cleaning AR-15 gas tube

[tjones96761]

Me and dru need some lessons seems like. I've never had mine apart further than pulling the pins and separating the upper and lower, and removing the BCG. I'd like to know how to break it all the way down and clean it thoroughly, even if it was something I only did once or twice a year.
How bout we meet somewhere convenient, like my house in Cushing...

 

[CAR-AR-M16]

Me and dru need some lessons seems like. I've never had mine apart further than pulling the pins and separating the upper and lower, and removing the BCG. I'd like to know how to break it all the way down and clean it thoroughly, even if it was something I only did once or twice a year.
How bout we meet somewhere convenient, like my house in Cushing...

If you seperate the upper and lower and remove the BCG and Charging Handle you have disassembled it all you ever need to in order to do a thorough cleaning (I assume you know how to break down the BCG). About the only other thing you might need to do is pull out the buffer and buffer spring every now and then. That is as far as our troops break them down. AR's do not need to be spotless to run well, but they do need to be properly lubed.

 

[Surveyor1653]

That grade-school cartoon about elbows and ears comes to mind. At most, blow it out with some cleaner/scrubber and a few drops of lube. That's just my opinion.

 

[tjones96761]

(I assume you know how to break down the BCG).

You know what happens when you assume... Never been willing to risk it, and haven't had time to research it. I just take it outside and hose it down with GunScrubber, lube it up and put it back together.

 

[CAR-AR-M16]

You know what happens when you assume... Never been willing to risk it, and haven't had time to research it. I just take it outside and hose it down with GunScrubber, lube it up and put it back together.

If you will PM me your e-mail address I will send you a pdf copy of the M16A2/M4 operators manual. In the Maintenance section it will show you how to take the BCG apart and also how to remove the buffer & buffer spring.

 

[Danny]

You know what happens when you assume... Never been willing to risk it, and haven't had time to research it. I just take it outside and hose it down with GunScrubber, lube it up and put it back together.

The above procedure will not get it clean enough and build-up will eventually stop it from working properly. It's really simple. I disassembled mine the other day, and it had been 29 years since I last did it. Piece of cake. Let CAR-AR-M16 help you by sending you the manual, or look up any of the numerous on-line videos that will show you how to do it.

 

[SMS]

I have been shooting ARs and M16 for 20 years and have never seen a gas tube that was clogged from use.

I have, but mostly from 1,000s of blank rounds...dirty stuff. Once carbon builds up, air pressure alone doesn't remove it...but average use shouldn't result in that.

 

[CAR-AR-M16]

I have, but mostly from 1,000s of blank rounds...dirty stuff. Once carbon builds up, air pressure alone doesn't remove it...but average use shouldn't result in that.

I agree. Blanks will gunk up a gun over time, but like you said, regular rounds will not foul a gas tube. There was a picture over on AR15.com of a guy who ran his AR with over 16,000 rounds of Wolf without cleaning it. He just shot some lube on the BCG every so often. It was caked up pretty good, but was still shooting fine. I will see if I can find the pics again.


EDITED TO ADD:

Here are the pics I mentioned.

 

[SMS]

Holy Crap!

 

[HiredHand]

That is one dirty gun.