Cowboybebop
Member
A long time ago the first M1A I ever got needed a gas system cleaning, so I looked in the Springfield Armory manual and it said "use the combination tool to remove gas plug". No other instructions, and certainly no mention of using a gas cylinder wrench or how to hold the rifle.
So I stuck the stock on the ground between my legs to keep it still and twisted off the gas plug with my GI combo tool (I know you M14 guys are cringing). Boy did those Springfield guys put the plug on tight.
So a few years later I came across the gas cylinder wrench and learned about how you're 'supposed' to do it, holding the cylinder only with the wrench and twisting the opposite direction with the combo tool.
Here are my questions:
Has anyone actually seen with their own eyes damage to the splines, barrel recesses, gas cylinder or lock, stock bedding, etc from manhandling the rifle by the stock while removing the gas plug?
If damage to the splines and cylinder is so easy to do, why doesn't Springfield say anything about it in the manual? The GI-issue rifles in the 50s didn't come with a gas cylinder wrench, so how did our boys turn the gas plug? I'm guessing with the stock between their legs while holding the GI combo tool.
Thoughts?
So I stuck the stock on the ground between my legs to keep it still and twisted off the gas plug with my GI combo tool (I know you M14 guys are cringing). Boy did those Springfield guys put the plug on tight.
So a few years later I came across the gas cylinder wrench and learned about how you're 'supposed' to do it, holding the cylinder only with the wrench and twisting the opposite direction with the combo tool.
Here are my questions:
Has anyone actually seen with their own eyes damage to the splines, barrel recesses, gas cylinder or lock, stock bedding, etc from manhandling the rifle by the stock while removing the gas plug?
If damage to the splines and cylinder is so easy to do, why doesn't Springfield say anything about it in the manual? The GI-issue rifles in the 50s didn't come with a gas cylinder wrench, so how did our boys turn the gas plug? I'm guessing with the stock between their legs while holding the GI combo tool.
Thoughts?
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