Trying to remove a barrel and followed instructions in tech articles. Bored hole in a 2x4 and split it down the center making a barrel block. Tightened the blocks down in vise and barrel just spins in the block. Barrel was installed by smith and is a full bull pacnor and hole was 3/4 inch. I even lined the clocks with old rubber boot material.

I know this has been hashed over and over but didn't find much about keeping the barrel still. I hate to pay a smith to remove the barrel.

Any suggestions?