I had the same problem when I swapped out my 270 barrel... I had to use the smallest of the blocks for the barrel vise and a lot of rosin. The most helpful thing during the process was to heat up the barrel nut with a propane torch. It eventually broke loose. I had a newer one of the 111's with the smooth barrel nut (before the latest change Savage made). I used a heavy duty pipe wrench to get the barrel nut off. Had to put a new notched barrel nut on it, but I had planned on doing that anyway.
I wouldn't try breaking the action loose first, as you can bend it or warp it.
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