Smooth Barrel Nut Wrench as an Action Wrench

I have a very nice Brownell's action wrench that was custom fit for Savages and will also do Remington, Mauser, M1 Garand and M1A actions. But, the thing is HUGE and very heavy. I wanted a lightweight field kit to use at the range with my one and only Axis switch barrel rifle, but couldn't find anything small and light. I have a Wheeler barrel nut wrench kit that came with a smooth barrel nut wrench as well as the slotted one and have used the smooth one to disassemble new smooth nut acquisitions, then replacing the smooth nut with a slotted one.

The idea to try the smooth barrel nut as an action wrench, for rifles that have already had the gorilla torqued factory nuts loosened, sort of popped into my head. Sure enough, it works great. I did replace the bolt that came with it that had snapped on the first use, with a grade 8, other than it is stock. I can get the nut plenty tight and it fits easily into my rifle bag along with a slotted barrel nut wrench. Nine Pounds vs 20 ounces! I may post a photo later. When using it on Savages with the recoil lug between the barrel nut and the action, you would have to remove the trigger assembly which is a bit of a pain to say the least. I realized this AFTER I had originally tested it for fit on an Axis and a bare 110 Action! I went to try it on a barreled 110 and the inability to slide the wrench over the recoil lug became rather apparent. :rolleyes:



This listing on Midway shows the wrench combo I have.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1006552646?pid=288765

Have any of you ever used one that way?

Have you measure the diameter of the barrel nut?

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Originally Posted by Robinhood

Have you measure the diameter of the barrel nut?

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Thanks for reminding me of one step that I forgot to mention.

The ID of the wrench with the brass shim in place, once it has been used, might be too tight to easily fit over the action, without removing the brass shim. It works fine without the shim, but I liked the idea of the shim to protect the action from scratches, so I expanded the opening a bit, back to almost to where it was when new, so it fits over the action with the brass shim installed. That was done by removing the compressing bolt and inserting it from the other direction with a washer in the slot to push against the opposite jaw surface rather than just entering the unthreaded hole on the other side. Tighten the bolt until the wrench just slips over the action with the shim installed and you are good to go.

If you use it again on a barrel nut you may need to open it back up again to use it on an action. It doesn't take much movement so don't over do it. If it is a new wrench it will probably fit on the action without the need to expand it. You might eventually break the tool if you compress and expand it repeatedly, to switch between barrel nuts and actions though the small amount of movement would likely take a lot of cycles to break it. I have two so I will use one for smooth barrel nuts and one just for actions.

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Originally Posted by Robinhood

Have you measure the diameter of the barrel nut?

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Usually named by the action thread size. Small thread or large thread. Only a few of the target actions and some of the short fat magnums use the large thread. Probably 99 per cent are small thread.

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Originally Posted by LHitchcox

Usually named by the action thread size. Small thread or large thread. Only a few of the target actions and some of the short fat magnums use the large thread. Probably 99 per cent are small thread.

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I am a bit confused by your comment. We are talking about the outside diameter of the barrel nuts which is not really related to the shank size be it large or small shank from what I am seeing. The smooth barrel nuts are about the same diameter as the action. Standard barrel nuts are slightly smaller than the OD of the action.

Barrel Nut Diameters

Small Shank Barrel Nuts (5 measured) 1.295" to 1.305
Large Shank Barrel Nuts (2) 1.30" to 1.305"
Small Shank Smooth Nuts (2) 1.345" to 1.35"

Action Diameters

Small Shank (4) 1.35" to 1.355"
Large Shank (2) 1.345" to 1.35"

The nuts and the actions vary several thousandths in diameter as you move around the clock but those numbers give the range I found on the quantities listed. I don't know if my sampling is a good example of the bulk of Savage parts and actions out there or not. I have a bunch more actions but they are all in stocks and I can't measure the OD of the nuts or the actions without removing them.

So, depending on the diameter of your action and the barrel nut that the smooth barrel nut wrench was used on, you may or may not need to expand it before it will easily fit on the action.

Here is a photo of the wrench on the action. Note: This is not a quick and easy option on regular Savages but it is great on an Axis, per the edit in my first post since you cannot slide it past the barrel nut! Maybe this whole thread should be moved to the Axis sub forum?

https://i.postimg.cc/7ZbkhRBb/smooth...rench-Copy.jpg

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I am a bit confused by your comment. We are talking about the outside diameter of the barrel nuts which is not really related to the shank size be it large or small shank from what I am seeing. The smooth barrel nuts are about the same diameter as the action. Standard barrel nuts are slightly smaller than the OD of the action.

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Got me too.


If it works good news. The Smooth nuts are plus or minus 3.343"

I have the same set and have used the wrench for the smooth barrel nut on my mdl 11 and 16 actions. It worked fine. I did drill and tap it for a 1/4-28 and bought a grade 8 bolt for it.