Removing barrel nut without marring finish

[memilanuk]

Hello all,

For the most part, my Savage rifles to date have had either just naked stainless for a finish, or that black oxide coating that Savage uses on some of their tactical rigs. I've got a rifle on order with a blued finish, and since for me its usually a matter of 'when' not 'if' I end up taking the barrel off for one reason or another and putting it back I'm interested if anyone has any 'no mar' tricks for getting the barrel nut off?

One thing I was wanting to do to the gun (down the road) is have the barrel and action coated with Duracoat... again, kind of something I don't want to ding up with the barrel nut wrench if I can avoid it. I was hoping maybe if I loosen the nut before, and re-headspace it (using gauges) but with it snug, not gorilla-tight, then if I need to bust it loose post-Duracoat it might not be as abusive on the coating...

Thoughts, comments, suggestions?

Monte

[Aircraftmech76]

I think you're on the right track with re-installing the barrel nut with chimp torque as opposed to gorilla torque. That will go a long way in reducing the amount of damage caused by the wrench.