The piston and cylinder are fit with close tolerance and polished very smooth. No lube is required or desired for both the M1 & M14/M1A. The hot gases will turn oil or grease to a sticky varnish. You will not like the results.
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Actually, it's currently recommended to put 1-2 drops of Hoppes #9 solvent into the gas cylinder hole to lubricate the gas system.colt100 said:
This is current USMC practice. Doing this prevents moisture from causing any rust or corrosion while not being used.
This can also be verified by Gus Fisher (AMU armorer) on the CSP board.
warbird said:Actually, it's currently recommended to put 1-2 drops of Hoppes #9 solvent into the gas cylinder hole to lubricate the gas system.colt100 said:
This is current USMC practice. Doing this prevents moisture from causing any rust or corrosion while not being used.
This can also be verified by Gus Fisher (AMU armorer) on the CSP board.
Is this for storage or for firing? I agree with a bit of lube if storing the rifle but have always been under the assumption that if firing the rifle, the gas system should be dry otherwise the lube just turns into carbon and fouls up the works.
My M1a sees the range all the time so I never worry about storage. I was talking about firing the rifle. Sorry if there was confusion.
Gas system lube
The US Army and I recommend that the gas system in the M14 be kept clean and dry. Army rifle team members are responsible for maintaining their rifles. The USMC recommends that M14 shooters apply a drop of Hoppe's in the gas cylinder after shooting. There is a reason for this. It has to do with the Marine requirement that rifle team shooters are not to disassemble their rifles. Every 1200 rounds or so, Marine shooters turn their rifle in to the armorer for a complete cleaning, including the gas cylinder. The M1 rifle is almost self cleaning. The gas system blows most of the carbon out each shot. When I was shooting for the Air Force, we were instructed to remove the gas plug and squirt a shot of WD40 in the gas cylinder. It worked pretty good on the old M1.
The US Army and I recommend that the gas system in the M14 be kept clean and dry. Army rifle team members are responsible for maintaining their rifles. The USMC recommends that M14 shooters apply a drop of Hoppe's in the gas cylinder after shooting. There is a reason for this. It has to do with the Marine requirement that rifle team shooters are not to disassemble their rifles. Every 1200 rounds or so, Marine shooters turn their rifle in to the armorer for a complete cleaning, including the gas cylinder. The M1 rifle is almost self cleaning. The gas system blows most of the carbon out each shot. When I was shooting for the Air Force, we were instructed to remove the gas plug and squirt a shot of WD40 in the gas cylinder. It worked pretty good on the old M1.
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