Preview – Stop Losing Detents And Springs

The AR-15 and its variants are hands down some of the most popular rifles seen at ranges. That’s quite an accomplishment for a rifle that was invented in 1957. Around the time the USSR launched Sputnik, Eugene Stoner was tinkering with a platform that would eventually become the main battle rifle for the United States into the 21st century. It goes without saying that technology has progressed by leaps and bounds since the ’50s, but there’s no reason why we can’t upgrade the rifle that we currently have while the government figures out the next rifle our forces will wield.

The AR platform, as great as it is, can be a pain to work on due to the many detents and springs that are used in its assembly. One such detent and- spring combination is used to install the lower receiver’s rear takedown pin. The usual way of installing these parts is to do a sort of intricate tango dance with your 15 fingers. You install the takedown pin, insert a detent, follow the detent with a spring, then smash it all into the lower receiver with the rear latch plate, all while screwing in the buffer tube and castle nut. One false move and spoing! The spring goes flying across the room with the detent in hot pursuit.

We are here to show you how to turn that freewheeling spring into a captured spring that will make losing parts as passé as doing atomic bomb duck-and-cover drills. As an added benefit, this modification makes swapping out buffer tubes and installing rear sling plates a breeze, too.

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