Barrel vice oak inserts

[gamma]

where can I get these oak inserts for my homemade barrel vice or what do you guys use,does it have to be oak.

 

[memilanuk]

Might try Midway... they carry some for their barrel vise setup.

Don't know if they need to be oak, per se, but I think a hardwood will work better than a softwood. You can use rosin and such to improve the grip if they slip.

You can make your own... glue up a block of suitable size to match your vise, drill a hole thru it in the center that is slightly smaller than your barrel where you intend to clamp it, and then cut the block in half.

 

[eww1350]

The oak inserts don't work very well on a tight barrel...I have a MidwayUsa Barrel vise and I went to aluminum instead it works perfect and doesn't mark the barrel..You can make the aluminum inserts from aluminum tubing or aluminum angle...

 

[gamma]

Great,thanks guys your advice is always priceless.Ill try these options.

 

[Preacher]

I make a lot of them out of Apple and Hickory, they don't seem to mark the metal up as much as Aluminum does. With a tiny bit of Rosin from Brownells I've never seen a barrel I couldn't pull off with the Hardwood blocks..........
Not sure about using the Aluminum angle ??????????

 

[WhelenMan]

I made my own out of oak. I placed the two boards together and clamped them under my drill press and used a flat bit to drill through them both. Then I took a bit off the inner faces of both with a sander so that they would get a better grip without coming into contact with one another and smoothed and rounded the inner surfaces. I also took an old wide leather belt and made a few strips that I epoxied inside the blocks to protect finishes when clamping rifles in the vise for things like bedding or other work. I'm not doing disassembly work so I can't vouch for whether they would slip when disassembling a barrelled action or not. These work fine for my limited use.

 

[Preacher]

WhelenMan-- I like your idea of using leather inserts to protect the finish.
As tight as some of the factory barrels are screwed on, and the 100 years old Mausers
that need to be dealt with the leather won't get a good enough grip to remove them.
I've had some older Remington XP's that needed a lot of heat from a hot air gun and a 4 foot cheater bar to remove them from the action the first time.

 

[WhelenMan]

Those threads look a little rough there Preacher. My use for the leather lined oak inserts was just for doing bedding and other small work. I don't have the equipment to do barrel removals or installations. I'll have to leave that to someone like you or someone else who does. I kinda doubt that the leather would hold up if a lot of torque was applied also.

 

[BountyHunter]

SharpShooter Supply makes and sells them for $8

BH

 

[NorCalMikie]

I was going to suggest the same thing. Sharp Shooter Supply can be found on Savage Shooters.

 

[Preacher]

I noticed yesterday that Midway has them on sale also.....

 

[Spotcheck_Billy]

Midway sells lead inserts that work well with their oak blocks. They add some grip and don't mark the barrel. I use them instead of rosin or leather.