Hey guys, I bought a new Olympic Arms AR-15 with the 20 inch bull barrel. Just past the hand rail is a rail mount that encircles the barrel. The rail (for mounting something) is only on one side and facing up. The gas tube runs into this and there are two ports for it to dissipate. Question is: I want to mount a bipod to the rail but the rail is not facing downward. I have been told from a few gun people that I can just rotate the rail around to face downward to mount a bipod. However, this gets rid of the gas tube... Is the gas tube all that important to have??-- afterall, it does have the two ports. Is it needed to aid in ejecting the shell?? I need to go to the range and see but I don't have time for another 2 wks... Any help would be appreciated. I might be able to post pics later if I can find my camera. Sorry if I explained this poorly. Thanks in advance for advise or if someone has done the same thing...