M14 gas cylinder plug ... how much torque should be applied ?

Sniper1

Sniper1

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When i received my first M14S, the gas cylinder plug was only "finger tightened".

I will soon fire this rifle for the first time and was wondering how much torque should be applied when screwing back this part ?
In Scott Duff's book, it's only written to always use a padded vise or a special holder when doing this, but no mention about how much force should be used for the tightening. Nothing in Springfield's manual either.
 
I find that it doesn't matter too much. There are times I have come back from the range after a good day of shooting my Garand or M14 only to find that the gas plug is loose and yet the rifle worked fine.
 
The gas plug does not nee to be "cranked" on.

Tighten it up finger tight, then tighten with a wrench another 1/4 to 1/2 turn until the plug is snug.If you "cranked" the plug, it will probably be a PITA to remove later.

As said, use the gas cylinder wrench to hold the gas cylinder in place.

SKBY.
 
I like to recommend using the fingers pulling on the USGI M14 combo tool. My fingers are cranked around the tool and I quit when my fingers can no longer pull any further. This works well enough for about a 50 round NRA High Power match. I don't like to crank the shzt out of it, since you have to undo it for cleaning.

Often I will place a little (really small) dab of grease (any kind of grease) on the threads of the gas cylinder plug just to ensure nothing seizes up after a hunt in the damp weather. I used to hunt moose with an M1A NM West of High Level, Alberta. Yeeeha.

Cheers,
Barney
 
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