Update: I've done some further research and I've discovered that Colt does make a "barrel nut assembly" (including the nut, ring, spring and spanner ring) rather cheep ($26.00). So I will order one of those and see how it goes. I've also been studying some Youtube videos on gas tube alignment, when I saw a handy tool to align the barrel gas port and the block hole. They sell these little push rods that you can fit into the barrel port hole, mount the block, turn it upside down and when you feel the port and block hole aligned (rod drops down into the block hole), you can then screw it down and then use a cleaning rod to break the pin so that both parts will fall out of the barrel (Make sure they do...). In a pinch, I even saw where one guy used a short span of Spaghetti to do the same thing!
I'll advise when the new Colt ring/assembly comes in. May be a while as I reached my spending limit for this month.
