Most plastic furniture is damaged:
cracked buttplates, missing seg-
ments, and damaged handguard
ribs. The furniture is dirty, coated
with what looks like dried grease.
Internally, the wear is minimal.
Manipulators and controls are stiff
due to dried-up lubricants. On mine,
the sight adjustment was hard, and
the receiver pins required a punch
and hammer to remove.
To restore function, you need to
break the rifle down completely—
everything but the barrel and buffer
tube. An ultrasonic cleaner is inval-
uable for removing decades of dirt
and old grease from every nook and
cranny.
Caution: Be mindful of your cleaning
solution and temperature. I etched
the finish on a previous piece by get-
ting this wrong, requiring a Cerakote
refinish.
After full disassembly, cleaning,
and relubrication, the rifle operates
smoothly. The receiver pins push
out with finger pressure, the sight
adjusts easily, and the safety clicks
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