Regarding: J. Depazza of Heritage Guide of Rahway

I wish I had come to Mr. Depazza earlier instead of wasting a week + multiple annoying phone conversations with RTSP Union.

- When I gave him my barrel, gas block & muzzle brake to be pinned, he DID pay attention and reminded me to put on the barrel nut first. RTSP's guys didn't even care

- When I realized that my barrel nut requires a 2" wrench, which I don't have, he agreed to help me to install the barrel into upper receiver, for free

- Today he called me to bring him the gas tube, so that he can also help to align it to complete the upper assembling

- After bringing him the gas tube and wait for another 10 minutes, voila my whole upper is done. That was past his normal closing time.

Total $60 and 6 days for pinning the muzzle brake plus installing barrel & gas system onto the upper receiver, which is the most tricky part of building an AR-15 IMO.

I could've saved at least $100 more for not buying the vise and the armorer kit. They were meant for the barrel installation.

Definitely recommend Mr. Depazza and will return again.

Glad you had a good experience there.  Putting a barrel on an upper receiver isn't hard but does require the proper tools.  If you're attaching the barrel to the upper, and doing the gas block, you really do need the gas tube too - it all goes together.  

1 minute ago, Krdshrk said:

Glad you had a good experience there.  Putting a barrel on an upper receiver isn't hard but does require the proper tools.  If you're attaching the barrel to the upper, and doing the gas block, you really do need the gas tube too - it all goes together.  

The tricky part is to line up the barrel nut using shims so that it's up right, and the handguard will be up right when attached to the nut.
That requires some trial-and-error.

1 minute ago, Nam Le said:

The tricky part is to line up the barrel nut using shims so that it's up right, and the handguard will be up right when attached to the nut.
That requires some trial-and-error.

What rail/handguard do you have on your AR?  Is it free float?  My last build, the free float rail had a nice barrel nut that didn't need any shimming or timing to line up the nut/gas tube.

 

Yes mine is free float too, and they included two shims and that tells me some timing is needed. I didn't ask him if the shims were used or not.

Grammar Nazi here - I think that you mean "compliment".

Though both come from the Latin word complēre (meaning "to complete"), complement continues to refer to something that completes something else, while compliment has branched off to refer courtesy "especially in the form of admiration, esteem, or approval," such as when paying someone a compliment for an achievement.

Adios,

Pizza Bob

30 minutes ago, Pizza Bob said:

Grammar Nazi here -

Bob, while it might not technically be an issue of proper grammar, please try to fix the people that put the dollar symbol after the numbers now; I've even seen them do it after the cents.

OP, great to read about positive experiences, even if the smith is a bit too far for me to travel to.

On 8/21/2020 at 12:03 PM, kc17 said:

Bob, while it might not technically be an issue of proper grammar, please try to fix the people that put the dollar symbol after the numbers now; I've even seen them do it after the cents.

Agreed!  ... and @Pizza Bob if you could also please do something about "me and [another person] <action verb>" and "I could care less".  Thanks in advance!

58 minutes ago, tomk62 said:

Agreed!  ... and @Pizza Bob if you could also please do something about "me and [another person] <action verb>" and "I could care less".  Thanks in advance!

OOh, if we can submit requests to fix the language...

Make them stop referring to 'bullets' as 'heads'.   'Bullet' is perfectly descriptive and widely understood.  Cases already have a 'head' and it's on the opposite end from where the bullet goes.

22 hours ago, tomk62 said:

Agreed!  ... and @Pizza Bob if you could also please do something about "me and [another person] <action verb>" and "I could care less".  Thanks in advance!

Hey, there are only so many hours in a day. If their public education failed them, why is it my obligation to fix them? I like to pick and choose my battles.

Besides, "He who lives in a glass house...."

Adios,

Pizza Bob