Flashhider Hexscrew Stripped......

Well yesterday I picked up a A&K m249. First I took off the lower handgaurd and the upper handgaurd and replaced them with a upper and lower ris. While I had the barrel out I switched it to a tightbore and made sure the bucking was in good condition. The extra tightbore I had was a 363 mm barrel and of course then needed to use a mock silencer to cover the extension. So I check and like usual there is a micro hexscrew attaching the flashhider. I find my small hex and after a few pulls wonder if they went to counter clockwise threads. After a few more tugs my hex started spinning and I realized I had stripped the micro screw out.

The first solution I tried was to simple tear the plastic flash hider off. I have tried this a few times and had the whole flashhider break off easily if you can get it splitting down the side. No luck because the base of this plastic flashhider was thicker than other ones I used this trick on and the top, which was thinner than the bottum broke off completely. Now stuck with half a flashhider held on to the outter barrel by a stripper screw I got was lost for a minute on what to do.

First I pulled out my smallest file and a thick workcloth. I put the workcloth next to the flashhider to protect the body and started to file at the spot where the screw was at. Took me about 20 minutes to basically file the screw down to where I could pop it off and then of course the flashhider came off with no difficulties.

This would only really work with a plastic flashhider and if you ever had this problem with a metal flashhider you would be SOL.

They come with plastic flash hiders now?..damn

Plastic flashhiders with bad micro screws as well it would seem.

i have stripped the screw on all of my guns when i try to take off the flash hider and to take it off i heat it up for about 5 minutes or more with a hair dryer and then take a pair of pressure pliers and turn it and it pops right off.

That will work sometimes. I did the boiling water trick, which has never failed me and it did so I had to cut the sucker off. When I got it off it looked like it was kinda slammed on there because the plastic threads were shredded.

that happens sometimes... sometimes they even come melted on...my buddy had his gun and when he was taking off the flash hider he couldn't get it off....when he finally got it off the threads were all melted and so was the metal so he had to buy another outer barrel for it.

Luckily the threads have no damage. I took off the black paint on them when I was sawing off the plastic flashhider, but thanks to taking my time didn't damage the actual thread.