700 Barrel removal

[Larryh128]

A bud want a brake on his new 700 300 WM & normally I don't mess with 700's. Has anyone taken a barrel off a new blued 700 lately? I'm wondering if they are using thread locker on them?
Thanks

 

[GenePoole]

Some people claim it is a reaction of the bluing salts with the barrel thread lube, but there is a crusty stuff in there that makes it difficult to remove the barrel. It doesn't look like any thread locker I've ever seen. I use a rear-entry wrench on a breaker bar with a cheater, then I have a 4x4 cut to just the right height to rest the socket of the breaker bar on the top. I then arrange it so the breaker bar is horizontal, then jump up in the air and come down on it full force while the 4x4 prevents any axial movement that would bend or break anything. My best guess from my 200 lb frame and the 3 or so feet of breaker bar is that it takes about 600 lb-ft to remove these.

 

[swd]

The newer ones I've done have been pretty easy to get off. But why take it off to thread for a brake?

 

[Riesel]

I'm not finding Remington 700 barrels as tight as Gene ^^ is. I clamp the barrel in an all steel barrel vise using aluminum inserts. I use a Wheeler action wrench with a 30" piece of pipe of extra leverage. They're snug, but people been getting'em loose for years. As a caution, do not over tighten the bolts on the action wrench as this will distort the action and will "clamp" the action to the barrel tenon. Maybe not 600 foot pounds, but I bet it's pushing 80-90.

 

[savagedasher]

Threading a barrel for a brake is the most precision part of gun work. For a brake to be installed properly it need to be done off the true center of the barrel . If it isn't the brake can effect accuracy . You end up with more gases and pressure going past one side of the bullet then the other . Larry

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

A little heat to melt the loc-tite and a long cheater bar usually make pretty easy work of it. I've seen some that were really tough but most aren't bad. A good barrel vise is critical. I use a pipe vise that I have several barrel bushings for. Sounds crude but works great. If you do run into a stubborn one and you aren't concerned about marking up the barrel, I simply remove the bushings. This is the way to positively get any barrel that I've ever seen to give up the fight in quick order. On stubborn ones that I do not wish to marr, I have had to machine the recoil lug away down to the barrel tenon, relieving tension at the threaded joint. Worn out factory takeoffs aren't worth the effort most times and I simply use the vise without bushings. If the gun has ever been rebarreled, it's also not likely to be difficult to get it off.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I have never had a problem removing any barrel. Use a good solid barrel vise, use a clamp style wrench that goes around the receiver, with a screw in the front action screw hole, smack the wrench with a rubber mallet, one time, everytime, no problems. I never understood the need for heat, breaker bars, parting the barrel, exc.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

I have never had a problem removing any barrel. Use a good solid barrel vise, use a clamp style wrench that goes around the receiver, with a screw in the front action screw hole, smack the wrench with a rubber mallet, one time, everytime, no problems. I never understood the need for heat, breaker bars, parting the barrel, exc.

 

[22DASHER]

I do the same as Alex. I have tried some with heat and some without.... Never found the need to use heat again. Just a love tap!

 

[sfldiver]

I removed one last year from a relatively new rifle. Because of all the horror stories I read about, I was ready with a blow torch, if need be. I had a solid vice and used pine tar strips from my local sporting goods store. The barrel came off without any issues and I never needed to use the blow torch to apply heat.

 

[LarryDScott]

Use the barrel vice made for parting a 700 action from the barrel, and you wont have a problem. LDS
www.greatscottshooters.com

 

[centershot]

The old 700s , from the '60s need some extra persuading. My gunsmith, after trying all of the above, had to surface grind the recoil lug and then turn the lug in the lathe until it was down to the barrel threads. This released the lateral tension and then the barrel could be turned off.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

No strength needed. You wont see a mechanic pulling a wrench to break a bolt loose. You use impact.

skip to about 3 minutes. Works every time.

 

[nmkid]

I bought a 700 SPS last Nov. for my latest build. I had to help the smith break it loose.

 

[centershot]

The funny thing is that a Savage is not the solution. When my gunsmith pulled the barrel on my second Savage, there were "beads" in the threads on both of them. He also stated that the tread contact was about 15%. He stated that 80% is desirable.

 

[msinc]

I have never really had too much trouble breaking loose a 700, but there are plenty of others that I turned the barrel down to relieve the tension. I did this more to avoid over torquing the action. Sure, you can always just get a longer bar {translates to "bigger hammer"} or use impact and hit it harder {again, bigger hammer...not exactly rocket science}, but that is not what I wanted to have happen to the action I planned to reuse. I tell everyone that brings me a barreled action that they may or may not have a usable/sell-able barrel depending on how tight it is. Personally, if I had to get somebody else to do it for me, I would rather have a gunsmith relieve the barrel and effortlessly remove it with zero chance of damage to the receiver than to just "go get a bigger hammer". I get it that it's the he-mans jungle survivor way to do it...but I very much prefer an undamaged receiver just the same.

 

[Larryh128]

Thanks, I am capable of keeping things centered, my small lathe that I do my "gun stuff" on has a head stock of 32" so barrels need to come off. I appreciate your answers, just needed to know if heat was required. I only mess with 700's for "good friends" .

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I have never really had too much trouble breaking loose a 700, but there are plenty of others that I turned the barrel down to relieve the tension. I did this more to avoid over torquing the action. Sure, you can always just get a longer bar {translates to "bigger hammer"} or use impact and hit it harder {again, bigger hammer...not exactly rocket science}, but that is not what I wanted to have happen to the action I planned to reuse. I tell everyone that brings me a barreled action that they may or may not have a usable/sell-able barrel depending on how tight it is. Personally, if I had to get somebody else to do it for me, I would rather have a gunsmith relieve the barrel and effortlessly remove it with zero chance of damage to the receiver than to just "go get a bigger hammer". I get it that it's the he-mans jungle survivor way to do it...but I very much prefer an undamaged receiver just the same.

To each his own. Have you ever tried to bend an action? I have tried to straighten a 700 that was warped from the factory, like most are. Usually the tang is pointing down. Prior to truing it, I tried to straighten it. It was my personal action so I got really aggressive. I never got it to bend at all, and I got far worse on it than any clamp style wrench could think of.

 

[TRECustom]

I don't know what the rhyme or reason is, but many Remingtons (not all) that I have pulled down have some kind of black mung in the barrel/receiver threads. I theorize that it is a sealer to keep bluing salts out of them. Whatever it's for, a hot air gun softens it enough to help. The smaller, tapered shank sporter barrels will usually spin in the barrel vise no matter how tight I get them. I estimate that some of them required at least 200 ft/lbs, and sometimes pretty heavy impact to break loose. My Brownell's action wrench handle is beat up from hitting it with a 2 lb blacksmith's hammer. Only encountered this mung on Remington actions. It's hard to clean out of the receiver thread.
I have never had to relieve a Remington barrel with a parting-off tool, but would if I had to.

Good shooting,
Tom

 

[GenePoole]

That has been my experience too Tom. I don't know what that goo is, but it is nasty. Kind-of smells like junk-yard axle grease from a car exposed to the elements for a few years.