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Is this normal or a problem with the AR

7K views 19 replies 11 participants last post by  howlnmad 
#1 · (Edited)
I'm seeing a small amount of gas leakage in front of the gas block on my new AR. It show up as a small area of black soot on the barrel directly in front of the gas block. The gun seems the function like it should and I'm not having any problems with short stroking or ejection. Since this is my first AR I don't know if this is normal or a problem.

The gas system is mid-length and the hex screws holding the gas block in place have been torqued to 35 in-lb with blue loc-tite.
 
#4 ·
I would not think it is common, it tells me that gas tube & block was improperly installed. If it were me I would fix it, gas will cause the handguard to get hot faster and possibly melt it.
 
#9 ·
My son had a front sight post that he removed and replaced with a non-sight post adapter. When I was cleaning his AR, I noticed there wasn't the 1/2 moon key in it to prevent it from moving. He said his original didn't fit the adapter so he left it off. He runs the risk of heating/cooling/vibration/etc which can ever so slight move it so that the gas will escape or not align with the port which can create other issues. Gas takes the least path of resistance :rolleyes: . If you are aligned correctly, then just keep an eye on it for growth marks :D . The next time you take it apart, check to see if you can figure out if the alignment was correct by examining both pieces.
 
#10 · (Edited)
I'm getting very mixed responses. I posted the same question on another site and was told leakage like that was common with new guns and the small gaps will seal themselves off with soot after shooting more.

Think I will send an email to Odin works that supplied the barrel and the gas block and see what they say. I put about 100 rounds though the gun today and there is still some small amount of leakage in front of the gas block.

It occurs to me that the black soot that shows up on my bright stainless steel barrel might not be visible on a black barrel?
 
#18 ·
I'm curious as to how you would go about fixing it. Neither is press fit. Things get hot, things expand.
Hi howl, there is a swaging tool that is used in heating & air that you can insert it into the gas tube and spread the tube out to give it a nice tight fit to the gas block. At the manufacturing level when the gas tube is cut it compresses the tube which causes a gas leak. Yes I believe the gas tube and block will eventually seal when shooting for some time.
 
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