[tedzhou]

I took off the barrel and cooked the flash hider end of barrel in boil water for 15mins. Used a vise to secure it and the flash hider comes right off.

 

[SiCO]

I applied ~25 seconds of even heat from a blow torch around the base of the OEM flash hider and it came off like butter. I didn't even have the barrel in a vice it came of very easily.

 

[thehun]

For the life of me. I cannot get my 20S oem hider off.

Applied torch heat for 30-40sec...nothing.

My old 20S barrel hider came right off but FN got me a new barrel due to chrome plating flaking off inside the gas block...and this new barrel is being difficult.

 

[archmark]

For the life of me. I cannot get my 20S oem hider off.

Applied torch heat for 30-40sec...nothing.

My old 20S barrel hider came right off but FN got me a new barrel due to chrome plating flaking off inside the gas block...and this new barrel is being difficult.

Soak it with AEROKROIL, muzzle down, overnight. That will do it. Oh yeah, remember "Lefty Loosey, Righty Tighty" too...

 

[thehun]

I ordered a three prong removal tool. Let’s hope it helps.

 

[archmark]

I ordered a three prong removal tool. Let’s hope it helps.

Where'd you find one of those? Sounds expensive & specialized...

 

[thehun]

Naw. $10 bucks from Thordsen....

 

[SeaMac]

3 Pronged Flash Hider Wrench

This 3 Pronged Flash Hider Wrench fits in the nose of a 3 Pronged Flash Hider (Such as our SKU# 5044) making it the perfect installation tool for installing our BD-180 in combination with the 3 Prong Flash Hider. Made from 41-40 Steel Forged from chrom

www.thordsencustoms.com

 

[thehun]

Yup...thats it...read somewhere that is the tool they used to remove the factory 3-prong from a 13" CQC SCAR 17 barrel....

 

[dmwscar]

Thanks for the heads up on the flash hider wrench! I've been looking for one! I just placed an order for one for my 20S!

 

[thehun]

Anytime...the true credit goes to the user on the Hide for mentioning it.

 

[akitainu]

I have the AAC Blackout 3 prong tool and it made quick work of the FN flash hider on my FN-15 Tactical (the same one that's on the SCAR SBR barrels and the earlier 20s). I wish I would have had it when I did the 16 and 17 SBR barrels. I hit those with PB Blaster and let them sit overnight. I just about popped a blood vessel in my temple, but they came off.

I'm fairly sure that FN employs an actual mountain gorilla to apply the flash hiders.

 

[thehun]

Couldnt remove the flash hider with a 3-prong tool and 18" breaker bar either...off to the smith...he had to use a barrel vise and a 3ft action wrench...FN for REAAAAAL...WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

No evidence of loctite or rocksett or any other adhesives...just gorilla torque

The hider squares off at the crown so it isn't spreading the threads...but for real...

 

[archmark]

I'm still fighting trying to get the crush washer off of my 20S 6.5 Creedmoor. Tried all the suggestions here and on Youtube with no success. Tomorrow I'll try heating it up and see if it expands enough to pull straight off or at least get it up far enough to engage a barrel thread and twist it off with a pipe wrench. As it is now, it freely rotates but is so close to the barrel shoulder below that there isn't even enough room to work a very thin blade flat screw driver in between the shoulder and the back of the crush washer. Even if you could, I'm pretty sure that the blade would snap off immediately on trying to work it up or down.

Worse come to worse I've considered placing the barrel muzzle end up in a vice, wrapping the threads well with tape or slip a plastic/rubber tube over the threads and then very slowly have at the muzzle end of the crush washer with a hack saw with a very fine pitch steel cutting blade going ever so slowly. I have a Dremel tool that would make fast work of it but I definitely don't have a steady enough hand to not screw everything up with the Dremel. How in the hell FN first installed the crush washer is beyond me. I've got to believe it was heated and then installed as there's no evidence whatsoever that it was screwed on the barrel threads prior to installing the Surefire Pro muzzle brake.

I'll happily entertain any ideas that those way smarter than I am and/or any machinist's on the forum might have. I've got a Surefire shoulder ring coming from PMM in a few days and then I'll be installing a YHM 4302 5/8x24 QD flash hider and a YHM Resonator R2 .30 cal suppressor. Like everything in life, it's the smallest things that are the most irritating and frustrating. I'm damn tired of wasting an unknown number of hours each night analyzing how to remove this *** thing instead of getting my much needed beauty sleep.

I feel much better now that I've vented. Thanks for reading and any suggestions other than sawing off the barrel and having it rethreaded will be VERY appreciated. Anybody that can solve this conundrum (relatively easily) can surely cure cancer...

 

[HK SD9 Tactical]

I don't have a 20S but if you are having trouble with the crush washer, it seems to me that after FN placed the crush washer on the barrel then torqued down the flash hider, it crushed the washer enough that it no longer will slide off the barrel threads because the opening has been made smaller. Are there actual threads that the crush washer sits on or is there an area behind the threads that the crush washer sits in? Can't say it enough times, a picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[archmark]

I don't have a 20S but if you are having trouble with the crush washer, it seems to me that after FN placed the crush washer on the barrel then torqued down the flash hider, it crushed the washer enough that it no longer will slide off the barrel threads because the opening has been made smaller. Are there actual threads that the crush washer sits on or is there an area behind the threads that the crush washer sits in? Can't say it enough times, a picture is worth a thousand words.

The crush washer is resting on the shoulder of the barrel below the last muzzle thread. Spins freely but cannot be "tilted" even 1 RCH. Instead of a hack saw, what about a coping saw or a jeweler'

s saw? Are they made for cutting steel, even "soft" steel as the crush washer is described (that's bullshit as you can see what my nippers did to it)? I figure a coping or jeweler's saw would be easier and more precise to control...

 

[archmark]

The crush washer is resting on the shoulder of the barrel below the last muzzle thread. Spins freely but cannot be "tilted" even 1 RCH. Instead of a hack saw, what about a coping saw or a jeweler' View attachment 138570 View attachment 138570 s saw? Are they made for cutting steel, even "soft" steel as the crush washer is described (that's bullshit as you can see what my nippers did to it)? I figure a coping or jeweler's saw would be easier and more precise to control...

 

[archmark]

Did I Mention That This Whole *** Thing REALLY PISSES ME OFF??? ** FN!!! They should include include a free gunsmith with every * rifle they sell!!!!!!!

 

[HK SD9 Tactical]

Well, I agree you are going to have to cut it. Best tool to use is the question. A very fine tooth metal saw blade or Dremmel cut disk. Be very careful though. If you are not 100% confident, use a gunsmith.

You should only have to cut once and use a screwdriver to split the washer enough to remove it.

 

[archmark]

Well, I agree you are going to have to cut it. Best tool to use is the question. A very fine tooth metal saw blade or Dremmel cut disk. Be very careful though. If you are not 100% confident, use a gunsmith.

You should only have to cut once and use a screwdriver to split the washer enough to remove it.

Yep, that's what I figured. No Dremel for me, my hands shake like a dog trying to crap a peach seed! A fine tooth blade in either a hacksaw or a jeweler's or coping saw if they make one for such things. I get more pissed every time I look at that *** thing. An inanimate object is trying to get the best of me!!! Again, **** FN!!!