M&P 15 Front Sight removal: At my wits end
First off, I don't live in the US (I'm from central Europe) so AR-15 systems are a bit more 'exotic' here. Secondly, I'm gonna look like an idiot in this story, I know that. Third, if you don't know (Icertainly didn't before I bought the rifle): The pins in an M&P 15 are pressed into an A2 Front Sight block with the hydraulic power of a thousand suns.
So I bought an S&W M&P 15 Sports II about half a year ago, and that's how long I've been struggling to get rid of the front post. No, I'm not joking. Yes, the rolling pins go the opposite way in the M&P 15, I know that. I've been on this project on and off, and it makes no sense to me. I bought heavier and heavier hammers, I got the pin punches (and broke some), and after giving it the strongest hit I could muster, after warming the fucker up with a heat gun, I said fuck it - gun smiths are expensive here, but I'll just pay the price.
Two of them refused to work on it, saying I should rather buy another barrel (which is expensive here) and keep the front post intact because the M&P 15 front posts are a bitch to work on. The third gunsmith is recommended among IPSC shooter, says he's never on thousands of AR-15s but never an M&P 15 (as people who can afford to shoot IPSC here usually can afford non-budget rifles). Says he'll try, but no guarantee.
He tried hammering them out for the good part of 45 minutes. He asks me if I want to keep the front post, I reply that he can destroy it if he has to. He dremels the convex pin end flat so he has more surface area with his punches, one of which breaks. Frustrated, he dremels the metal around the lenght of the front pin (the one closer to the muzzle) off to relieve pressure, tries the heat gun, hits the top of the pin as hard as he can and the pin still doesn't move. Not a milimeter. He hands the barrel back to me and says "good luck, I'm out".
At my own work bench at home, I tried to hammer it out too, but to no success. I'm afraid of using my own dremel to keep trying to cut material off, as I fear I might hit the barrel. I also don't have a metal cutting disk right now, so I would have to wait until I can buy one anyway.
I'm at my wits end. Anybody got any piece of advice? Do I need to find somebody with a hydraulic press? Do I need to dremel the whole fucking thing off? How would I even best approach that (what angle, where)?
First off, I don't live in the US (I'm from central Europe) so AR-15 systems are a bit more 'exotic' here. Secondly, I'm gonna look like an idiot in this story, I know that. Third, if you don't know (Icertainly didn't before I bought the rifle): The pins in an M&P 15 are pressed into an A2 Front Sight block with the hydraulic power of a thousand suns.
So I bought an S&W M&P 15 Sports II about half a year ago, and that's how long I've been struggling to get rid of the front post. No, I'm not joking. Yes, the rolling pins go the opposite way in the M&P 15, I know that. I've been on this project on and off, and it makes no sense to me. I bought heavier and heavier hammers, I got the pin punches (and broke some), and after giving it the strongest hit I could muster, after warming the fucker up with a heat gun, I said fuck it - gun smiths are expensive here, but I'll just pay the price.
Two of them refused to work on it, saying I should rather buy another barrel (which is expensive here) and keep the front post intact because the M&P 15 front posts are a bitch to work on. The third gunsmith is recommended among IPSC shooter, says he's never on thousands of AR-15s but never an M&P 15 (as people who can afford to shoot IPSC here usually can afford non-budget rifles). Says he'll try, but no guarantee.
He tried hammering them out for the good part of 45 minutes. He asks me if I want to keep the front post, I reply that he can destroy it if he has to. He dremels the convex pin end flat so he has more surface area with his punches, one of which breaks. Frustrated, he dremels the metal around the lenght of the front pin (the one closer to the muzzle) off to relieve pressure, tries the heat gun, hits the top of the pin as hard as he can and the pin still doesn't move. Not a milimeter. He hands the barrel back to me and says "good luck, I'm out".
At my own work bench at home, I tried to hammer it out too, but to no success. I'm afraid of using my own dremel to keep trying to cut material off, as I fear I might hit the barrel. I also don't have a metal cutting disk right now, so I would have to wait until I can buy one anyway.
I'm at my wits end. Anybody got any piece of advice? Do I need to find somebody with a hydraulic press? Do I need to dremel the whole fucking thing off? How would I even best approach that (what angle, where)?