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Cleaning of AR 15 Gas Tube

ammo guy
You AR experts a question, How many rds before a cleaning is needed of the gas tube?
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • Nwcid
    I never have. I have a couple spares around and figure I will run the gun till it quits then replace the <$10 gas tube.
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  • 1911 Gunslinger
    As a general rule you should never need to clean the gas tube. It is made from seamless stainless tubing that is pretty smooth on the inside and doesn't easily collect fouling. Trying to clean it by inserting something into it(like a pipe cleaner) is likely to stop it up. I have never seen a gas tube stopped up from fouling but I have seen several the were stopped up as a result of improper cleaning.
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  • quickmajik
    I think otus makes a gas tube cleaner, also you can get disposable gas tube cleaners from brownells.
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  • mark christian
    Several firms make very long pipe cleaner type items which they claim can be used to clean out the gas tube, but no technical manual I've ever seen advises the user to clean the tube at all. If you did stuck the pipe cleaner into the tube from the breech (the only access point) you'd only take all of the accumulated crud and push it all the way up into the front of the tube and block the flow of gas for sure! If a tube fouled I'd just follow nwcid's advice and replace it with a new tube, which is an easy and cheap fix.
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  • 11b6r
    Current day ball ammo is pretty clean. Military BLANK ammo is fairly cruddy- shooting a lot of that with a BFA could crud up the tube. Shot of spray Gunscrubber seems to fix that. Otherwise, would leave alone.
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  • Txs
    Many tens of thousand PSI pass through the gas tube when a round is fired. With any clean burning powder it keeps itself pretty clear.

    If you're concerned, just use a good strong solvent such as GunScrubber or non-chlorinated brake cleaner. Tip the barrel downward and blow it in through the rear of the tube. Any accumulated crud will flow out the gas port and into the bore.

    As has been said, never insert anything into the gas tube. This is also due to the danger of losing material inside there and either causing a blockage or having material end up down in the bolt carrier group.
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  • ammo guy
    Fellows thanks for the replies, this is what I expected. Cleaning is not really necessary unless there is a function issue that can't be explained otherwise. I have seen the very long pipe cleaners that are sold for the purpose but have questioned the need to use them. I never saw any cleaning of the tube in the Army.
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  • coledigger4
    How hard is it to change the gas tube? Also, is it something an owner should keep on hand?
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  • Nwcid
    quote:Originally posted by coledigger4
    How hard is it to change the gas tube? Also, is it something an owner should keep on hand?


    Anyone that owns more then one AR should have a handful of tools and part for the gun.

    It is not hard to change but it is not something you are going to do in 2 min in the field without tools. You will need a wrench to remove the flash hider, a USGI wrench about $10, or a combo tool about $35 is good to have. You will also need a hammer and punch to remove the pins that hold on the front sight base and the one that holds the gas tube in.
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  • Txs
    Drive out the roll pin located in the front sight base, then slide the old one out the rear through the receiver. Insert a new one, then reinstall the pin.

    It's not imperative that you keep one on hand, but at the present time they're cheap and readily available.
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