Reply With QuoteI used rosin on mine to grip it when I used blocks. I think there was some talk of using tape, not which kind, on here at one time also. I will say I have not broken another block since I got an action wrench.
hi guys i know this has been covered time after time but i am trying to remove the factory barrel from my new stevens 308 and have broke three sets of blocks use a bench vise trying to remove it. what am i doing wrong? any thought of what to do next? all i have is a nut wrench and bench vise. i can not seem to set the barrel from sliping in the blocks and when i bare down on the blocks with the vise the blocks split. i am useing pine wood.
any thought or ideas?
I used rosin on mine to grip it when I used blocks. I think there was some talk of using tape, not which kind, on here at one time also. I will say I have not broken another block since I got an action wrench.
i was useing duck take on barrel. how does the action wrench work? can you tell me who has them?
I'd look on "Flea-Bay" or your favorite online like Brownells or Midway-USA - you're looking for the same action wrench used for Remington if Savage isn't listed in the ad.
Go to nss which is a site sponser 1-763-682-4296 Jim Briggs makes both. Do not use duct tape as it will smear and be a pain to clean off. I use paper index cards as a buffer between the wrench and vice.Once you clamp the barrel in the vice which should be fastened down or in a vice. Then put the reciever wrench on the front most part of the reciever.Then tighten the bolts snuggly and use the wrench to turn the reciever off the barrel.You may have to smack it with a dead blow hammer.This will break the torque easier.
Willing to give back for what the sport has done for me!
do you not need the barrel nut wrench if you use the action wrench?
Wrap some tape around the action/lug so you don't mar them then use a big nutf$&*er to hold the recoil lug so you can loosen the nut.
I've had the same luck as you with blocks.
Now, I use an action wrench and a nut wrench. Much easier, positive engagement on both wrenches. Nothing to slip.
Both of my wrenches are Wheeler from MidwayUSA.
"Muzzle velocity is a depreciating asset, not unlike a new car, but BC, like diamonds, is forever."-German A. Salazar
You need a barrel nut wrench regardless of whether you use barrel blocks or an action wrench.Originally Posted by bigred94
Just got my action wrench and barrel nut wrench from Jim Briggs today. Had the barrel off my 7mm-08 in about 5 minutes. Just waiting for the go gage from Midway to get here and I'll put the .243 barrel on and site her in. Both tools are well worth the money, he builds them to last.
On mine I had to heat the nut up some using a propane torch.
Do not super heat it, it just needed to be hot enuf it was painful to touch but not enuf to actually burn me.
Michael Grace
I gave up on barrel blocks long ago.
I been using this setup for at least 10 years to remove factory installed barrels. I lost count how many it has removed, my own and those I loaned it to. One day it removed four in about 30 minutes in the range clubhouse setting on a folding table!
The action wrench is refuge from my switch barrel Rem days and the nut wrench a Wheeler.
The handle on the action wrench is all the leverage needed to turn the action loose about 1/4-1/3 of a turn.
BTW, for swaps afterward I use a rear entry wrench and a modified open ended spanner(nut wrench). Makes changing barrels a snap!
Bill
Billpa,
I remember those pictures from years ago when I was struggling with oak blocks. I saw the light, and it was good.
Since I saw those pictures so long ago, I've built a rear entry, port-entry wrench, and modified one of my nut wrenches so I don't have to remove my scopes if I don't want.
Thanks for all the help over the years.
"Muzzle velocity is a depreciating asset, not unlike a new car, but BC, like diamonds, is forever."-German A. Salazar
+1 Glad to see you are back ! Hope you hang around a while.
Get a 3# dead blow hammer and hit the wrench! It will take 2 or3 blows. Trying to turn the wrench by hand with soft wood blocks often fails. Unless you have good oak that you can get tight its tough.
.223 Rem AI, .22-250 AI, .220 Swift AI .243 Win AI, .6mm Rem AI, .257 Rob AI, .25-06 AI, 6.5x300wsm .30-06 AI, .270 STW, 7mm STW, 28 nosler, .416 Taylor
One thing I didn't see mentioned here, and I couldn't find the information myself with a search when I removed my barrel yesterday, was which way to turn the barrel nut. It's ccw when looking down the barrel from muzzle to breech. Luckily I had the other barrel here and was able to see which way the threads went from that barrel. It wouldn't be hard to try turning the nut the wrong way though.
One problem is with the blocks you are using. Pine, or other soft wood, won't bear down enough to grip the barrel without splitting. All of the commercial barrel vises use oak or other hardwood blocks.
I crushed my oak blocks to bits trying to get them tight enough to keep from slipping. Yes, even with rosin.
Went to an action wrench with the nut wrench and never looked back.
"Muzzle velocity is a depreciating asset, not unlike a new car, but BC, like diamonds, is forever."-German A. Salazar
Well I had no luck with the blocks so I called Jim this morning and have one of his action wrenches on the way. If I use a set up like billpa's will I go up or down with the action wrench?
I used a hard wood barrel vise. I drilled a hole in the middle of the hardwood block about 3/4 to 1/2 the side of the diameter of the barrel, then cut the block in half making sure the cut split the hole in half. That way the wood actually "braces" the barrel and hold better. That made the difference from sliping to not slipping for me. After I replaced the savage "gorilla torqued" barrel I just give it a good tap to remove. Action wrenches are the definite way to go specially if you are planning to change barrels often.
Smart move.
The barrel and nut have normal threads. The barrel is screwed into the action. In Billpa's picture, the nut wrench and barrel are supported in his fixture. The action wrench will come down to unscrew the action from the barrel.
"Muzzle velocity is a depreciating asset, not unlike a new car, but BC, like diamonds, is forever."-German A. Salazar
Some times we make it harder than it has to be. A dull chisel and a solid hammer does a nice job of loosening those stubbern nuts. Ya I got a wrench and action bar but its still faster and easier to use the old dull chisel.
The action, barrel and nut are threaded "right hand" ......... remember: righty tighty
If you are on the ejection port side of a right hand action ..... the top of the receiver would turn away from you and the top of the nut turns towards you to loosen.
This means that the nut wrench goes down on your side and the action wrench goes up.
Or try this: With the rifle standing butt down ....... the barrel nut needs to turn counter clockwise.
Also do you have access to a very good long handled 1/2" flex handle? The wheeler nut wrench has squares for such a tool and it makes those stubborn factory mounted barrels a bunch easier.
Best of luck and enjoy!
Three 44s
I use an action wrench and a barrel nut wrench, put the whole thing on a carpeted concrete floor and use one of my feet to apply my body weight to the nut wrench. I have a barrel vise, but since getting my action wrench, have only used it to hold a barrel when I had to remove a really stubborn barrel nut after disassembly.
I've found the barrel can be held quite positively with a quick wrap with glossy card stock and a layer of masking tape and a set of AN vise blocks http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aer-fcm3661 . Since the vise and the barrel are both steel and the vise blocks are aluminum, the aluminum will deform first but it never comes to that. Clamp close to the action so you don't bend the barrel and then an action wrench makes life easy.
EDIT: This requires a substantial vise, not some small wimpy job.
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