Printable View
Got around to attempting to take the barrel off of the MSR15 Recon. Barrel nut IS proprietary and measures about 29.4mm if memory serves correct.
Savage will not sell a wrench nor will they take off the barrel. I am considering just buying an upper receiver as a host for my WOA barrel (probably the easiest option).
OR... I can see how well a 29mm wrench fits. I bought a 30mm and it is too big.
Any options other than wait to see if someone releases an aftermarket wrench?
Can you post a pic of the nut?
This is why I now refuse to buy any AR style rifle that uses proprietary parts.
I made the mistake a bout one (DPMS G2) and while I love the rifle, finding aftermarket parts is a real pain. They are slowly staring to come out, but you are super limited on what is available. Not like industry standard pattern rifles where there is almost unlimited choices. I have come close to selling it a couple times and building another one with standard parts. But that is another topic.
But back to the original question. Can you not use a standard hex wrench? Or is that a odd number of sides? It is hard to tell from the picture.
Once you do get if off...and I bet even a nice adjustable wrench would work...it will be interesting to see the threads, barrel extension, dimentions... It may be more "unique" than anyone even realizes.
I am thinking of an adjustable wrench. It does have 6 sides but seems an odd size. I was thinking if I could drill a small hole into the circular part of the bolt, I might be able to use the castle nut wrench on my armorer's tool.
...and I agree. I can't understand why proprietary parts were used. I guess to prevent people from upgrading?
Looks like they simplified things to me. If you think that makes things more complicated, you should see the barrel nut on the MSR 10 Competition model. The threads are on the outside of the nut and it has 4 slots.
Does the MSR 10 barrel match any current "standards"?Quote:
Originally Posted by sharpshooter
Like suggested, I would try an adjustable wrench first. If you have a Harbor Freight around, you can pick one up for very little cost. Your problem is one reason I like to build all my uppers.
See if a 1 3/16th" wrench will work
I got an adjustable wrench and still would not budge. One problem is that the nut has rounded corners caused the wrench to slip. I'm thinking they have some kind of thread locker on the threads. My disposable blow torch ran out of juice, so I'm going to have to go to home depot.
Home depot did have a channel lock type wrench with angled jaws so that 4 sides can be engaged at the same time. this MIGHT work, or I am still wondering about drilling a small hole in the nut for a a C-hook spanner wrench to engage.
Last ditch effort would be to see if Savage would sell me a replacement barrel nut and hit this one with a pipe wrench.
Pipe wrench the round area just behind the flats and dress it up with a grinder once done???
I think this sounds like a winner. I'll update when done, but probably won't be until after ChristmasQuote:
Originally Posted by celltech
Yeah, I like Celltech's idea. After all, it will be covered anyway.
Your going to twist the upper receiver if your not careful.
The barrel nut design was likely dictated by the handguard. The majority of aftermarket handguards also use proprietary barrel nuts. I would be very surprised if it's actually a metric wrench size.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cjive134
Either way, if you can't get it squared away then try to find a local gunsmith who is experienced in AR rifles and see if they can help you.
Just an update. I decided to keep the stock barrel, and maybe get a White Oak barrel down the road. Still I wanted to get the barrel nut off.
I got a new plastiXrevolution receiver block set for Christmas, and had a final go at the barrel nut today. I used a pipe wrench, a little heat and it came off without too much force.
Receiver appears to be machined to spec. I didn't see any loc-tite on the threads, but they did NOT grease the threads either which I've always understood to be an important thing. There was grease between the barrel extension and the receiver. No thread damage that I could detect.
I put everything back together. Although I had no way of setting up a torque wrench since the barrel nut is proprietary, 35 to 80 Foot Pounds (Milspec) is a pretty big window to aim for so I feel pretty good about the barrel nut torque.
Knowing what I know now, I would probably have just built another AR15 and been done with it. Overall, I'm still really satisfied with the savage MSR. I'm actually looking at spending the money I saved on the WOA barrel and getting a Savage B22 or Mark II FVSR. Not sure which yet.