Can we talk about the wrong way to stake a castle nut

I've seen three different ARs from a local range come in this month with the castle nut staked with a single, shallow punch mark. That's not enough to keep it from backing off under recoil, and it's a safety issue. How do you guys make sure your staking is solid enough to hold?

2 comments

2 Comments

miller.tara1mo ago

Remember seeing a guy at a class who staked his nut with what looked like a center punch, just one tiny dimple. He argued it was fine until his whole buffer tube spun loose during a drill. The instructor made him redo it with proper stakes in two places, deep enough you could catch a fingernail on them. That visual stuck with me, so now I always check for that solid bite.

troymorgan1mo ago

My first build had stakes so light you could buff them out with a thumb, @miller.tara. Learned that lesson the hard way too.