Handguard Install

[Silver]

I haven't gotten the nerve to do more to my rifles than add optics, field strip, and clean but  I'm now looking to add a Geissele trigger and free float handguard to my M&P 10. 

After watching a few videos, I'm comfortable with modding the trigger and plan on doing it myself but a little uncertain on the handguard.  I'm pretty mechanically inclined but a gun is a precision machine and I don't currently have the proper tools (barrel nut wrench, torque wrench, punches, and whatever else) so...

What I'm wondering is:
1.  Is the swap fairly stupid proof (basically remove current handguards, remove gas tube/block, remove barrel nut, reinstall w/new parts) so it'd be hard to break something?
2.  Is the amount of money I'd spend on a gunsmith to install the handguards greater/lesser than the money I'd spend on the tools to do it myself?
3.  Who would you recommend in the Sarpy County area to do a swap and what's your guesstimate on the cost?

Thanks in advance.

[JAK]

Changing handguards is fairly simple, if you have the tools.

Only thing that can cause breakage is if you attempt to take out the taper pins holding the gas block on the wrong direction.

The process is as you described,

Most handguards will come with a new barrel nut and the wrench to install it.

Tools needed are,
punches - taper pins, gas tube
torque wrench
Vise
Receiver clamp/mount

If you look on line there are multiple sources for these,

John K

I do not know what a gunsmith would charge, I have always done it myself.

John K

[Waltherfan]

Silver,

I too was looking at videos on replacing handguards last night. I only looked at two but they pretty much convinced me to have someone that knows what they are doing do it for me.

One video was by someone with barely more knowledge than me and he had a lot of difficulty (muscle wise). He also didn't have the proper tools.

The other one was by Brownell. He had all the proper tools (from Brownell of course) and he didn't make it look as easy as I would have liked. Perhaps that's because I don't have a lot of faith in my own mechanical ability and, like you, I don't want to screw up a rifle.

If you were planning on replacing several handguards or removing one several times, it would be worth investing in the proper tools. If not, IMHO, I'd have someone else do it.

[shooter]

If you need I can switch the handguards for you

[Silver]

Thanks for the responses and thanks for the offer Shooter.  I may just take you up on it.  Need to get my tax "refund" figured out first and then order the parts.

I'm kind of thinking along the lines of Walther.  Do I invest in the tools?  While I am not doing enough at the moment to warrant the purchase of tools, the possibility exists that I might have use for them in the future so investing now may not be bad.  Not sure how sound that logic is.  I don't currently foresee me being a man of many guns.  Famous last words, eh.  But, it never hurts to be ready for the zombie apocalypse and such.

Once I get the stuff Shooter, perhaps we can together and I can repay you with a case of your favorite beer or some rounds for the range.

[RobertH]

i don't like the A2 front sights, so all of my barrels are "free floating".  the have a lo profile gas block with a free float handguard over it.  getting out tapered pins can be a pain.  that's why i just buy a barrel, gas block and tube.  but then again, i assemble AR's, i don't buy off the shelf.

[Silver]

So I manned up and bought the tools.  Those pins are indeed a damn pain.

I ended up floating both the AR-10 and AR-15 as well as putting in Geissele triggers in both (AR-10 SSAE, AR-15 SSA)

I've got everything installed and took the rifles to the range.  The Colt AR-15 was a champ.  The S&W AR-10, not so much.

I've had problems with FTF on it before but drowning it in oil and giving it a good cleaning seemed to fix the problem.

After the handguard swap which included a new low profile gas block, it decided to go into blot action mode.  I used 5 different round types (fired 3 of each type) and none of them would feed the next round or only partially fed the next round (2 instances of this happening).

Reading up on the subject for the specific rifle, there was no consensus on the issue.  Some folks said just put on a bunch of oil.  Others said it's simply a matter of breaking it in with a couple hundred rounds (which is about where the rifle is right now.  Another group said that the port on the M&P 10 is significantly smaller port in the gas tube than other AR-10s. 

Their solution was to open up the port or install a new gas tube.  It seems that the M&P 10 gas tube is proprietary (a bit longer or shorter than the rest) but an Armalite carbine length gas tube is close enough.  So I installed one tonight and am anxious to get out and do a function check.

Got some questions on the use of the adjustable gas block but will start a new thread for that.

That said, I wanted to thank Shooter for the offer to help with the handguards.  Kind of glad I did it on my own because it's been a serious confidence builder though I missed out on the chance to meet another member.  Probably an indicator that I need to get my butt out to one of the meetups.

[Waltherfan]

I took the easier way out. I bought an AR with a free floating handguard like I wanted. It cost more up front but I'd have basically paid for a handguard I didn't want and then bought a different one and either have it installed or do it myself.
Glad yours worked out. 

[Silver]

I think I'm set on ARs for now but if I ever do buy another, I think I'm going to go the build it yourself route and get mostly what I want the first time around.