Hello everyone.  I know the critical surfaces to keep lubed on my AK and keep them well protected.  I was wondering if anyone keeps a thin coat of oil, etc on the exterior of their bolt carrier, gas piston, and interior of gas tube.  I understand the reasoning behind not putting oil inside an AR gas tube, but with the AK design and such a huge gas tube it seems that it couldnt hurt much, but would maybe make cleaning easier and a product with rust preventatives in it such as clp might protect the carrier, piston, and inside of gas tube from rust and corrosion.  Does anybody see any harm in this?  Thanks for replies.

PIstons are usually stainless and do nto rust. Oil in the gas system burns into a crust that makes you want a 12ga brush for cleaning.

Even stainless can rust. It is rust resistant which isnt the same as cant rust.

I soak them in Eds Red, clean it off and dry with a rag real good. Some stays on there even if you cant see it.

My dad used to say you used the right amount of oil if you cant see it.

Yeah, I'm kinda agreeing with you both.  It seems like a thin film of oil on the piston and carrier and inside the gas tube does sort of burn into a crust that is nastier to wipe out than dry carbon.  However, I have also seen stainless parts rust if neglected long enough, which varies depending on the particular steel.  It does not seem to affect functioning either way (big surprise with an AK!) so I guess I will try to keep a little film of clp on mine, even if it makes for nastier cleaning.

Clean the piston and gas tube and oil it.

Then wipe away as much oil as you can.

There will still be a thin layer that will protect the metal from corrosion.

It hurts nothing to oil the bolt carrier and it should be well lubed where it rides in the reciever and where the bolt rides in it, especially the cam slot.