Upper handguard disassemly

[bodiebill]

I have a Polish Under Folder upper handguard that does not want to rotate from the gas cylinder---it is tight!
It will not even wobble a mite.
I am now using some Murphy's Oil with the hope that it will lubricate and lossen the wood to metal fit.
Even soaking it in the sun, but no luck so far.
Any family tips?

[SJgunguy24]

Put it in a vise and muscle it off. No real tricks with those.

[SamsDX]

Put it in a vise and muscle it off. No real tricks with those.

+1. Goes without saying, I suppose, but if it doesn't rotate one way, try going the other way. Also, I've seen some suggestions to put the wood handguard itself in the vice and using a wrench to rotate gas tube, but I snapped mine in half getting a little too aggressive with that technique. Work slowly, an carefully, and you'll be able to get it off.

[lelandEOD]

For really stubborn upper hand guards, I lightly grip the base of the tube (the squared off sides) in a bench vise and wrap the wood with a rag. Then I take my trusty dusty MK1 MOD0 Craftsman Robogrip pliers and gently apply just enough grip/pressure to get the wood to turn.

It's actually the only job I've found that the Robogrip pliers [X-Mas present, years ago] do well.

[munkeeboi]

I too had a polish upper HG that i could not remove (nor could 4 other ak builders).

Best suggestion was posted already -- put the flat part of the gas tube in a vise so you can crank off the wood with your hands or a tool that won't ruin the wood.

[lelandEOD]

A word of caution. Some of these rifles still have a desire to draw blood from capitalists.

I had one that was pretty tight and was using every bit of grip and energy I could muster when it slipped just a fraction and caught the meat of my palm between the wood and the tube. I jerked my hand away in reflex and my hand was pinched so well, it pulled the tube from the vise jaws. I had to actually pull it off my hand... it took a chunk of skin and left me with a world class blood blister.

[SJgunguy24]

A word of caution. Some of these rifles still have a desire to draw blood from capitalists.

I had one that was pretty tight and was using every bit of grip and energy I could muster when it slipped just a fraction and caught the meat of my palm between the wood and the tube. I jerked my hand away in reflex and my hand was pinched so well, it pulled the tube from the vise jaws. I had to actually pull it off my hand... it took a chunk of skin and left me with a world class blood blister.

I had one get me too. Trust me, I've removed a lot of upper handguards.