Regulators vs firearms (maintenance)

[TooManyHobbies]

Question for people who work on their regs and their guns.
How do they compare as far as complexity and tolerances are concerned?
I have no issues breaking down, cleaning, servicing, rebuilding ARs, M4s, 1911s, M1s, M1As, SKSs and more. But regulators intimidate me a little because I’m so new to this. Is it a similar type and level of difficulty?

 

[Snoweman]

I only break down my guns to a point - usually three pieces: slide, barrel, and lower. I should add that I usually only fire handguns and shotguns. So..., I don't disassemble my slides and lowers. I'm pretty sure I can't disassemble my barrels (actually, I know I can't). So, unless I REALLY screw things up, my guns won't kill me when in use.

I do feel that I could screw up a reg enough that it would kill me at 90' deep, though. Since I don't have my reg serviced on a yearly basis, it's just better to let a dive shop accept the risk of killing me.

 

[jgttrey]

Regulators are not hard to work on if you have proper training and tools. Guns are designed to be serviced with minimal amounts of both.

You can learn to breakdown and clean an AR in 5 minutes, or build one from a parts kit in an hour or two with nothing more than a youtube video for guidance - all while watching TV or drinking beer.

Regs are not rocket science, but your mistakes are not so immediately obvious - it's pretty clear on a gun if you put it together correctly or not. Servicing regs is totally doable for those with average aptitude, but not something I would embark on without some instruction.

IMHO, on the handyman scale 1-10, gun cleaning is a 2 and servicing regs is a 5 (if trained).

 

[JohnnyC]

Regulators are no more difficult than putting a complete AR together. If you can torque a barrel nut and install an LPK without screwing it up, you can service a regulator. Difference is that you're dealing with o-rings instead of roll pins, etc. It's just trading one form of parts swapping and tuning for another. Hell, it's easier to tune a reg than an extractor on a 1911.

The important part is the post-service checks that will demonstrate that you've done it correctly. There are potential failures that are not immediately apparent.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I work on my own scuba gear and I don't even know what some of those guns are so yes, you can probably learn to service your own regs. Heck, I thought a 1911 was my old Winchester pump .22.

 

[Marie13]

I have no problem breaking down my guns to clean them. I won’t touch my regs.

 

[chris kippax]

Important difference is the hardness of materials you are working with, brass & plastic is very unforgiving

 

[RayfromTX]

In my experience, most gun owners don't know how to clean their guns properly. At the range, I see people only using Hoppe's #9 with no attempt or even awareness to address the copper residue. My father in law just informed me that he had shot his rifle literally thousands of times without ever cleaning it at all. He believed it was not required if you just kept using it. It shoots 10 MOA. Others use stainless rods from the muzzle end on a bolt action rifle and don't even know what a bore guide is. They damage the crown and fill the action with solvent and crud.

That same lack of training and understanding exists in the world of DIY reg service. Arrogance is not uncommon. I recall how embarrassed I was at a store when a salesman asked what I used as a copper solvent. I had been a gun owner and user at that point for almost 35 years.

Get good instruction. Don't think that what seems right is right. Don't figure it out on your own. Don't learn from your buddy who figured it out on their own. Learn from an expert or a manufacturer. The most knowledgable people in both of these hobbies use the internet to chat about this stuff. They can guide you to the correct resources but there will be wannabes to weed out so be careful there too.

After all that, it is not difficult at all with the tools, parts and knowledge. I don't want to trust any of it to someone I don't know in the back room of a shop that survives on selling stuff to first timers that I wouldn't want. The parallels are not far off.

I apologize to those that are uncomfortable with the subject of firearms. I recognize that it is a charged subject that affects people in visceral ways. One of my best friends grew quiet when I was talking about some gun related thing on one of our bike rides. He seemed really bothered and I care about him so I asked what was bothering him about the subject. He slowly told me about the mentally damaged man that easily acquired a handgun and broke into his parents rural home and killed them both. He killed 5 people in all and had already been captured when they found my friend's parents. I am careful to respect that just as I am comfortable with the subject of firearms, others are not and my friend's story is not unique. Many people on scubaboard wonder why they have to hear about guns on a scuba discussion forum. They probably have a good point from where they stand. Let's be respectful and not push this too far. There are too many people, especially in the US that have had their lives changed violently because of the easy access to guns. We believe that shooting guns is just another hobby but to many it isn't.

These are my personal beliefs and not connected in any way to my position as a moderator.

 

[chrisch]

In my experience, most gun owners don't know how to clean their guns properly. <...>
That same lack of training and understanding exists in the world of DIY reg service.

Yeah I would agree with that.

 

[Colliam7]

Question for people who work on their regs and their guns.
How do they compare as far as complexity and tolerances are concerned? . . . Is it a similar type and level of difficulty?

One diver's opinion: Although the specifics of the procedures are somewhat dissimilar, I find the processes overall to be comparable, and regulator service to be no more challenging, possibly even more straightforward. If you are comfortable with the mechanics of various firearms, you will find regulator service to be not altogether different. And, completing the service, testing a reg and having it perform 'spot on' is rewarding. If you were to do it as a job, it would get monotonous. But, servicing your own regs, not unlike maintaining your own firearms, offers a certain sense of satisfaction. The smells are different, as the lubricants do vary.