AR gas tube removal

alpineman

New member
I've owned my Bushy AR for several years now, and I'm trying to get the hang of disassembly (beyond just stripping it for cleaning.) Right now I'd like to remove the gas tube and barrel from the upper receiver. I'm using the Bushmaster DVD as a guide. I've removed the roll-pin that holds the gas tube in place, but the tube won't budge -- it's like it's stuck in the front sight housing. I've tried dripping oil down the outside of the tube & wiggling it around to loosen it up a bit to no avail. I don't want to damage the tube by torquing on it too much, so time to stop and ask for help...

On the video, when the upper receiver is being assembled, the tube slides right in. I've put God knows how many rounds through it since having the tube replaced a few years ago. Could fouling have it stuck in place? Is there something I have to do other than removing the roll pin? What am I missing?
 
Yup, it's "glued" in place by carbon. There's no delicate way to get it out, unless you have one of those gas tube tools from Brownells. You'll have to figure out how to grab (with pliers, Vise-Grips) the tube, wiggling and pulling rearward. Eventually it will come out. You may damage the tube, but the only reason to remove it is to replace it, right?

Regards,

Walt
—who's written a lavishly illustrated book on this as well as everything else involved in the AR-15/M16's assembly.
 
Walt,
While we're on AR gas- lemme ask you this. My 6.8 Rem SPC 16" short strokes something awful with Hornady 115gr ammo. I realize this is less potent than the Rem ammo, but now I'm stuck with 180 rnds of the stuff to either fire single shot or to pull apart and reload with RS Exterminator(?) powder. I don't think I want to have my gas port opened up- Is there another way around this, such as swapping buffers or springs with a standard .223 AR? Can I remove one of those floppy things (weights) from inside the buffer?
 
If you REALLY want to remove the gas tube. Spend the 20-30 bux and get the gas tube wrench from Brownells. Dang near impossible to hurt a gas tube with it. It looks more like a screwdriver with a "growth" on the tip than a wrench
 
Back
Top