700 Barrel Removal at Standstill

[HuntingBronco]

I have the same tools - I can't get a factory rem barrel off without heating until the thread locker erupts through the hole in the receiver. Once that happens, they all come apart easily. Yes, you have to get upwards of 550f to get the eruption - and it really does erupt. With better tools, maybe heat is not required. Cutting sounds like a great option....

 

[Susquatch]

....... It's become entertaining for my wife to hear me on each time I come back upstairs from basement in failure!

I'm really starting to wonder about your tools. Could you post a few photos of your barrel removal setup? Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's something.

At the very least, it would help get me (and a few others) on your page, or confirm that we already are.

 

[trackhoehunter]

Proceed with caution. Obviously make sure no flame are present,and no cigarettes in your mouth. Also in a well ventilated area. This is a pretty cool thing a guy showed me (at least I was flabbergasted). If you turn a propane tank upside down and take the line out on the outlet side of the regulator the propane will come out as a liquid and is beyond butttt freeezing cold and can drip it onto whatever you need to shrink. It does not take much and is similar to the dry ice method and I'm pretty sure it's colder?!?! I'm not saying this is the answer here but could help someone in need on another application. Dry ice here is 45 min away. They don't sell it at grocery stores anywhere here in my area. Alot of people and or a neighbor have a propane grill or something that takes a small propane tank. The propane is gone in seconds into the vapor that can ignite sobut don't be celebrating for your accomplishments with cigars or fireworks for a good hour or so! GET THE TENDERLOIN READY!!

 

[wv270wsm]

Proceed with caution. Obviously make sure no flame are present,and no cigarettes in your mouth. Also in a well ventilated area. This is a pretty cool thing a guy showed me (at least I was flabbergasted). If you turn a propane tank upside down and take the line out on the outlet side of the regulator the propane will come out as a liquid and is beyond butttt freeezing cold and can drip it onto whatever you need to shrink. It does not take much and is similar to the dry ice method and I'm pretty sure it's colder?!?! I'm not saying this is the answer here but could help someone in need on another application. Dry ice here is 45 min away. They don't sell it at grocery stores anywhere here in my area. Alot of people and or a neighbor have a propane grill or something that takes a small propane tank. The propane is gone in seconds into the vapor that can ignite sobut don't be celebrating for your accomplishments with cigars or fireworks for a good hour or so! GET THE TENDERLOIN READY!!

I've seen this too just wasn't going to recommend it

 

[Muddyboots]

I'm really starting to wonder about your tools. Could you post a few photos of your barrel removal setup? Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's something.

At the very least, it would help get me (and a few others) on your page, or confirm that we already are.

Good suggestion. Standard Wheeler barrel vise and action wrench. Monster wrench from Walmart for trailer hitch balls that lets you torque crap out of vise. Rosin. Every chemical known to mankind for penetration. 4' cheater bar, BFH anvil hammer that is out of pic.

So I also realized I was approaching the thread soak all wrong. I mixed up Kroil, PB and acetone into SS container and injected the mixture through the front base hole with small syringe and now standing barrel receiver down. I did this on my 52 yr old Savage and it worked great. Guess brain cramp is only answer.

I just checked barrel and I am now seeing penetrant seeping out around the recoil lug!!! So I think I am getting real close to breaking it free now. I hate the wood blocks and looking to buy a good set of aluminum barrel blocks.

Suggestions? The Wheeler ones with urethane inside coating does not thrill me.

Note my lucky horseshoe! It is leftover from another lifetime and I keep it close!

 

[Susquatch]

Proceed with caution. Obviously make sure no flame are present,and no cigarettes in your mouth. Also in a well ventilated area. This is a pretty cool thing a guy showed me (at least I was flabbergasted). If you turn a propane tank upside down and take the line out on the outlet side of the regulator the propane will come out as a liquid and is beyond butttt freeezing cold and can drip it onto whatever you need to shrink. It does not take much and is similar to the dry ice method and I'm pretty sure it's colder?!?! I'm not saying this is the answer here but could help someone in need on another application. Dry ice here is 45 min away. They don't sell it at grocery stores anywhere here in my area. Alot of people and or a neighbor have a propane grill or something that takes a small propane tank. The propane is gone in seconds into the vapor that can ignite sobut don't be celebrating for your accomplishments with cigars or fireworks for a good hour or so! GET THE TENDERLOIN READY!!

I cannot endorse this idea.

At sea level pressure, propane is a liquid at -44F, while dry ice can be different temperatures (because it is not a liquid) but is reliably below -100F. So dry ice is a LOT colder than liquid propane.

When I was doing low temperature testing of propane properties (seems like a million years ago now), we carried liquid propane around in a pail at -50. Just like water can be carried in a pail at temperatures below 212F. Very Cool! That said, propane used for recreational purposes isn't usually very pure. So temperatures can vary and some other liquified petroleum gases can boil off at different temperatures.

At any rate, propane under these conditions isn't very safe (as you noted) and isn't worth the risk. Not only is it highly flammable but the gas boiling off the frigid liquid is also heavier than air and can find its way into places you would never think it could.

In my opinion, because it's so much colder and also because it is so much safer, our friend is better off using dry ice even if he does have to travel a bit.

If interested in trying something like that but more readily available, get some "super cool" (or whatever they carry) from your local electronics supply store. It is sorta like freon (without the flourocarbons) and is used to test bad connections on circuit boards. You can just spray it on to cool whatever it is you are working on. Many of these much safer products have boiling points lower than propane does - but I have no specifics handy.

 

[Muddyboots]

Never considered it. Since I retired as Dir. Health Safety and Environmental for a Global company, well aware of LP and its properties.

I just need a better barrel clamping system. Period. I think a really good aluminum stock in the Wheeler will work fine. Just need to find right one.

Susquatch: Since I have 16-5E boots, my tracks have been mistaken on trail for real deal.

 

[trackhoehunter]

I cannot endorse this idea.

Again like I said I'm not saying this is the right application just thought it was cool. I don't see how you could apply dry ice specifically to the barrel and not do some shrinking to the action as well unless you heat the action. You can apply the propane or like you said some other type of freezing aerosol type spray directly to that barrel. In a second. I mean everything we do with reloading and shooting has explosives. Obviously not near as potent as a gas/vapor.

 

[ntsqd]

I think that armed with appropriate knowledge and with suitable precautions taken that the propane option is a viable one. One with obvious and not so obvious risks, but still an option when all of the more safe options have been exhausted or aren't available. Definitely not the immediate 'go-to', much more of the 'last chance' option.

There is a good reason why modern houses with the water heater in the garage are built with the gas fueled heater on a raised platform.

I've seen threads about using propane instead of R12 for automotive refrigeration. Now THAT is a scary idea!

 

[BigDon]

I think that armed with appropriate knowledge and with suitable precautions taken that the propane option is a viable one. One with obvious and not so obvious risks, but still an option when all of the more safe options have been exhausted or aren't available. Definitely not the immediate 'go-to', much more of the 'last chance' option.

There is a good reason why modern houses with the water heater in the garage are built with the gas fueled heater on a raised platform.

I've seen threads about using propane instead of R12 for automotive refrigeration. Now THAT is a scary idea!

Don't forget, though, that Muddy is working in his Basement! Propane - NO Way!

 

[Susquatch]

I've seen threads about using propane instead of R12 for automotive refrigeration. Now THAT is a scary idea!

Actually, the entire auto industry (and probably the HVAC industry too but I have no personal knowledge of that) considered it back when the Montreal Protocol Treaty banned ozone depleting substances. While safety was one of the reasons it wasn't used, it wasn't because it was more dangerous than gasoline already was.... The main reason it wasn't used is because better refrigerants were found.

But I definitely agree that there are many cool things to learn about this incredible world we live in. The properties of propane are certainly among them!

 

[Muddyboots]

In basement next to LP furnace and LP hot water heater. Boom-Boom -Shakalaka-Boom-Boom! I have access to dry ice which I may get but right now I need to upgrade my barrel clamping system. The wood has worked for a ton of barrels but not this one so I need a STOUT one to make sure I can break it free.

For those that say get some sack to swing? I am really good with anvil hammers including the BFH variety for draft horse shoes which require 200 lb anvils, forge and BFH to turn a monster shoe for them. Hated the effort since it jarred through your shoulder, rattled your fillings and gave you headache by nightfall which is maybe why I am scheduled for 3rd shoulder surgery on April 1st! But it did pay REALLY well! Thankfully my degree career took off and hung up hammers!

Regret selling my coal forge couple years ago. Wished I kept it but it was taking up a lot of space in pole barn. Anvils too. DANG! Did get a nice build out of the sale!

 

[LuvDog]

My wife has heard the same grumblings from our basement

My wife makes those same grumbling s of disappointment in our bedroom

 

[Susquatch]

I just checked barrel and I am now seeing penetrant seeping out around the recoil lug!!! So I think I am getting real close to breaking it free now. I hate the wood blocks and looking to buy a good set of aluminum barrel blocks.

Suggestions? The Wheeler ones with urethane inside coating does not thrill me.

Note my lucky horseshoe! It is leftover from another lifetime and I keep it close!

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OK, thanks for the photos. I use a barrel wrench that is more or less a copy of yours that I made myself based on a design I saw in a gunsmithing book I bought 10 million years ago. The burnishing marks in your wood blocks are a testimony to your efforts.......

I use exactly the same wrench (a trailer hitch ball wrench) to tighten my barrel vice. I've never considered a bigger one. That wrench used on those nuts can totally crush the hardest oak block I've ever found.

Your action wrench design isn't totally clear to me though. I don't see a bar for it, nor can I see if it uses a screw to engage the front action screw in the action. If it doesn't do that, then I highly recommend adding that feature. But since you have not mentioned it, I assume your action wrench does not slip and all the slippage is in the barrel vice.

Earlier in your post, I believe you described the barrel as a Remington sporter. If so, the taper can be a huge issue. For a few factory rifles, with heavily tapered barrel contours, I have had to make special bushings out of epoxy to guarantee a good tight fit. I roughly described that process earlier. It has never failed me yet. (Knock on wood.)

That said, there are some actions that are too weak to trust. I never try to use a barrel vice to pull Browning X-Bolt barrels. I chuck them in my lathe and cut the lug out. (as I and others have already suggested in this thread).

BTW, I laughed when I saw the horse shoe. But I do think you might need a new one..... I have a son who has a million of them up his xxx. He just pulls one out whenever he gets in trouble.