The Kies Firearms Adjustable Gas Block caught my eye when I was browsing through the parts section on Joe Bob Outfitters, it was in the price range that I was looking to spend and it had some pretty decent reviews on it. Oh and for those of you who have done gas rails before and hate the roll pin as much as I do, the Kies gas block uses an allen screw in it's place.
Being that I was using the the Midwest Industries Gen-2 SS hand guard I knew that the inner diameter was smaller than the normal hand guards that are out there and I was a little concerned that the two pieces wouldn't work together. So I contacted Joe Bob Outfitters and asked if they knew if the two would be compatible, and as always I received a quick response with a for sure answer that they would and I was good to go with my order.
When the package arrived 2 days later (I have always appreciated Joe Bob's quick shipping!) I pulled out all of the individual parts that I had ordered and checked them over to make sure that everything was there and nothing was damaged. When I came to the Kies gas block I checked it over really well and was very impressed with the quality and finish of it, especially for the lower end price tag that it had on it.
Installing it onto to my Rainier barrel was really easy, unlike some other blocks I have used in the past this one did not require any tapping with the brass hammer to get it into place. Another thing that I really liked about it was the allen set screw that was included to be used in place of the roll pin, let me tell you all this now, it is one of the smallest set screws I have ever messed with so be careful not to lose it if you get this gas block. Running the set screw in was probably one of the easiest things I did on this entire build, and once it's in it is not coming out. My Rainier barrel has a divot for where the set screw should set for the gas block, which made it very easy to get it into position and properly secured.
The first time I took the rifle out to the range I had to make the initial adjustment to the gas block, and the only problem I had was that the set screw for adjustments was behind my hand guard and there is no way to adjust it without removing the hand guard. Not really that big of a deal with as easy as the hand guard is to remove.
The first shot that I took the set screw was all the way in, the rifle fired but did not cycle which was expected. I backed the set screw out a turn and fired, the bolt cycled but only part of the way and did not lock back on the empty magazine. Again I made an adjustment but this time I took it out 3 turns, which was too much and slapped the bolt forward. At this point I was trying to figure out exactly how many turns I needed to go in, so I bottomed it out again and took it out 2 and a quarter turn, this was the ticket, everything functioned as advertised except for the ejector (which I discussed in the RGuns BCG post).
Since the first trip out I have run somewhere around 400 rounds down range with the rifle and have not had a single hiccup out of it. All of the set screws for the Kies Gas Block are still tight and in position, and I am looking forward to seeing how much abuse I can actually put this block through once ammo becomes available and affordable again.
If you are looking for a budget adjustable gas block make sure to add the Kies gas block to your list, I am happy with it so far and I will definitely use one on the .300 Blackout build I plan to do in the future.
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