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NcongruNt wrote:

Liberty wrote:I suspect that what was packed in the tube was that gunk they put in new guns. Colt used a ton of that stuff when they sent the M16s off to the troops who were stuck with it. I suspect they did the same thing with the civilian model. It looked like axle grease but nastier stickier.

Cosmoline. Yes, that seems to fit his description quite well. Quite possibly the first person who ever owned it never bothered to learn how to clean his rifle, and didn't clear out the cosmoline before he shot it. And everyone down the line did the same until asleepatthereel got to it.

I guess it could have been old powder filled Cosmoline. Ive only dealt with the fresh stuff thats in new guns. Hard to believe it went so long without ever being cleaned out though.

Excaliber wrote:
Apparently the original owner of that old AR would be a good candidate for the answer to that question.

In my experience, high temperature / high pressure wheel bearing grease does a significantly better job than Break Free at keeping an AR working real well through extended rapid fire, and doesn't cause a buildup like the one described above as long as the gun is cleaned regularly.

I can't say what would happen if you left it there and never cleaned it, because that's not how I maintain my guns.

Agreed. a very thin coat of real good quality high temp synthetic grease on the moving parts can be a good thing if cleaned regularly, but the entire receiver, bolt and trigger group and gas tube was literally full of grease. Even the recoil spring was thickly coated, although not gobbed full. It was like someone had scooped out a couple handfulls and packed it in like they were packing bearings. Im suprised it fired at all. I never tried it until it was thoughroly cleaned out, but after it was, it was a pretty good shooter for an A-1 model.

The longest it eaver took me to clean a gun was on an old Colt AR that I bought at a pawn shop back in the 80s. The guy behind the counter sold it to me for $150 and said that it had been sold a couple times but kept coming back with jamming problems, so it was being sold as-is. I stripped the rifle before buying it, and quickly found the problem. Paid the man and took it home for some TLC.

Someone had filled, and I do mean FILLED, the action including the gas tube and piston with wheel bearing grease.
It must have still fired, because the grease, combined with the burnt gasses had become solidified to the point that it was hard like glass or ceramic. Each part had to be scraped clean and some, like the firing pin and bolt carrier had to spend some time on a wire wheel to get the stuff off. It actually took a couple days working on and off to get most of it off, then a whole weekend cleaning the stuff out of the reciever. I used a guitar string and some tolulene to clean out the gas tube. Once I got it all back together, it was a real good shooter. Being young and stupid, when the klinton gun ban came along, I sold it and got $1000 for it. Several ARs later, I still miss that one.

What kind of uneducated fool fills his AR action with wheel bearing grease?

Doesnt take long to clean them. Usually around 30 minutes per gun, but sometimes I like to spend a little more time 'bonding' with them, so Ill take my time. I actually enjoy cleaning them. I think I might be addicted to the smell of burnt powder and Hoppes.