Gunsmithing Removing a stuck barrel?

[D Miller]

Last night Fireguyty and I tried to remove a barrel on his old .243 rem 700. Normally factory barrels are tight and can require some force to remove but this one was ridiculous. My normal barrel vice was ineffective due to the needle dick hunting barrel so got out the shop vice jaws in hopes of getting enough clamping force. No luck with that, in fact we managed to break the whole damn Harbor Freight vice.

Tried again at a friends house with his vice and still no luck.

Soaking it in a penetrating oil, pneumatic impact gun and heating the barrel with a propane torch have been suggested. Im a little hesitant on heating it because i don't know at what temps it starts to adversely affect the action. The impact gun on the PTG action wrench cant be healthy for the race ways i would think.

How do the pros recommend getting a stuck 30 year old factory Remy barrel out of an action at this point? Dont care about damage to the barrel only the action.

Thanks

 

[ric44]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

Heat that mother.....you wont get it hot enough with propane to do it any harm unless you camp out on it. Shouldnt take much anyway just make sure you heat the receiver all the way around. Had to do a Savage not long ago. They had evidently used some thread locker at the factory but a bit of heat and voila.
PS
If your serious about rebarreling get a barrel vice. Its so much easier.

 

[Gene Poole]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

You could try to use a whiz-wheel to cut out the recoil lug. That will relieve some tension and if you still can't get it off it will at least give you a better shot at getting penetrating oil/heat onto the threads.

 

[Brain]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

Yep, heat it until you see goo oozing from the joint and the forward base mounting hole.

Not only is it a good indicator of temp so that you don't overheat, but you're also breaking down the thread lock that Rem applies liberally at the factory.

 

[x ring accuracy]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

Gets some Kroil anywhere you can to get it to the threads. Let it sit overnight. Use a good action wrench and 24" pipe wrench, provided you are not trying to save the barrel.

 

[matthias]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

if you have access to a lathe chuck the receiver up and cut the damn thing off. i just had a mauser where the barrel would not come off at all thats what i needed to do.

 

[762frmafr]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

Chop Saw the barrel off so that the tennon is still in the action. Remove the recoil lug and you will have enough material to clamp on to. At that time you should be able to just unscrew the action from the tennon.

 

[D Miller]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 762frmafr</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Chop Saw the barrel off so that the tennon is still in the action. Remove the recoil lug and you will have enough material to clamp on to. At that time you should be able to just unscrew the action from the tennon. </div></div>

I like that idea! I will keep the heat as a back up plan.

Thanks guys

 

[my human host]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

The easiest way I've found is to put the barreled action in the lathe. Action in the chuck and the bore riding on the live center.

Take a parting tool and cut into the barrel a few thou away from the recoil lug. Go in a hundred thou or so. It takes the stress off the recoil shoulder of the barrel and they spin off without much trouble.

 

[ugsly]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

+1 on cutting a relief infront of the lug.

 

[STR]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

Damn, you really gotta easy off the working out. You put a hurting on that vise!!! Sent you a PM.

 

[Powder_Burns]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

Time to buy a real vice, eh?

 

[LibertyArms]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

Try kroil and let it sit a day

 

[2156SMK]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Powder Burns</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Time to buy a real vice, eh? </div></div>

I'm not even sure why a bench vise gets used removing a 700 barrel...
I use a real barrel vise and action wrench with a 4ft cheater pipe when needed and they always come right apart with a good "pop"...

 

[D Miller]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 2156SMK</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Powder Burns</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Time to buy a real vice, eh? </div></div>

I'm not even sure why a bench vise gets used removing a 700 barrel...
I use a real barrel vise and action wrench with a 4ft cheater pipe when needed and they always come right apart with a good "pop"... </div></div>

Well, because it didnt fit in my real barrel vice due to the thin hunting contour and i dont have the fancy one with bushings. So it was on to the bench vice with jaw inserts for a thin hunting/AR barrel.

That's exactly what we did with the cheater bar, only the vice went pop instead of the barrel.

I have a rematch with this barrel planed for this weekend.


And a real vice is on the garage wish list.

 

[2156SMK]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: D. Miller</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

Well, because it didnt fit in my real barrel vice due to the thin hunting contour and i dont have the fancy one with bushings.</div></div>

Gotcha, so you don't have a real barrel vise then.

Barrel vises with bushings are the only way to go.

The thin remington barrels use the same bushing as the heavy barrels.
The back 3" or so is the same on almost all factory 700 barrels.
The profile is just different forward of the first taper forward of the lug.

 

[wadebrown]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

You mentioned that the impact gun can't have been good for the bolt raceways, it sounds like you are using an internal action wrench. As a general rule you should use an external action wrench when removing a factory barrel so you do not twist the action.

I know folks are going to chime in saying they use the internal wrench all the time for factory barrels and yes most times you may be lucky but it is a risk.

wade

 

[RWSGunsmithing]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

This guy.

And this.

Plus a short cheater bar will easily remove a rem 700 barrel even the old crusty ones. Don't use a internal wrench to remove a barrel from a 700. You asking for trouble doing that.

 

[x ring accuracy]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

Right, I swear by my Surgeon wrench but NEVER to remove a factory barrel. I have my old stand by external wrench.

 

[ugsly]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

+1 on the surgeon wrench, they're great for torquing down barrels and taking off, just wouldnt use it to take a factory barrel off.

Kc

 

[lestersurv]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

Have had to use a PipeWrench twice on Rem 700 barrels. Put the action into Brownells Action Wrench, stood on the handle with one foot and then banged other foot on pipewrench (wearing heavy sole boots) and loosened right up.

Barrel was still in half decent shape, in fact I sold both my wrenched removals for $25ea, noting that there was some wrench scarring. Never a complaint from either buyer and much better solution for time and money required. Oh, the bigger the pipewrench, the better... Also helps to have (obviously) removed the trigger from the action

 

[NYresq]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

You need to heat the action, not the barrel!!! Heat causes the steel to expand, thus heating the barrel and not the action will actually make the joint tighter as the barrel expands inside the action...

If you heat the receiver, it will expand out away from the barrel creating more room (only measurable with extreme precision instruments, but its still MORE room) inside the action and freeing up the barrel. If its a factory action, this will also melt the thread locker they use...

 

[PCR]

Re: Removing a stuck barrel?

With a stubborn (rusted, glued, whatever) factory barreled action, we turn the brownells wrench around so the lug cut out on the wrench faces the rear or bridge. That way, it doesn't clamp the barrel thread tenon under the ring. Little heat on the barrel in front of the lug and it comes loose surprisingly easy.