Forum,

I'm a proud owner of an AR10A2, shoots well, but don't feel so good about Armalite!

I tried to order the Barrel wrench, Front sight alignment tool, and Armorer's tool, but all items are out of stock, with a 60 day lead time.

Any suggestions where these tools can be purchased elsewhere?

thanks,
MikeF

Here's a few tips:
Order a a birdcage flash hider from Armalite ($23.00). Have your gunsmith turn off that horrid muzzlebrake that came with the rifle. Then have him thread the muzzle for the flash hider.
Before you put on the flash hider, drive out the pins and take the front sight assembly off. Throw it away. Put on a new clamp on style front sight base. I use the ones with the Picatinny rail on them so I can use either a clamp on detachable front sight or a flip up front sight. You can rotate the clamp on base so that the rifle is zeroed at 300 yards with the rear sight centered. Much easier. the sight alignment tool is a waste of money.
If you want to pull the barrel you will need the barrel wrench. Try DPMS and Bushmaster. They both make a variant of the AR-10 and should have barrel wrenches in stock.
Pull out the stock trigger and replace it with a Rock River Arms Two Stage Match Trigger. You can get those from White Oak Armament already tuned. SSWWWEEEEEEETTTT!
Armalite is always back ordered and one step ahead of their creditors. Just the way it is.
If you get jammed up I can lend you a barrel wrench for a few days. John Noveske http://www.jnrifleworks.com/ does a lot of work on AR-10's. He could tweak the shit out of yours. One of the best AR-10 smiths in the country is John Holliger at http://www.whiteoakprecision.com/
He likewise can make your rifle scream.
the problem with taking off and installing barrels on AR-10s is that you need a jig to hold the upper reciever so you don't bend it when you are cranking on the barrel wrench.
AR-10s rule!
lawndart

Lawndart,

You gave me some advise earlier about zeroing my front sight, which I will implement.

I was trying to order the tools to complement my hardware. Without tools, its like buying a car without a spare tire.

I've lapped and polished my triggers on my bolt action rifles with good results, will lapping and polishing the trigger on the AR10 approach the results of a two stage national match trigger? My trigger feels like sandpaper.

Any reason why the threads for the muzzle break would be different than the falsh suppressor?

The line of reaction[recoil] is much better on this weapon than the M16's I used 38 years ago. I'm looking forward to the day when I get everything thing dialed-in.

Thanks for all of your suggestions.

---
MikeF

Hey,
I was HHC 1/504 1974-1977 as a 91B (medic).

Most of the muzzle brakes were pinned and/or welded on because of the ban. If yours will screw off you are shitting in tall cotton. Just pull it off and slap on a flash suppressor.

Because of the design of the stock two stage military trigger you will never get a decent pull out of it. The RRA is designed right. With every AR I own or work on I throw away the stock trigger and put in a RRA match. Every client says "thank you, thank you, thank you".

I have a very complete AR-10/15 tool kit. I have never felt a need to get a sight alignment tool, especially since the new sights clamp on to the barrel.

The AR-10 is an awesome design.

lawndart

---quote--
Hey,
I was HHC 1/504 1974-1977 as a 91B (medic).
-----
I was with an 11B with A Co, 2/8 Cav(Abn), 1st Air Cav Div, 1965-1966;[Vietnam]
Recon, 1/506(Abn), 101st Abn Div, 1967; and
C Co, 1/508(Abn), 82nd Abn Div, 1968[the Golden Brigade][Vietnam]

I just had a re-union with my people from my first tour in Vietnam, it was sweet. My sqaud leader made seargant major, and my platoon leader made full bird, not bad.

---quote---
Most of the muzzle brakes were pinned and/or welded on because of the ban. If yours will screw off you are shitting in tall cotton. Just pull it off and slap on a flash suppressor.
------
I just bought my A2, it has a screw on flash hider, I'm accustomed to calling it a flash suppressor.

-----quote---
Because of the design of the stock two stage military trigger you will never get a decent pull out of it. The RRA is designed right. With every AR I own or work on I throw away the stock trigger and put in a RRA match. Every client says "thank you, thank you, thank you".
-----
I will take your advise and buy the trigger.

---quote---
I have a very complete AR-10/15 tool kit. I have never felt a need to get a sight alignment tool, especially since the new sights clamp on to the barrel.
----

I will scrap the idea of buying the sight alignment tool.

I was on the 82nd Div rifle team, we had to use service rifles to compete, which was the M16 with a 55 gr bullet. Too bad the AR10's weren't around at that time. We didn't stand a chance beyond 400 meters competing againt the civialians with their M1's and M14's.

---
MikeF

You will just love this rifle.

Sinclair International http://www.sinclairintl.com/
sells some wonderful tools for cleaning the AR-10.
Their bore guide and cleaning cradle make an ugly chore easy, and their chamber brush/handle combination is well thought out.

It is ten times easier to maintain than an M-14/M-1A. You can get at everything to clean it, and there are no bedding issues.

Thanks for your service.

lawndart