Stuck barrel nut

Went to put my new McGowen barrel on my Stevens action today got the barrel nut threaded on about a third of the way and it got a little tight. I did put a little torque on it, but did not reef on it. When I could see that it was getting rather tight, I went to take it back off to investigate, but no go. I have it in a vise but am having a hell of a time getting it back off. It is moving, but is tighter coming off than it was going on and very little progress has been made. My barrel nut wrench is taking a beating. I have had this nut off and on the factory barrel with no problems. Anyone experienced this without the barrel being on an action? I inspected the barrel threads before I started and all looked good.

Put the barrel and nut in the freezer for 3-4 hours.....and I am being serious.

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Anyone experienced this without the barrel being on an action?

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Yep. The McGowen barrel I got was the same way. I cleaned and lubricated the barrel and barrel nut threads and gradually worked it on (I would thread it on till it got stiff and then back off and then go a little further) Finally got it to thread smoothly.

Why are they so tight? Shouldn't the nut screw on rather smoothly? I've never put a McGowen on for myself or anyone else. Just curious. ::)

some times the VVV is to sharpley raised. light touch with sand paper or file. With out some Prussian Blue or something else to see where the contact is taking place that is just a guess.

If this is a SS barrel & nut, be careful & use never-seize to help keep it from galling.

Progress is being made, but very slowly. I have two sets of blocks in the vise and am beating on the barrel nut wrench and it is barely budging. I thought of the freezer idea as well. Should I freeze it all then try to heat the nut or just freeze it then just try to bust it loose? Like I say, it's moving, but way to slowly. The weird thing is that I'm fairly sure i'm back to the point where i could turn it by hand going on, but now coming off it's super tight.

I just assembled a Stevens 200 with a Shilen barrel. The nut was a little stiff coming off the factory barrel. Cleaned the barrel threads and nut and started to install nut on barrel and it thread on about 3/4's of the nut. Backed it off put more lube on threads same thing. I know class 3 threads are a snug fit but something didn't seem right. I got a plastic hook and started to chase the nut threads in the area that it started to get tight. In the root of the thread was a sliver of metal about 1/4" long and about as fine as a hair on a frog's ass. Had I kept trying to install the nut with a wrench it would more than likely seized up.

If you can get the nut off with out damaging the threads on both give it a try. If not I would suggest cutting the nut off to save the barrel threads (PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!) and buying a new nut.

Goodluck

Dino

All progress has stopped at this point. It seems pretty well locked up. I think cutting the nut off might be the best bet, but I worry about damaging the barrel threads. Any good advice?

I would try putting a little heat on the nut to get it to expand.

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Originally Posted by guhunter

All progress has stopped at this point. It seems pretty well locked up. I think cutting the nut off might be the best bet, but I worry about damaging the barrel threads. Any good advice?

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call the guys that made the problem barrel and have them send a pickup order for it and have them fix it.

Myself, I would take it to a good friend of mine who is a good smith, pay him to fix it and never deal with McMess again.

I ended up cutting the nut off with a hacksaw and a careful hand. The threads were pretty beat up. Sent Dan at McGowen an email and he quickly issued a call tag. He offered to fix the problem, replace the barrel nut and even paid the shipping both ways. Had it back in about 3 weeks, if I remember right. It started out as a bad situation, but turned out very well. I am totally satisfied so far (haven't shot it yet). Few more weeks till the Stockade stock shows and then I'll put it through its paces.

Glad a bad situation turned out well.

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Originally Posted by guhunter

I ended up cutting the nut off with a hacksaw and a careful hand. The threads were pretty beat up. Sent Dan at McGowen an email and he quickly issued a call tag. He offered to fix the problem, replace the barrel nut and even paid the shipping both ways. Had it back in about 3 weeks, if I remember right. It started out as a bad situation, but turned out very well. I am totally satisfied so far (haven't shot it yet). Few more weeks till the Stockade stock shows and then I'll put it through its paces.

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We're only too happy to help all of our (or Northland Shooters Supply) customers out. When we reopened the doors of McGowen over 3 years ago we did so with the idea of offering the best quality for the price. Whether anyone knows this or not I used to work for another barrel company (to remain nameless) that myself and a couple of other guys worked very hard at improving their quality and we did it within the 1st year I was there. But! After about 6 years of being there the owner of the company decided to revert to his "get them out fast regardless of quality" attitude and when we started receiving complaints about the quality his standard answer was "Oh, they wouldn't know a good barrel if they saw one", well obviously the customers knew a bad one when they saw one and a lot of our customers decided to go elsewhere. We definitely do not want this to happen and we'll do whatever it takes to make it right for everyone out there. While these blogs are a great resource for information, they can sometimes become somewhat of a witch hunt when something goes wrong. We understand that it is extremely frustrating to order something, wait weeks or months for it and then when it comes in there is an issue. I especially don't like this as regardless of whether it is aimed directly at McGowen I take it personally as I am the one who most likely sold the item. Anyways, what we want or better yet what "I" want everyone to know is that if you do run upon an issue, please contact us immediately and we'll do everything we can to correct the issue. Sometimes it is as easy as chasing the threads or whatever, but there are also times where I make (not the shop) the decision that the barrel needs to be replaced. And if we do have to repair or replace something I have made sure that there is no question on the shop floor about what takes priority. If at any time anyone ever has any questions or concerns about your McGowen barrel or after reading these posts that you have some doubt in your mind, please contact me at any time. We are open Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 406-755-4907 or you can call me on my cell (don't worry, the company pays for it) at 406-260-5904. I am here to help.

Dan
McGowen Precision Barrels

WOW! Class act from a fellow Montanan!!!

What ended up needing to be done to fix the barrel?

Glad it all worked out in the end.

I didn't notice until after I posted last, but it seems that the barrel was replaced altogether. It appeared to me that the old barrel would have to be partially cut off and rechambered since the threads were so trashed. The overall barrel length is the same as the one I sent in and when they mark their barrels, the month and year is etched on. This new one has a 06-10 date compared to the 04-10 of the old.

McGowen would rather eat the cost of making another barrel than to give you a barrel shorter than you ordered. I hope it shoots well for you and that it made it to you quickly!

Dan

I was very impressed with the service I received from Mcgowen. I actually have another barrel on order as I type these words. I have been too busy to get serious about load development, but it's easily sub MOA. 140 A-maxs are next up to try and I think they will be a winner.

Excellent! :)

This much better service than I received from Pac-Nor a few years ago. >:(

Thats what sells a product.keep that attitude