After visiting the range today & subsequently cleaning the rifle, I noticed that the gap on one of the gas rings was much significantly larger than the other 2.  I'm guessing a small piece of the ring broke off.  I looked around and couldn't find the evidence; but it would be difficult to find.  So that raised a few questions:

1.  any idea why it would happen?  just normal wear & tear?
2.  should I replace the ring?
3.  if yes to #2, how do replace a ring?  I apologize if there's already a thread on how to do this; but I didn't see one in my search.

Thank you in advance for your help.

1. Yes, this happens. Probably lack of lubrication or who knows. Applying a shot of CLP every now and then helps. Sometimes carbon might do it or just age.

2. No, you should replace all three. They are cheap and will cost less than $3 from most places. I always keep a spare set or three on hand for times just like this.

3. Take a small screwdriver or knife point and just pry them off. They are very thin and will pop right off. Pry them at the gap. Clean any carbon you might see that is under where they were once you pull them off. Replacing them is easy. Just slide the new rings over the back of the bolt. After replacing them dab them up a bit with CLP.

Thank you for your feedback.  I contacted Del-Ton today since that's where I purchased my upper assembly in Sep 05.  They basically gave the same feedback & suggested that the ring may have been defective since it was relatively new.  I had already ordered 2 sets of rings (plus some other spare parts).  Without any request from me, they said that they'd remove the shipping charges from my order (which was >$7, which equates to more than 2 sets of gas rings combined).  I know we're talking about a lot of money but I greatly appreciate their excellent customer service.

Thanks again for your help.

Try the MacFarland one piece ring and you'll never go back.

Tack

I`ve been thinking of changing to MacFarland one peice gas rings. Are they that good?

i didnt notice any difference with the mcfarlands' and the std. rings have done well in my rifles.

I've noticed the same thing on my bolt, one of the rings has a gap that's about tripple the width of the other ones, and one of the ends is hooked slightly.  Has been like this for a while with no effect on the rifle's performance.  Is this something I should be "oh shitting" about and get them fixed, or should I wait until i start having cycle problems?

Yes, I'm a rookie

No, I dont know anything

Yes, I would like to learn

Quoted: I've noticed the same thing on my bolt, one of the rings has a gap that's about tripple the width of the other ones, and one of the ends is hooked slightly.  Has been like this for a while with no effect on the rifle's performance.  Is this something I should be "oh shitting" about and get them fixed, or should I wait until i start having cycle problems? Yes, I'm a rookie No, I dont know anything Yes, I would like to learn

see, even broken std gas ringa work.



personally, i would replace them wether they are causing problems are not.

I wouldnt say that my MacFarland rings work any better ( i have em on both my ARs) but you dont have to worry about the gaps in your three peice rings lining up and leaking gas.