I need an action wrench

[PhilC]

A rear action wrench used on some Savage actions may result in a twisted action. The design of the barrel nut assembly method lends itself to a nut wrench and a device to hold the action. Northlands action wrench holds the action just behind the nut and incorporates a bolt that screws into the action along with a clamp, so there is no chance of twisting the action body. Once the nut is loosened, the barrel is no longer being locked in place and, as long as there is no scope mount screw binding the threads, the barrel should unscrew with little effort - unless too much thread locker was used on the scope mount screw and it seeped into the tenon threads.

The one issue I've seen over and over with removing factory Savage barrel is the presence of shot peening media in the barrel nut threads. This will cause the nut to become locked up if it's backed off too much. That's when things get a lot more interesting. So the best method I've found is to just crack the barrel nut loose, then unscrew the barrel from the action. This allows use of various spray oils to move the media out of the threads as you spin the nut off the barrel, avoiding a nasty seizing of the nut on the barrel tenon.

I clamp the Northland action wrench in a vice, mount the barreled action into the action wrench, and then give the barrel nut wrench, which I've attached a 2 ft breaker bar to, a smack with a dead blow hammer while leaning on the breaker bar. Rarely does it take more than a couple blows to loosen the nut.

With this method I can change and carefully headspace a barrel in about 15 to 20 minutes.
How I do it as well.

[nksmfamjp]

For those of you without an action wrench, doesn’t the action move when tightening the nut causing a loss of headspace setting. Basically, my nut contacted the action and they both spun on the threads…..just a bit. I then used the smooth nut wrench as an action wrench. When I do again, I’ll pay the $50 for the NSS.

[Robinhood]

As long as you never use something pushed through the ejection and feed ports to stop action rotation, your probably ok

[Dave Hoback]

Seriously! That's CRINGE worthy just thinking about it. :o


Oh, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT..... can't ya just insert the BOLT, & use the HANDLE to leverage against the Action rotation? It's perfect! :black_eyed:

[Robinhood]

Seriously! That's CRINGE worthy just thinking about it. :o


Oh, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT..... can't ya just insert the BOLT, & use the HANDLE to leverage against the Action rotation? It's perfect! :black_eyed:

I know I have purchased rifles with twisted actions from this and based on some of our post on here Fred has repaired them too...so it does happen. We also saw an action that the guy had tried to us the recoil lug to hold the action and ripped the recoil pin across the face of the action destroying it beyond repair. The guy actually came on the forum and talked about what happened(archives). It is one of those beginner Savage smith things.

[Dave Hoback]

Yes, I’m no longer surprised by even the dumbest “Firearms Follies”. When you’ve watched a person have a fail to fire and inspect the cause by STARING DOWN THE BARREL...... kinda all downhill at that point. :( I know I’m not alone in this, Lol!

[celltech]

For those of you without an action wrench, doesn’t the action move when tightening the nut causing a loss of headspace setting. Basically, my nut contacted the action and they both spun on the threads…..just a bit. I then used the smooth nut wrench as an action wrench. When I do again, I’ll pay the $50 for the NSS.

I usually use the bolt to slightly restrain the action when tightening up the barrel nut. But I am also not in a hurry so I will put the receiver on just a tad tight and the nut backs it off a bit. I just play around with it a while until the headspace is right where I want it.

[Texas10]

I know I have purchased rifles with twisted actions from this and based on some of our post on here Fred has repaired them too...so it does happen. We also saw an action that the guy had tried to us the recoil lug to hold the action and ripped the recoil pin across the face of the action destroying it beyond repair. The guy actually came on the forum and talked about what happened(archives). It is one of those beginner Savage smith things.

That'd be a savage smith, as opposed to a Savage smith...lol

[Robinhood]

That'd be a savage smith, as opposed to a Savage smith...lol

OOOOH, Double Entendre!

[wbm]

Got a double entree on accident at Wendy's Sunday.

[mnbogboy2]

Mikie, I'm not sure what you're not understanding.

YOUR words: "Cranked it down on a Stainless Steel Savage action, broke the nut loose but couldn't spin the barrel"

This is a result of the Action Wrench BOLTS being cranked down too much which crushes the Action & Barrel threads into one another, preventing the barrel from turning. It's only a few thousandths. Quite a simple concept here, and has nothing to do with the Wheeler Action Wrench. What does that have to do with a super tight barrel nut? It's TWO different conversations. Nothing wrong with the Internal Action Wrench. If you prefer it, awesome. Wouldn't work well for me though... only having one hand & all, LOL! And they really should be used in conjunction with a Barrel Vice. Otherwise, what are you mounting the setup to? Can't freehand it.

BTW: I've never had a problem "pulling my hair out" over a barrel nut. I was a professional Auto Tech. I dealt with seized nuts & bolts that made the tightest Savage Barrel nut seem like a greased wing nut. Good trick is to tighten the nut first. Just bump it slightly. This breaks the sieze, then loosen. Typically one good SMACK with a mini sledge. Works like a charm.
This^^^^^^^. If the action bolts are too tight the barrel will not turn in the action by hand, it should turn in and out by hand as easily as the nut turns in and out by jand.