Gas Tube maintenance

[Dave L.]

Whats the recommended maintenance on gas tubes?
My guess would be full replacement because they only cost about $11...
Any advice on cleaning or replacement intervals would be helpful.
TIA,
Dave

[Iraqgunz]

Dave,

The Tech. Manual advises to look at the area around the front sight base for signs of excessive carbon leakage or build up. It also recommends this when experiencing short recoil. If found, then remove the gas tube and soak in dichloromethane (a nasty chemical) and then replace along with a new gas tube roll pin. Other than that I would say it is difficult to pin down a replacement interval. In our situation where we inherited weapons and no one knows how many rounds have been through them I would try and get it replaced. I know that most units never had that chemical shit and we just replaced them when there was any doubt.

My plan would be to do a proper tech inspection every year (as usually is required/ recommended) and I would more than likely replace the gas tube/ pin, gas rings and possibly the extractor in addition to any damaged or worn parts. We are talking about 20.00 in parts and maybe 30 minutes of work.

[Dave L.]

Thanks Bro,
1, we have no "certified" armorers out here.
2, our guns are very neglected (loose carrier keys mainly, must be staked)
3, We have shorties, some run and some don't .
4, some gas rings are so worn you can jiggle the carrier lightly and the bolt slides in and out like there are no gas rings.

Next deployment I'm mailing the stuff out- at least 10 sets to do my teams guns.

[Robb Jensen]

Gas tubes last me typically at least 10K rounds. Getting good gas tube/barrel nut alignment is key to making them last a long time.

[Iraqgunz]

Dave,

I have some things that I can help you with if you PM or email me. Let me figure a way to get them up there. Is this related to the USAID gig up there?

Thanks Bro,
1, we have no "certified" armorers out here.
2, our guns are very neglected (loose carrier keys mainly, must be staked)
3, We have shorties, some run and some don't .
4, some gas rings are so worn you can jiggle the carrier lightly and the bolt slides in and out like there are no gas rings.

Next deployment I'm mailing the stuff out- at least 10 sets to do my teams guns.

[Iraqgunz]

Dave,

Check Yahoo. I just emailed you an updated M16/M4 TM.

[Dave L.]

Dave,

I have some things that I can help you with if you PM or email me. Let me figure a way to get them up there. Is this related to the USAID gig up there?

They are our neighbors