Hello, I had a good friend bring his AR to me the other day. It had an aluminum flash hider, that had been pinned and welded. The flash hider is no longer attached to the barrel. It seems that the fellow who pinned and welded it, actually drilled completely through one wall of the barrel. My guess is that the pin fell into the bore and was shot out the barrel at some time and that since that time the erosion and pressure of each shot eventually blew a hole through the flash hider.

I am pondering installing a steel flash hider over the hole..... obviously, I will not put a pin in the hole. Any opinions on whether the steel flash hider will stay intact?? Will I see gas leakage past the threads? Is there some other way to deal with this ??

This gentleman is 86 years old, former Vietnam vet and Leo. He doesn't shoot much but does want to have a functioning AR. If all else fails, I can always just install a new barrel but I'm trying to save a little money BUT not at the risk of being unsafe.

Barrels can be had for pretty cheap. I’d replace the barrel without even thinking of repairing the extra hole in it.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris Orndorff:
I’d replace the barrel without even thinking of repairing the extra hole in it.

I don’t have the experience and expertise that Chris does, but that seems obvious.
If cost is any sort of an issue, for a fellow Vietnam vet contact me and I’ll send you the money for whatever replacement barrel you think is appropriate.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

I don’t have the experience and expertise that Chris does, but that seems obvious.
If cost is any sort of an issue, for a fellow Vietnam vet contact me and I’ll send you the money for whatever replacement barrel you think is appropriate.

Thank you very much for the offer. It's very kind ! (If it comes to that, I'll take care of it ! )

You’re doing the work. That’s the hard part.

How long is he barrel? If the barrel is about 17 inches or more (so the fix remains at or more than 16 inches for a rifle), then the damaged part might be cut off and the barrel recrowned and threaded.