AR Sponsor
Posted: 3/19/2005 3:53:36 PM EDT
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How do you remove the gas tube? I have done what the USMC manual shows - removing the pin in the front sight base, pulling the tube back towards the receiver and then pushing if forward once clear of the front sight. However, I can't get the damn thing to pull free of the front sight base. Is there some secret to this? I've done everything I can think of, including vise grips. Any help would be appreciated. Mods: If this has to be moved to the Troubleshooting Forum, I'll understand. 
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I'm surprised I didn't do that, too.
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Also hold the Delta Ring back as far as you can (get a friend to help, helps). On occasion, I have had to rotate the handguard cap to the 2 o'clock position and "snake" the gas tube back through it, as this minimizes the "angle of withdrawl." Also, this is much, much easier than with a Carbine length gas tube, for that I remove the FS taper pins and pull it straight off. |
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Some of them can be quite difficult to pull out of the FSB. I saw one in a recent armorers course that was gummed up from shooting Wolf ammo. They had to clamp the gas tube in a table vise and pull and twist with a lot of force to finally remove it. That said, the gas tube wrench is worth the $30 if the gas tube is stuck. |
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My method was to put two thin pieces of soft plywood in the vise jaws, turn the barrel upside down, and clamp the plywood padding/vise jaws on the gas tube just enough to grip the gas tube firmly, then pull firmly on the barrel. You could even use a rubber mallet on the barrel extension or the back of the upper if the barrel is to stay in the upper. When I used this method the gas tube was completly intact and unmarked, unlike what you will see if you try to do it with pliers. You can see below the ugly scrapes, etc pliers will cause. The carbon buildup acts like cement. You can buy a special tool, but this method worked great for me, I use it every time the gas tube sticks. This tube had been marked up by someone using pliers to attempt to remove it. The plywood vise jaws did no harm, much better than pliers. 
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