that's what i went to lowes for, but none were short enough in 1/4-28. i bought 2 just in case
stubborn factory barrel removal
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that's what i went to lowes for, but none were short enough in 1/4-28. i bought 2 just in case
bigngreen
Well-Known Member
Your much more likely to hurt stuff if you try to unscrew it with just torque like a wrench, sharp impact removes stuff way better, I've though about making an adapter for my air hammer for removing barrels, it would roll them right of.
Many times I can remove large fasteners with a smaller metal hammer hammer vs a dead blow, the dead blow excels when driving a shaft since it's more push than shock, air hammer are all shock and move things that seem to be frozen like melting butter.
Many times I can remove large fasteners with a smaller metal hammer hammer vs a dead blow, the dead blow excels when driving a shaft since it's more push than shock, air hammer are all shock and move things that seem to be frozen like melting butter.
Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. After letting it soak for 24 hrs with Kroil; I went out and bought a grade 8, 1/4x28 bolt to fit the receiver/action wrench, ground a two opposing flat spots on the barrel and secured it in the barrel vise. Proceeded to beat on the action wrench handle with a 24 oz framing hammer, nothing. next biggest hammer I have is an 8 lb sledge, the barrel starts to spin again! Wrench down on the barrel vise, use the 18" cresent wrench to beat on the action wrench handle, nothing. 8 lb sledge again and the barrel starts to spin.
Okay need to try something different... grab the portaband and cut between the recoil lug and barrel shoulder all the way around. Try again and after putting some decent force to it the barrel twisted off! Must have cut too deep!
Ground on the recoil lug until I could get it off. Tried an easy-out in the barrel stub, but no luck. Put the action wrench blocks in the vise and tack welded a piece of scrap iron to the barrel stub and finally it broke free!!
I was a bit concerned about heat transfer into the receiver, but after getting everything unscrewed I could hold my hand against the receiver and action wrench for a couple seconds and I poured water on it and nothing sizzled so I'm pretty sure it didn't affect any heat treatment.
Okay need to try something different... grab the portaband and cut between the recoil lug and barrel shoulder all the way around. Try again and after putting some decent force to it the barrel twisted off! Must have cut too deep!
Ground on the recoil lug until I could get it off. Tried an easy-out in the barrel stub, but no luck. Put the action wrench blocks in the vise and tack welded a piece of scrap iron to the barrel stub and finally it broke free!!
I was a bit concerned about heat transfer into the receiver, but after getting everything unscrewed I could hold my hand against the receiver and action wrench for a couple seconds and I poured water on it and nothing sizzled so I'm pretty sure it didn't affect any heat treatment.
J E Custom
Well-Known Member
Not trying to be a smart *** but it sounds like you would have been better off going to a Smith that has the right tools.
J E CUSTOM
25WSM
Well-Known Member
Wowser. Sounds like you got the record for most stuck barrel.
shortgrass
Well-Known Member
Sounds like instructions on how NOT to remove a barrel, to me. Turned a simple job, when approached with the proper tools, to a nightmare. I've looked at a lot of the commercially made barrel vises and action wrenches and none of them look like 'much' to me.
I'll admit things didn't work how I would have liked them to and I would do things differently if I had the chance, but it worked in the end. Looking back, the portaband cut too quickly not allowing me to see how deep it was cutting. A lathe would be the right tool for the job but, for the average person, a slower approach with a dremel or hacksaw would be a better idea. I think the barrel vise would have been sufficient if I would have had aluminum blocks machined to the barrel but, again, most people don't have access to equipment to make those.
I appreciate all the advice everyone has provided.
I appreciate all the advice everyone has provided.
MNbogboy
Well-Known Member
Often some of us don't have the funds to buy all the tools we need nor the money to afford a smith.
Ingenuity gets a lot of people to their final goal. As a former heavy equipment field mechanic I always said you can fix almost anything with a welder, grinder and a torch.
Your case the welder came through.
Heat transfer from welding probably loosened the thread sealant.
Here's a what if:
1. cut the barrel off somewhere forward of the chamber (6-10")
2. slide a large nut over the cut end, weld all around.
3. grab the action with action wrench.
4. Take a 3/4" impact wrench to the welded on nut.
My bet it would work slick.
Glad you got it off.
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J E Custom
Well-Known Member
I can appreciate the do it your self attitude, but a person needs to know his limits before he gets into trouble. I know he learned the hard way and I am sorry he had so much trouble but one of the first things I learned from a master gunsmith was never to force anything on a firearm. There is a tool made for, or a reason that something will not come apart and resorting to grinding, welding or heating should never be part of any procedure and should not even be allowed in a gun shop.
The harsh reality is that if a person doesn't have the skill, the money and/or the tools, Don't try to build a weapon/rifle,it can kill you. I see ruined actions, barrels and even triggers all the time, and any savings were lost when half if not all the components/parts had to be replaced because of damage that could not be overcome safely. Just because they look OK doesn't mean they are. Many times while magna fluxing or die penetrate checking cracks have been found that were not visible to the naked eye that could/would have failed when fired.
Don't get me wrong, like other smiths I have had my failures also, but using some finesse, they were not catastrophic. Gunsmithing cannot be learned over night and takes many years. Most never stop learning if they would admit it.
So my advice would be to anyone thinking about doing gunsmithing that are not familiar with the process or don't have someone to coach them through it. save your money and spend it wisely by taking it to a good smith to do the work.
By the poster telling his story, he may have prevented someone else from getting into this kind of mess and just maybe prevented someone from getting hurt or worse. I commend him for his honesty and openness (It is very hard for some of us to admit we made a mistake).
J E CUSTOM
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MNbogboy
Well-Known Member
I guess when I posted I forgot about the twisted actions ruined by guys that forgot to think first. Only experience will give a person confidence to tackle some of the things required in your trade.
Definitely are things even accomplished "do it your selfers" are not equipped to do. I've run into a couple of 700 barrels that will "shake" your teeth loose when they snap loose. Releasing them on a lathe would have been easier.
All the members on here should listen to your and the other true smiths in this forum before tackling a job they are unfamiliar with or unsure of.
Definitely are things even accomplished "do it your selfers" are not equipped to do. I've run into a couple of 700 barrels that will "shake" your teeth loose when they snap loose. Releasing them on a lathe would have been easier.
All the members on here should listen to your and the other true smiths in this forum before tackling a job they are unfamiliar with or unsure of.
shortgrass
Well-Known Member
I recently re-chambered a modern made Sharps rifle, from .45-70 to .45-110. This could not be done by hand, so the barrel needed to be removed. It was torqued on very tight. I worried I might crack the action. With a bit of thought I was able to safely remove the barrel and then re-install it after the re-chambering. An octagon barrel that had to be timed perfectly, for looks and for the open sights. Not a mark on it. You'd never know I had been there, except for the .45-70 now being a .45-110. And today I am at the machine shop removing the bucket from a Komatsu 200 for pins, bushings, and welding up holes that don't take a bushing, and line boring them to size for proper pin fit.
shortgrass
Well-Known Member
In the 28yrs I have been removing barrels from rifles, a Rem. 700 has never given me a problem, and I have re-barreled many, probably upwards of 300-350, quit possibly more than that...... You want real tight, try a model P14 or Model 1917,,,,,, or a Howa/Weatherby Vanguard,,,, and some of the Tikkas can make ya' sweat, too. I see way too many simple jobs gone wrong brought to my shop by people who did not have the proper tools or were not sure "how to go about" the task. In any 'field' the moto should be "do no harm". Attacking a barrel because "it has to come off" just raises the possibility of disaster. The potential of a cracked or twisted receiver making it totally unusable is always there. These aren't 1" , grd 8 nuts and bolts.
MNbogboy
Well-Known Member
I'm with you guys, after spending 7 years as a design & project engineer in a manufacturing plant, which had a sizeable machine shop with 5 experimental machinists at my beck and call the realization came that no one person can and do it all.
I do miss access to all that equipment and the help these guys provided.
Spent the next 20 years designing equipment for another plant but the experience of the old school machinists wasn't there. If I had a "government" project I had to walk them through it.
Definitely there is no substitute for experience.
I do miss access to all that equipment and the help these guys provided.
Spent the next 20 years designing equipment for another plant but the experience of the old school machinists wasn't there. If I had a "government" project I had to walk them through it.
Definitely there is no substitute for experience.
