Just a couple of 'tricks' I learned this week.....

I have rechambered / rebarreled a dozen or so Savage rifles in the last year or so. Just a couple of 'tricks' I discovered on my latest build......

If you are a professional gunsmith / machinist, I'm sure you know this, so please don't bust my bal**, just trying to help!

- bbl removal. This has been a mixed bag. I have had some come off pretty easy, others, I swear were welded on. My brand new Axis (5 shots through it) was ready for an Ackley Improved ream job.
(I discovered this working on a piece of electronic test equipment, I collect. The shaft for one of the controls was frozen)
So, I had the bbl action in a padded vise, with the muzzle up. I dribbled a 50/50 mixture of Kroil and lacquer thinner into the bbl nut. I did this multiple times over 2 days. I put the Wheeler Eng wrench on the nut, the bbl in a set of Aluminum jaws made for this purpose into my bench vice.
One whack with a dead blow hammer and the nut loosened right up. I have beat previous nuts many, many times before they moved.
Being this is a sample size of ONE, I can't predict how it will work again, until I do another bbl.
I thought if I had applied a 'little' heat, the hammer might have been un-necessary.....

- thread tapping. I have a small machine shop and make most of my own tooling for gun smithing. This means a lot of drilling / tapping. I always use the correct drill and have always used 'Tap Magic' or whatever good oil I had on hand. Today, I wad tapping a deep hole (6-32) in a piece of Aluminum. I could feel the tap binding, despite my '1/2 turn in - backup' routine. I felt sure the tap would break. I grabbed a container of "Lubro-Moly' and tried that. The tap went is so easy, I couldn't believe it.
This product has excellent reviews as a motor oil additive, but I just use it for lubing stuff in the shop......


FWIW

ron
N4UE

Thanks for the tips and tricks, keep'em coming. Hopefully, next year I can afford to purchase some equipment and do some rechambering.

Ive been trying to find kroil locally with no luck. Stuff is great. Works for barrel cleaning as well. I plan to use a mix of butches bore shine and kroil for cleaning my barrel.

Ps. Always was told kerosene works great tapping aluminum. I havent done it much

I read a study a while back, evaluating various penetrating fluids. This involved about 20 fluids, and the torque was measured which was required to loosen a controlled series of rusted bolts. What I remember is that the cheap Liquid Wrench was nearly as good as Kroil. The best by far was a 50:50 mixture of ATF (automatic trans fluid) and acetone! Makes sense that the dilution eases penetration. Also older studies showed ATF is about the best gun lube as well; think about the transmission environment and it makes sense; that's all I have used for years now. I thought Frog Lube was a good protector until I compared the two.

I just mixed up some Eds Red.based gun oil and bore cleaner to try.

1qt kerosene
1qt full synthetic transmission fluid
1lb lanolin
1 STP classic (paraffin)
Pulled 12oz out for gun oil its as good as advertised. No finger prints flows like the best.

To the remainer I added
1qt acetone
2 cans B-12 (carb cleaner)
This stuff is awesome bore cleaner and I put a little on a rusted pliers it literally weeped rust within a matter of a couple minutes the tight joined pliers was working like it did when it was forged.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CharlieNC

The best by far was a 50:50 mixture of ATF (automatic trans fluid) and acetone!.

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Its also a good for removing powder residue. It works as well as Kroil but its cheaper, smells and tastes better!:p I used some yesterday replacing the rotors and pads on my buddy's Dakota.

Another old goodie. Ever have trouble holding small screws to file or grind them when they're too long? Rather than trying to hold them with your fingers or a pliers make one of these for a few bucks.... http://www272.pair.com/stevewag/scre...rewholder.html

Bill

these little ideas , I think, are great. Thanks for posting this thread.

A little thing I've found that helps me when working on firearms is a piece of rigid insulation ( 1"x2'x2'). I lay foam on the bench and lay the firearm on it when I need to drive pins out of them. The pins push right into the foam.

Great tips guys- here's one that has worked for me:

For removing barrel nuts I will do as stated above, use a penetrating oil for a day or so trying to get it to seep into the threads. When its time to actually remove the nut I'll put the barreled receiver somewhere cool, in front of an ac etc- nothing extreme just cool it up a bit. Then after a while I'll get it set up in the vice with a container below and pour very hot water on the nut itself. Not boiling by any means but pretty hot, then the barrel comes off with a tap from the wrench easy as pie.

The heat expands the nut off the cooler metal just enough to help it come loose. The temps aren't extreme- nowhere near hot or cold enough to affect the metals but just enough to help a little.