Leather is the trick. Get the thickest stuff you can find (within reason). I’m using 8/9oz (3.6mm) vegetable tanned full-grain cowhide leather. After clamping on your first barrel it’ll ‘form’ to the clamp, which makes it easy to place. I haven’t had any trouble since using this (albeit with a Viper vise), even clamping onto barrels where the fluting is fairly aggressive at the clamping spot. Just pick up a sheet of the leather and cut the strips slightly deeper than the clamp block’s barrel channel, and as long as you can without interfering with the clamp bolts.
Much appreciated!
Just use a hydraulic press if dealing with old Mausers. Kidding! (not really...)
What do you mean it won't work? It holds a good enough grip to get off tikkas which are notorious for needing relief cuts by people who don't lift.
.......by people who don't lift
Was the barrel slipping? That’s what actually causes the surface damage with most vises. The leather will fix that, but you really have to have the vise cranked tight. I like the 4-bolt vises since you can really put a lot of clamping force on them with less need for a breaker bar.
so i didn't have thick leather but cut up a leather work glove and that didn't give enough grip inside the wood bushings to get my tikka barrel off. because i didn't think factory tikka barrels had any sort of resale value, i just clamped mine in my machine vise and had to REALLY clamp it such that the jaws marred and scratched and gouged the barrel and i finally got it off. that was after soaking the joint for a full 24 hours in kroil.
Find a tandy leather, Horse Tack or leatherworking shop nearby. Every city has 1 or 3. Get the heaviest Veg Tan leather you can find, only needs to be about 2" wide and maybe 6 inches long.
Well there is your problem. A piece of a leather glove is not even 1/4 as thick or compressible as we are talking about.
Do you wrap the barrel or just lay it across the top or bottom?
Wrap the barrel so there is a bit of overlap for a MTU or full profile barrel (Whatever you shoot). It will squeeze down and grip the barrel. I want atleast one layer of leather between all contact points and the barrel. This is how you keep barrel from getting nicked or finish getting jacked up.
Worked like a champ! Since I'm so impatient with things like this, I managed to find an actual leather belt that no longer fit and cut off about 6". My daughter provided the extra set of hands, and with only about half of my 220lbs, this barrel/receiver broke loose. Now just have to wait for the new parts to arrive. No breaker bar needed, used a 12" Cresent to tighter the barrel vise, and a Northland Shooter's Supply action wrench to break things loose.
