Shooting AK without handguard tube
I was at an Appleseed last weekend and met a great guy who was running an AK without an upper handguard/gas tube. It was a Romanian WASR in 7.62x39. He also was shooting without the rear cover on. He said that it was more accurate without the tube, as it decreases the amount of gas pushing the op-rod back, reducing recoil and smoothing out the whole firing cycle. It worked great with no malfunctions, and he was very accurate with it.
I wanted to try it in mine, but where the piston meets the bolt carrier has a lot of play in it, there is no way it would work in my rifle. (Arsenal 107). Looking inside my gas tube, its plain to see that the tube is acting as a guide. Do some AK's have rigid piston/bolt carrier junctions and others with intentional play?
The pistons are supposed to have play. Some don't, typically Century builds (WASRs) because they are welded on instead of pinned on.
That guy is an idiot. The gas tube doesn't make more gas cycle the rifle. By the time the gas is in the gas tube it really isn't effecting the cycling of the rifle at all.. that's why they still run without a gas tube. Once the piston head isn't in the gas block, the gas isn't pushing on it anymore and is just going around it or venting out of the gas tube. Less gas wouldn't effect accuracy at all.. as all that gas stuff is happening after the bullet is out of the barrel.
There is a chance he had an improperly fitting gas tube that was causing accuracy problems, so removing it was beneficial. Apparently an overly tight gas tube can cause accuracy issues because it puts pressure on the barrel.
The gas tube really is just a guide to get the piston head back into the gas block reliably. Nothing more, nothing less.
+1 above. Play is good. It allows the piston to flex while returning to battery and avoids gouging the tube. Shooting without the tube is dangerous for a lot of reasons and can damage your gas block and piston to name a few.
Originally Posted By dskeet:
The pistons are supposed to have play. Some don't, typically Century builds (WASRs) because they are welded on instead of pinned on.
That guy is an idiot. The gas tube doesn't make more gas cycle the rifle. By the time the gas is in the gas tube it really isn't effecting the cycling of the rifle at all.. that's why they still run without a gas tube. Once the piston head isn't in the gas block, the gas isn't pushing on it anymore and is just going around it or venting out of the gas tube. Less gas wouldn't effect accuracy at all.. as all that gas stuff is happening after the bullet is out of the barrel.
There is a chance he had an improperly fitting gas tube that was causing accuracy problems, so removing it was beneficial. Apparently an overly tight gas tube can cause accuracy issues because it puts pressure on the barrel.
The gas tube really is just a guide to get the piston head back into the gas block reliably. Nothing more, nothing less.
^^^^^What he said, x2^^^^^
not a good idea, for all the reasons stated above.
wow.... just, wow....
i always thought firing a kalashnikov without your gas tube would result in uncomfortable hot gasses in your face.
Originally Posted By Whatsinaname181:
wow.... just, wow....
i always thought firing a kalashnikov without your gas tube would result in uncomfortable hot gasses in your face.
Breathing that primer residue is not good for the brain...
I loves me the smell of gun powder in the morning!!
If one has a tight fitting gas tube, and the gas tube expands from heat and puts forward pressure on the gas block, I can see how it might crate an accuracy issue.
However a properly fitted gas tube is tensioned between the cam lever and the tab on the bottom rear of the gas tube. So it shouldn't put pressure on the gas block.
