Servicing the Gas System
It seems appose that something be said about cleaning the Gas Cylinder in conjunction with Piston Threads.
This is an easy job requiring a cleaning rod with patch tip and your choice of solvents and a few patches.
Remove Gas plug and piston, lock the rod to the rear. Saturate a patch and slide it into the Cylinder, get plenty of solvent into the cylinder. Allow it to sit for several minutes, keep the muzzle down to allow for drainage forward. With double clean patches scrub the inside of cylinder until clean. Pay close attention to cleaning the threads, rotate a clean patch around the threads removing all traces of carbon and solvent. Make certain the cylinder and piston are dry before assembly. Clean the carbon out of the gas plug and service the threads the same way. Reassemble....
It is generally accepted that the Gas System should be run dry. I have no argument with this. However, if you are in a situation, like a Match, and the piston is not sliding on the tilt test, put two drops of Hoppes in the bleed hole on the bottom of the cylinder and work piston several times. This can and has saved the day for many competitors.
There is no set number of rounds fired before your Gas System needs to be serviced.
Some ammo burns dirty and clogs things up early on.. Unless the piston stops flowing altogether you have to take a look at the parts involved. Generally speaking, 350 to 450 fired rounds is an acceptable number before cleaning the System.
There are several methods to service the System, some of these are better than others. If you are fussy about your rifle and expect continued good performance there are a couple of points you may find interesting.
The Piston and the Gas Plug surfaces, where the battering takes place, during firing are two places that can and often do, become a little mushroomed, the edge of both parts has a tendency to flair out. This mushrooming is slight. but can be noticed using a Mic.. The Piston is the part you must pay attention to, the plug also, but it is not as serious a potential problem as the Piston.
When the Piston flairs out it drags the gas cylinder internal wall, this is a dry, and hot scrapping effect. the wall is the loser in this unwanted contest. When you have your piston out for Service, use a WHITE Stone with oil, around the last 1/8 inch of the Piston Head and the last 1/8 inch on the other end of the Piston, I am not talking about the Piston Stem . Keep it flush to the Piston body and work your way around 360 degrees. It is not likely you will see anything, but the cyl wall will thank you. The same thing can be done on the Plug, keep off the threads however.
By Art Luppino
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