, but the replacement upper had the exact same issue. I really couldn't believe it. I've not assembled an upper before but figured now is the time to dive in. Pulled the replacement upper rail off and right off I can see the barrel nut is finger tight. Pulled the gas tube and it's got 4 shims and the gas tube is in the last hole of one section of three. They use an aluminum nut with four sets of three holes for gas tube alignment. Figuring there's no way to tight this up to the next set of holes, I break down the other upper. Gas tube is in the first hole of the three so this looks more promising. It has only one shim.

 

Apparently with the alum nut you're not supposed to put more than about 30 ft.lbs when tightening. Basically hand tight then crank it down to the next mark/hole. Don't have a nut wrench, but thinking 30 ft. is not all that much if I use a pair of channel locks and piece of leather. Seemed to work great. Nut is nice and tight and the wobble is completely gone. I guess they are just trying to turn these out so fast they are not paying much attention to stuff like this. Got it all back together and all that's left is a trip to the range. I did swap out the muzzle brake with the one I got off Amazon. Anxious to see how it works. Will return the replacement upper on Monday.

 

BTW, it measures out to 26.25 inches so I may try a VFG. :up:

Edited February 1, 2015 by seez52

[rugerla1]

You'd think they would have made sure the 2nd one was right for sure. Glad you got it fixed though, looks sweet!!