Wow. I think this is the first video I've watched that's literally saved me several hundreds of dollars as I was planning on buying a number of bcg's with built-in gas keys.

There always educational.  Having been a machinist for 30 yrs your vids have been absolutely  informative  Thank You look forward to more.

Thanks for continuing to put out the educational content. I’m sorry you have to suffer thieves in your classroom and idiots on Facebook. I hope you’re encouraged by the positive responses to persevere through the burn out. Can’t wait to make that trip to the SOTAR classroom.

Someone else might have brought this up, but FWIW Colt uses and recommends Permatex 80019 Aviation Form-A-Gasket No. 3 Sealant.  Indian Head is good up to 350ºF (good enough I'm sure, temp data on the gas key is a bit elusive), whereas Aviation #3 is good to 400ºF;  I just prefer the larger temp margin.
Probably more germane however, is that Aviation#3 is made exactly for close-fitting machined surfaces, whereas Indian Head is recommended for hoses, paper and cardboard, and low pressure applications. I wouldn't feel comfortable with that.
BTW, I love your channel, it's hand-down the most informative and captivating gun maintenance channel there is, an absolute goldmine. Even better that you have that perfectionist quality,  the best craftsmen usually are.

get one of those tall round 50 cent plastic containers that takeout chinese or deli soups come in. Wash your stones with dish detergent to get the oil and metal shavings out of the stone, fill the container with water and store them in the container. Much easier maintenance, not as messy, and you don't need to worry about the pores of the stones becoming clogged (which is the other issue with sharpening stones). If you really want to oil them instead, use the lightest weight machine oil you can find, similar reasons the lighter weight oil will tend to "float" lighter particulates out of the stone meaning you'll have to clean them less often. Sharpening using a figure 8 movement will also greatly reduce introducing a bow in your stones, and if they develop one pick up two floor tiles for a dollar from the local home center. You can rub the three (the stone, and the two tiles) together in a figure eight pattern in sequence to flatten them, it's how surface plates were created, because grinding any three objects together is mathematically guaranteed to always result in a perfectly flattened surface.

A Figure-8 pattern is often used to hone machine parts.  I'd bet that works well with carrier keys as well.

Thanks for the education!

I'm happy to see I'm not the only one who is very particular about truing and sealing a gas key!  I've seen quite a few builds fail to extract/cycle due to a leaking or loose gas key.  Such a simple thing can really frustrate people as it doesn't take much of a leak to cause problems.

As far as "budget" bolt carrier groups go, I've had nothing but fantastic results with those from AIM Surplus.  They go so far as to seal the gas key, which, like you say, not many manufacturers take the time to do this step, even though it is critical in hard-use rifles.

Keep up the great content!!

Everyone waiting for EPC and Hodge parts to drop and I'm just waiting for the Chad videos

A new SOTAR video!  Great stuff!

Quality work and attention to detail. Well done.

Commented just for the algorithm......🤠

Have you considered Spyderco ceramic stones? They basically last forever it seems, almost impossible to wear out to a point of being detrimental for what you are using it for.

I will check your older videos, but would like to see a RUGER 556 model 8500 , basic budget AR , see how it holds up after awhile, I have one and would just love to see the good , bad , and Ugly of it . keep up the good work, I love the videos

Glad your back! Too much hate in this world. Seems to be getting worse.

I have sanded by hand a million gallons of bondo. When you level orient the part so the length match the block. Side to side you can't feel it but it rocks . Long straight strokes should level it quick.

Great!  Thx Chad.

Another very informative video. And a good case against the "one piece"  carrier designs. The Indian head sealant looks like what Permatex brands as High Tack or aviation form-a-gasket, we used it to seal VW block halves among other things. Great stuff. Would you recommend running a thread chaser down the bolt holes to clean the threads? Also since you mentioned, what are your thoughts on truing the uppers and bedding the barrels?

Nice head to block reference

Well done sir, now I want a sandcutter

I always learn something new - thanks