How to remove smooth barrel nut?

[grendelguy]

I have a model 10p-sr and it has a smooth barrel but. If it doesn't sell I am going to rebarrel to .260. I would appreciate any insight on a good way to remove the smooth barrel but. I plan to use a precision ground, slotted barrel but with new barrel.

[LHitchcox]

A pipe wrench will get it off, but it will be marred. There are nut wrenches for smooth nuts, but I have never used one.

[drybean]

+1 pipe wrench works every time
replace with a standard nut

[grendelguy]

Thanks, not worried about roughing it up. It will get a slotted barrel nut replacement.

[clintsrv]

I cut one off with a Dremel one time. You have to be careful though for obvious reasons.
Good luck.

[RevM]

Pipe wrench. The barrel nut wrench I bought came with the special smooth nut wrench. I destroyed that wrench trying to get the nut broken loose. Picked up a $10 pipe wrench and had it off in no time.

[rob.dizz.89]

I have a solution for you. I recently bought and just received a Wheeler Engineering Barrel Nut Wrench Set for Savage Arms barrels. Not only does it include the slotted-end wrench for newer style nuts (which you said you will convert to after you remove the smooth nut), but it also includes a wrench with a smooth end made especially for smooth nuts. To me it makes the most sense to purchase this set that way your covered for both style barrel nuts in the future.

[RevM]

Rob -- that is the set I described in my post just above yours. In my experience the wrench could not be tightened sufficiently to turn the smooth barrel nut as it was torqued from the factory. I spent far more time and energy than it was worth trying to get the smooth nut wrench to work.

[rob.dizz.89]

Rob -- that is the set I described in my post just above yours. In my experience the wrench could not be tightened sufficiently to turn the smooth barrel nut as it was torqued from the factory. I spent far more time and energy than it was worth trying to get the smooth nut wrench to work.

Hey Rev my bad I just skimmed over the thread and missed your post. I will defer to your first hand knowledge since I've never removed a smooth barrel nut myself.

[jpdown]

The quickest and easiest way to remove a smooth barrel nut from the factory is to use a pipe wrench and replace it with a slotted or smooth nut. With all the blasting grit and bluing salts they are tough to break loose the first time even with a SSS smooth nut wrench. Then I would invest in the Wheeler nut wrench set mentioned above and sell which ever wrench (slotted or smooth) I didn't need in the classified's.

[wbm]

With all the blasting grit and bluing salts they are tough to break loose

I'll say! I have done three smooth barrel nuts. One on a lightweight hunter and two on Axis rifles. All of them took a pipe wrench to get it done. Bad news is that on two of the three the barrel broke free but the nut would not budge....I tried everything from soaking in Kroil to heating but nothing worked. they had to be cut with a Dremel tool. Once I got the two nuts off you could see the problem. The blueing salts were like a fine grit in the threads. The barrel might as well have been glued on!

[blades]

I also tried that wheeler wrench Revm described and it does not work at all.pipe wrench and a hammer is what I use. Sometimes getting the nut off the barrel is a pita if you don't have a barrel vice.

[n4ue]

Wheeler Engineering and a 'heat wrench' (MAPP gas)..... Never had a problem....

ron

[RevM]

Wheeler Engineering and a 'heat wrench' (MAPP gas)..... Never had a problem....

ron

The heat may make all the difference if you actually want to reuse the smooth nut. Otherwise I'd still go straight to the pipe wrench.

[gerard488]

Just wondering, What if you wrapped the barrel nut with a few wraps fine sandpaper and then put a pipe wrench on it? worked once for me on a hydraulic cylinder.

[bluealtered]

The smooth nut wrench does work, (if you have the brass shim) first you have to replace the bolt on it with a grade 8 bolt. I found the grade 8 at our john deere dealer, after that it came off even though it was the hardest barrel nut i have ever had to fight with.

[Rifleshooter308]

Some of them just seem welded on! First bit of advice as noted above is sacrafice the smooth nut. Second is soak the threads in PB Blaster for a few hours. That really helps. If your still struggling with the pipe wrench then hit it for a few seconds with a propane torch. The heat will help brake the threads loose.

[FW Conch]

+1 on the propane, if it is a "tough nut"! :))

[RevM]

The smooth nut wrench does work, (if you have the brass shim) first you have to replace the bolt on it with a grade 8 bolt. I found the grade 8 at our john deere dealer, after that it came off even though it was the hardest barrel nut i have ever had to fight with.

Not to beat this to death ... but I used the brass shim that came with the wrench ... broke the screw that came with it ... bought an appropriate grade-8 replacement screw ... torqued the heck out of it and still couldn't get it to budge with the smooth nut wrench ... just smeared brass all over the surface of the nut. With the pipe wrench it was very easy, but of course tore up the surface of the nut. Based on my experience I won't even bother with that exercise in the future.

Some of them may come off like butter (the "blue wrench" may help as well) ... but this is all just a word to the wise. Unless you don't mind waiting for part to be shipped to you in the middle of a project, make sure you have a pipe wrench and a slotted nut on hand to replace the smooth nut which is not unlikely to be damaged when removed.

[the Ranger]

are you guys using the Wheeler smooth nut wrench with a barrel vise?

if you are, that could be the issue. my experience was that when I tightened the bolt on the wrench, the pressure needed to lock wrench to nut also locked nut to barrel. so if I had been using a barrel vise it would have been a no-go. I used my homemade action wrench and the barrel came loose from the action no problem. removing the wrench then allowed the nut to be removed from the barrel by hand, after working the blasting beads out of the threads. this worked so slick that I reused the smooth nut on my new barrel.