Correct way to Pin a Muzzle brake.

[bonkers1919]

I am guilty of watching You Tube videos concerning pinning muzzle brakes. Now I need expert's to chime in on the best way to pin a muzzle brake.

Most You Tube video's show drilling a small hole, place a screw in to pin it and then weld the screw and file the weld smooth.

I have my own list of the benefits and drawbacks of welding a muzzle brake. Anyone have thoughts an advice to share about pinning the muzzle brake?

 

[duffman0286]

well pinning is intended to be permanent therefore the method isnt as important as the end result..... however some of the better practices i have seen envolve pinning a hardened 1/8 or large pin (broken drills bits work well) and puddling over them (remember the rules are blind pinned and welded) you shouldnt be able to locate the pin after grinding if you chose to do so ..... (there is no requirement that the pin as to be threaded its just a practice some use to insure a good tight install... however keep in mind the you shouldnt be able to twist off your muzzle device (imagine if you tried to force off your device with tools so try to keep in mind the hardness of your pin and torque you muzzle device properly prior to install) remember that high temp silver solder is a long time approved/accepted method as well and its a a little more forgiving if you for whatever reason remove it at a later time

 

[TheARfan]

Why pin it? Are you worried about it coming loose?

 

[1911ly]

Why pin it? Are you worried about it coming loose?

It's common practice to pin/weld a muzzle brake on a 14.5 inch barrel to make it a legal length for a rifle.

 

[Hop]

I've done one. Silver solder takes a LOT of heat even with paste. You'll need to get the parts glowing orange hot to melt the solder into the threads. I gave up and went with a blind pin. Much easier IMO. I used a cut drill bit as a pin. Welding with a gas MIG was way easier than I thought it would be.

Two minor issues...
The heat from welding took the springiness out of my crush washer and the hole in the barrel for my pin was just slightly too big. This left my bc1.5 a tiny bit of slack.