Clamping the barrel is one way of doing it. SparkyLB made his own barrel vise out of some oak, steel, and his sturdy bench.
Breaking the nut off the first time is usually the hardest. Someone else might chime in to say whether or not vise jaws would work. I suspect it will hinge on what kind of vise you have and possibly how tapered the barrel is. I use solid aluminum jaws when doing AR barrel changes, and they tend to slip at the upper torque ranges. On a recent build I ended up tightening my Harbor Freight vise so hard that it broke.
For Savage barrel changes I use an action wrench. It's a bit more cumbersome, but I've not had any problems.
Bookmarks