diff --git a/crates/ml/src/cuda_pipeline/gpu_dqn_trainer.rs b/crates/ml/src/cuda_pipeline/gpu_dqn_trainer.rs
index 0b64038ec..a86292c7c 100644
--- a/crates/ml/src/cuda_pipeline/gpu_dqn_trainer.rs
+++ b/crates/ml/src/cuda_pipeline/gpu_dqn_trainer.rs
@@ -4882,6 +4882,40 @@ impl GpuDqnTrainer {
         self.cql_logit_grad_kernel.is_some() && self.config.cql_alpha > 0.0
     }
 
+    /// F8/G5: Scale the C51-contributed portion of `grad_buf` by the adaptive c51_budget.
+    ///
+    /// Must be called AFTER `submit_forward_ops_main` (which runs C51 backward and writes
+    /// C51 gradients into `grad_buf`), and BEFORE any CQL/IQN SAXPY accumulations.
+    ///
+    /// The composite effect is:
+    ///   grad = c51_budget × C51_grad + cql_budget × CQL_grad + iqn_budget × IQN_grad
+    ///
+    /// Uses `scale_f32_ungraphed` (loaded from a separate CUmodule) so it is safe to
+    /// call outside CUDA graph capture without corrupting the forward_child graph state.
+    pub fn apply_c51_budget_scale(&mut self, c51_budget: f32) -> Result<(), MLError> {
+        // No-op when budget ≈ 1.0 (common at health=0 — avoids unnecessary kernel launch).
+        if (c51_budget - 1.0).abs() < 1e-6 {
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+        let grad_ptr = self.ptrs.grad_buf;
+        let n = self.total_params as i32;
+        let blocks = ((self.total_params as u32 + 255) / 256) as u32;
+        unsafe {
+            self.stream
+                .launch_builder(&self.scale_f32_ungraphed)
+                .arg(&grad_ptr)
+                .arg(&c51_budget)
+                .arg(&n)
+                .launch(LaunchConfig {
+                    grid_dim: (blocks, 1, 1),
+                    block_dim: (256, 1, 1),
+                    shared_mem_bytes: 0,
+                })
+                .map_err(|e| MLError::ModelError(format!("c51_budget_scale: {e}")))?;
+        }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     /// Add CQL gradient scratch to grad_buf via plain SAXPY.
     ///
     /// Called after `apply_cql_gradient` populated `cql_grad_scratch`.
diff --git a/crates/ml/src/trainers/dqn/fused_training.rs b/crates/ml/src/trainers/dqn/fused_training.rs
index e9356bf73..c6b958e64 100644
--- a/crates/ml/src/trainers/dqn/fused_training.rs
+++ b/crates/ml/src/trainers/dqn/fused_training.rs
@@ -1159,7 +1159,14 @@ impl FusedTrainingCtx {
         // component balance. Safety is still handled by the single global clip in Adam.
 
         // B4/G5: Compute adaptive budgets once per step from ISV health/regime signals.
-        let (_c51_budget, iqn_budget, cql_budget, _ens_budget) = self.compute_adaptive_budgets();
+        let (c51_budget, iqn_budget, cql_budget, _ens_budget) = self.compute_adaptive_budgets();
+
+        // F8/G5: Scale C51 contribution in grad_buf by c51_budget.
+        // C51 backward already wrote into grad_buf during submit_forward_ops_main (Phase 2).
+        // This scale MUST run before CQL/IQN SAXPYs below so only C51's portion is scaled.
+        // Order: c51_budget × C51_grad (here), then cql_budget × CQL_grad, iqn_budget × IQN_grad.
+        self.trainer.apply_c51_budget_scale(c51_budget)
+            .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("c51_budget_scale: {e}"))?;
 
         // DIAGNOSTIC: sync between each aux op to find hanging kernel