A quick question for all those who are brave enough to perform depot level maintenance and dissassembly!
If I remove the front sight taper pins and DO NOT remove the gas tube roll pin, will the gas tube come off (still attatched) to the tower?, or must I remove the roll pin as well?.  It just occurred to me as I am typing this that I am probably going to need to lubricate and twist the tower to get it off, and this would almost necessitate the removal of the gas tube, would it not?  Can I do this at home?  Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated, and I thank you for your time. Have a safe and happy New Year.
Mike, NY

It's a heck of a lot easier with the gas tube out of the way.
 I use a lead hammer on the tower and sometimes heat.

Yes, the gas tube will come off with the front sight.

I haven't done that many but the few I have were no problem.

Thanks for the quick reply guys, I'm going to give it a shot.

Why on earth would you perform such a task?

Markm,
Perhaps you are right.  Based solely on your incredulity I have decided that I will not attempt such an uncommon, treacherous,and just plain silly operation.  Pity, I was all set to go ahead based on the ADVICE and instructions of the two prior replies.  Oh well.........Who would have thought that removing a front sight tower is anathema 'round these parts........
Mike  

Perhaps he is installing a FF tube or some such gadget.

Bradd

At the feast of Sarcasm, MC 83 is a gourmet... [:D]

I have a 16" HBar laying here right now; it took a bit of wooden persuasion to remove the FS base, but I prudently removed the gas tube beforehand...

I believe the buildup of carbon deposits is the main reason for the stubbornness to come off; soaking the barrel in carburetor cleaner for a night may help immensely...

And for what it's worth, I removed my FS base so I could chuck the barrel in a lathe and true up the muzzle where a slip-on (setscrew) muzzle brake had been clamped...

Dang! All them high falootin' yankee words is making my head hurt!

(my pee pee too!)

[whacko]

The biggest danger involved in trying to remove the  sight tower is that the act of driving out the taper pins (from the small size, of course!) just MIGHT cause them to mushroom instead of drive out (hint: Do NOT use a pointed punch! Use a flat tip punch with tip diameter that matches the tip diameter of the pins, or slightly larger!) and of course, that would be bad.  You might have to drill them out then, which would be an unhappy situation.

But once the pins are out, the rest is fairly straightforward, though you may need to use carburetor cleaner to bust up the carbon deposits.

CJ