AK 47 Gas Tube Cleaning Question

[mwpslp]

Being new to AK's I wanted to ask what others do during their cleaning and re-oiling process for the gas tube? I was told it is important to keep it clean. I have been scrubbing it with a wire shotgun brush and swabbing it out with Gun Scrubber brand cleaner but can't seem to get it clean.

 

[MMcfpd]

They get pretty fouled, and I just clean it a bunch and go with it. Do not lube it.

 

[Sonora Rebel]

OIL?

Do not OIL your gas tube... or the piston. In fact... why are you doing this? It's an AK. It will shoot forever as is... no cleaning required. I'm not kiddin'. Throw some lube on the ouside 'n wipe it off to keep the finish nice if you need to... But AK's don't need all that TLC that you may be used to.

 

[mwpslp]

It was actually a member here on this forum that suggested to use a type of gun grease in the gas tube rather than oil as he stated that the oil would "migrate". Sounded reasonable to me but apparrently that is not the case.

 

[cameron.personal]

I understand that the AK piston tube and piston are SELF CLEANING and do not require any cleaning or lubing.

 

[-gunut-]

You clean your AK?

 

[mwpslp]

Hey I'm OCD when it comes to my guns. What can I say.

 

[Prince Yamato]

I just shoot Break-Free down the gas tube and maybe use some gun patches. I've only done this when I moved out of state and changed climates. Seriously though, unless you use corrosive ammo (ie, 5.45x39) you really don't need to clean your AK.

I understand that the AK piston tube and piston are SELF CLEANING and do not require any cleaning or lubing.

Self-dirtying maybe

 

[MD_Willington]

+1 to Furious Styles

A Tampon and a dowel or the cleaning rod will also do the trick...

 

[Dionysusigma]

That may be the only time I've heard of using a Tampon on an AK.

What benefit would cleaning the gas tube have?

 

[Ithaca37]

why are you doing this? It's an AK

I clean my AK. I don't want it to quit working if I ever really need it in an emergency. AKs have a reputation for reliability under crappy conditions (like no cleaning), but why the hell do you want to really try it out. You have to clean and maintain your firearms if you want to keep them working in top shape. An AK is no different than any other gun in this regard. Japanese cars have reputation for reliability, does this mean you don't need to change your oil?


As for your question, I just brush it out, the 20ga brush works just fine like others have mentioned.

 

[DMK]

Cleaning the gas tube periodically isn't a bad idea. It will build up carbon. I had an SKS stop cycling once because I thought the gas tube never needed to be cleaned. The gas tube will also rust from the inside out if it's stored for a long time without being cleaned.

I just soak it with Hoppe's. Brush it out and dry it. Do not oil or grease it. The oil or grease will coke up and accelerate the carbon build up.

 

[Thin Black Line]

The sewer pipe yugo gas tubes with pitting as deep as .5 mm are the result
of NOT cleaning after the use of corrosive ammo.

Yes, clean the gas tube and wipe down the piston --both with solvent. A
coat of light oil can be lightly applied (to include the bolt carrier) and then
gently wiped off. Neither of these should feel "oily" to the touch, but will
provide some protection against rust. The rails on the bolt carrier should
have a couple of drops added where they come into contact with the receiver
and move during operation/firing.

 

[1 old 0311]

A new 20 gauge, or a used 12 gauge works great.

 

[Expertowgunner]

People who do not clean their guns make me sick. I dont care how reliable a gun is supposed to be, gunked machinery can fail on you no matter how good it is. with a ak, its as rare to jam up as it is likely muhammed is coming back but still.... clean your guns people.

 

[Expertowgunner]

BTW dont OIL your piston and gas tube. Using a lite coat of clp to the piston prevents rusting (yet to be seen in any properly maintained ak). All the gas that is expelled from the barrel into the gas tube then torwards the piston gunks on the oil and could theoritically cause a jam. unlikely as hell, but possible. especially true on piston ARs but thats a different story.

 

[JesseL]

Despite the way it offends some people's sensibilities , there is absolutely no need to clean the gas tube of an AK unless you are shooting corrosive ammunition.

You will never shoot enough to put the quantity of carbon in the gas tube that it would take to interfere with the operation of the piston. If you ever did get that much crud in the tube, it would just get knocked out by the piston and go right on working.

IMHO, the only places that an AK is likely to collect enough fouling to ever cause a reliability issue are the ones that could prevent it from going fully into battery:

1. Chamber
2. Bolt recesses
3. Bolt face

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Oil exposed to hot gas bakes into a varnish-like substance.
Clean and wipe off only.

The gas cylinder attached to the barrel is fairly self cleaning
due to the high pressure of gas at that point (much like the
cylinder and short stroke piston on the M1 carbine, in normal
use, there is no build up).

The AK piston head of the operating rod should be cleaned and
wiped dry. Even the stainless ones will get stained black,
so don't get obsessive.

The AK gas tube attached to the upper handguard that is removable
does not take much pressure and does not touch the operating
rod: its sole function is to contain the gases. It still should be
cleaned out from time to time.

The bolt head should be cleaned thoroughly and crud brushed away
from the extractor. The firing pin should be free to move and not
crudded up.

The bolt recesses in the barrel trunnion should be clean and clear.

Lacquered case ammo may crud up the firing chamber, so use
a brush and solvent there on occassion.

AK is very forgiving, but it cannot and should not be totally neglected.

 

[MD_Willington]

That may be the only time I've heard of using a Tampon on an AK.

Well... I do not have a 20 gage brush and the wife has the "9 month flu".

I'm cheap, so with a bit of improv I picked the closest thing on hand...

I will not do a review on which brand will work best for the AKM.. LOL

 

[Carl N. Brown]

At least I am not the only one who has looked at one
of those shotgun mops and released I had seen something
like that in the medicine cabinet.

 

[nalioth]

Seriously though, unless you use corrosive ammo (ie, 5.45x39) you really don't need to clean your AK.

The vast majority of 5.45x39 being sold in this country is made currently by Wolf, Vympel and others. It is all NONcorrosive.

For the few of us who purchased milsurp 5.45 (out of military spam cans or boxes), it IS corrosive.