Can I bake my M1014 receiver?

[Penguin81]

I’ve been trying to remove the recoil tube on my M1014 receiver for about two weeks now and I’m not having any luck. Part of the problem is that I don’t think I’m getting the parts hot enough. I’ve gotten the recoil tube up to 400F, but only for a few moments before it cooled quickly. The second heat gun I borrowed can only get the parts up to 350F.

 

I just realized that the stripped receiver and recoil tube are small enough to put in the oven, where I can easily heat the parts for long periods of time at the desired temperature. My questions are:

 

To what temperature should I heat the parts? Over 400? 425?

 

Is there any potential for damaging the finish or causing weaknesses in the receiver by heating it multiple times in my attempts to remove this tube?

 

Thanks for the input.

[M1014]

go find an electrician,they know how to apply heat to stuff,,,most of ya'll shouldn't be touching the tube,

[MikeyZ]

Gotta be careful with that receiver. Getting it too hot (especially for long periods of time) can potentially alter the molecular structure of the aluminum, decreasing its integrity.

[Penguin81]

Yeah, I figured removing the tube shouldn't be this difficult, so I wanted to check before I did any more.

 

I'll probably just leave it be since all I gain is the closed position, which is more for transport, really.

[torotoro]

Take it to a gun smith and have him take it off. It's better to pay him to do the work than for you to mess up your receiver. I did not even risk to try to remove mine and took it to my local gun smith and paid him to remove it. Now I installed my recoil spring tube and its worth it. To be able to collapse it the way it was originally designed is cool.

[Flame Red]

When I had mine done, I sent it to Bob Cogan of Accurate Plating and Weaponry. He could not get it off either! He ended up milling the tube while it was in the receiver. He gave me the three positions, which is tacticool. The Numrich tube only gives two as you found out.