Shot blast media under barrel nut

[zap]

What are you guys doing to get the nut spun off the barrels threads with all the steel shot in the threads, without doing any harm to the threads?

[jpdown]

Not much you can do since it is caked in there with bluing and what I believe is cosmoline, a rust inhibitor. I just use Kroil to loosen it up and a pipe wrench to remove the nut.

[foxx]

First, I m careful INITIALLY tighten the screws on my action wrench more than heavy finger-tight (let the recoil lug catch the side of the recess in the wrench to keep it from spinning) then, as soon as it "breaks free" with the blow to the nut wrench with a heavy hammer, loosen the screws so as to be sure NOT to be "squeezing" the action with the wrench. Then twist the barrel out. Once the barrel is out, I have more trouble getting the nut off the barrel. For that, I brush off the threads with a tooth brush, then spray with WD-40 and try to remove it. Sometimes it will only move 1 turn before stopping... back it up and wipe down/brush again and spray again with WD-40. I might repeat this a few times but the 3-4th time it usually starts turning freely. I am sure KROIL would work better.

[BigDave]

What are you guys doing to get the nut spun off the barrels threads with all the steel shot in the threads, without doing any harm to the threads?

Oh, THAT"S what that shiny stuff is. I dont need my barrel nut removed. But I could not figure out what was going on in there. I can see it. A LOT of shiny stuff wedged in there. OK, mystery solved. Thank you.

[Gary8907]

I'm still looking for my first Savage donor gun for a build that I want to do, so I have no first hand knowledge of the problem that the OP asked about. However, I have seen posts about the "stuff" in the barrel nut threads before and I didn't pay too much attention to them, but this thread really caught my eye. How in the world does Savage Arms continue to let this be a manufacturing practice, and what has their reply been when confronted with this problem? I'm astounded by his lack of attention to detail in their workmanship. This will not prevent me from buying a Savage rifle, but I still can't understand their reasoning for not fixing the process. There, that's my rant for the day and I feel much better now.

[foxx]

Gary, I don't think they view the stuff as a problem for them or the gun. It causes no harm. If anything, it could be viewed as a type of thread-lock and actually advantageous in that regard. They don't build these things with the do-it-yourself barrel-swapper in mind.

Also, as far as I am concerned, I would not want them to have to raise their prices so as to accommodate DIY'ers in this regard. I am happy to remove the stuff when necessary.

Changing the design of their bolt release and barrel nuts, on the other hand, irks me quite a bit.

[Gary8907]

Gary, I don't think they view the stuff as a problem for them or the gun. It causes no harm. If anything, it could be viewed as a type of thread-lock and actually advantageous in that regard. They don't build these things with the do-it-yourself barrel-swapper in mind.

Also, as far as I am concerned, I would not want them to have to raise their prices so as to accommodate DIY'ers in this regard. I am happy to remove the stuff when necessary.

Changing the design of their bolt release and barrel nuts, on the other hand, irks me quite a bit.


I appreciate your reply and I understand what you're saying, but I still have to wonder if damage is being done to the threads when they're being assembled at the factory, but that's an entirely separate discussion. Now if I could only find that low priced donor rifle I could ................

[J.Baker]

#1 It's not blasting media, it's tumbling residue. Savage doesn't blast anything, they use large vibratory tumblers
#2 The threads can't be damaged during assembly at the factory by this residue because the parts are assembled BEFORE they are tumbled.

The large vibratory tumblers mentioned above have a rotisserie-like carousel in them that holds 42 assembled barreled actions. The media used is cone-shaped polishing stones.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/MrFurious45833/Gun%20Stuff/2Mvc-012f.jpg~original

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/MrFurious45833/Gun%20Stuff/2Mvc-013f.jpg~original

[Texas10]

Nice shot of the manufacturing process J.Baker. I especially enjoy those insights, having been in manufacturing for many years. Is it possible that the de-burring process pictured is used for Blued finishes only as it produces a much finer finish than blasting? Upon opening the box, I also noticed that my new Model 12 BVSS did have what appeared to be SS blast media under the barrel nut, as well as inside the action around the barrel threads, along with some kind of grease. I've got to say if kind of shocked me to see that residue. Pain in the backside to try to remove.

[zap]

Gary, they are doing this process when the barrel and action are already put together, so their wont be any damage to the threads at assembly. But, their is potential to damage threads when taking one apart, and that is why i asked the question .

Jim, thanks for updating us in the process. At first i thought that this was only on the axis, lwh, and lady hunter models or any model that has the "matte" finish. I figured that to get that type of finish, that they would have had to used some kind of shot peening process, but i was wrong . I noticed in an older post , where someone posted a picture of the tiny bb's in the threads, and it was NOT, a matte finished barrel, it was the normal blue.
I took apart a blued barrel from a flat back action last year, and it had nice, clean threads, thats why I assumed it was only on those models with the matte finish.
Thanks everyone !!!

[J.Baker]

Savage started using this process around 2003 or so. Matte finished guns would go through this process once, while those guns getting the high polish blued finish would be treated to a second polishing that used a finer grit media. Prior to the implementation of this process everything was hand polished on large buffing wheels - which is why so many of the flats on the old flat-top actions weren't level.

[sharpshooter]

If you pay attention to what is on the shelves you'll see less vibratory tumble finished guns and more that are shot blasted. The ones that are shot blasted are black parkerized, not blued. It is a way of cutting production costs in this greedy corporate climate.

[zap]

Sharpshooter, do i need to worry about the shot blast bb's when disassembling ? Or just put a pipe wrench on that smooth nut and keep turning until it is off ?
Could you explain how you get that nut off for us ??
As of now, I am going to do what Foxx stated above.

[sharpshooter]

First thing I do is give it a blast of carb cleaner, followed by compressed air. Once the nut is broke loose, unscrew the receiver. Then blast the nut with more carb cleaner and air while unscrewing it. As long as you are screwing the nut away from the muzzle, the shot is left behind just in the gap of the relieved threads in the nut. Once you get them apart, inspect the barrel threads and the threads in the nut. You may have to use a dental pick to remove some that are stuck.

[zap]

Awesome ! , thank you !!