I present:
Exhibit A (BCM Blem)
Exhibit B (ARP CLE 12.5")
Exhibits FC and WW,CD (repurposed stick o wood/dowel and unloved Olympic Arms barrel)
So I had the ARP barrel in the freezer for a good 4 days.
I assembled the upper (door removed since) tried to true the receiver face but the Brownells receiver lapping tool wouldn't slide in. Maybe I wasn't using the proper finesse.
Anyway I said fuck it, lets assemble it. That was at about 3:00 AM after being woken up to perform a chore.
After using a heat gun, I failed to get my barrel in (
insert That's What She Said joke here). Heated again, finally got it in, but didn't get the pin aligned.
Fuck me.
So I tried hammering with a rubber mallet using the dowel (
Exhibit Fail City), while the upper was still a bit toasty, but got nowhere. The dowel had been recommended and successful in non-thermal fitting barrel removal duty, to break the Loctite seal, etc. Trash can under barrel to catch it.
I tried again today, with feeling. Still no luck. I had been contemplating what bar stock or metal I had. Then I remembered the "shot out" Olympic Barrel (
Exhibit Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner) that a buddy gave me after he replaced it with a Larue. At first I am like I might need to remove the MD, but no, stupid, thats narrower and you expose the threads to the upper. I double checked and it was seating nicely.
Sure enough after 5 blows it was starting to move and I got it out.
Hot damn. I was able to put that Olympic barrel to a good purpose, and now I have another tool in my arsenal and remove a thermal fitted barrel much quicker in the future.
The ARP barrel is back in the freezer.
I really need to look again and see why the receiver facing tool didn't seat in the upper.
And clean up some splinter debris out of the upper and barrel.