AR gas tube-clean, or?

[mtrmn]

If you simply MUST clean it, use the straw and shoot some wd40 in the tube. Give plenty time to soak (20 minutes?), then chase it with some cheap ($2) carburetor cleaner from from the automotive section at walmart. Again using the straw. Then clean the barrel.

I only do this if I intend to store mine long term.

 

[rodinal220]

Gunsmiths love pipe cleaners. They get to charge you for a new gas tube and its installation.

 

[sixgunner455]

I have seen one plugged gas tube. It was on an sbr, with a pigtail tube, that the owner had been running a .22lr conversion kit on. After about a brick and a half, it wouldn't cycle 5.56. He sprayed brake cleaner in it, and some got left behind in the loops of the tube. Started a fire when he tried to shoot it the next time.

He only had to replace the gas tube, IIRC.

 

[herrwalther]

I have never broken off pieces of pipe cleaner inside the gas tube. I have seen it happen only once, and that person was a special kind of special. Every time I clean the gas tube, carbon residue always comes out. I never use any solvents or sprays because that will cause more problems than the carbon build up. I think gas tube cleaning is more crucial if you shoot blanks more than live ammo, which the military does frequently.