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Thread: Barrel removal,

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
    Remiel's Avatar
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    Barrel removal,

    I'm playing with my second 1916 Spanish mauser and can't seem to get the barrel off, soaked it for anout 3 days in diesel/kerosene but it still won't break free, even with a long bar and a few whacks on the bar with a dead blow hammer. What do you guys recommend to free it up? Would kroil work?

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  2. #2
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    I'm not a gun smith, but a mechanic. Kroil is the best penetrating oil I know of. If that won't do it, I would apply heat. Not enough to hurt the temper, but enough to help. I would heat the receiver, and it should expand a tad allowing the barrel to unscrew. Wave a heat gun over it, or propane torch, and get it hotter than you can touch but not hot enough to hurt anything. If you have to heat more than that you may want to get help from a gun smith.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by oconeedan View Post
    I'm not a gun smith, but a mechanic. Kroil is the best penetrating oil I know of. If that won't do it, I would apply heat. Not enough to hurt the temper, but enough to help. I would heat the receiver, and it should expand a tad allowing the barrel to unscrew. Wave a heat gun over it, or propane torch, and get it hotter than you can touch but not hot enough to hurt anything. If you have to heat more than that you may want to get help from a gun smith.
    Tried the heat to no avail, I want to avoid heating it too much cause its a Spanish mauser, and well I don't want to tempt fate.

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  4. #4
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    Have you cut a relief groove in the barrel close to the action ring? I did on my 1916 and that did the trick.

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  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Texas by God View Post
    Have you cut a relief groove in the barrel close to the action ring? I did on my 1916 and that did the trick.

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    I may have to, im not saving the barrel, in fact I have one you did like that for the sights that I needed, what did you use? BTW the bench vise uses lead sheets to grip the barrel.

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  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I have seen military barrels torqued in tight to time them. cutting a relief groove helps a lot. lathe with a cut of blade works well. Stay about 010-.015 away from receiver face and cut slow be ready on the machine clutch , it may pinch the blade when you get to depth.
    This relieves the thread shoulder tension, leaving the threads tension to deal with. Another trick s to set it in the vise tight soak with kroil and insert the action wrench with a 3 ft pipe on it hang bucket on it and add 200-300 lbs of lead in the bucket then let it set

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Remiel View Post
    I may have to, im not saving the barrel, in fact I have one you did like that for the sights that I needed, what did you use? BTW the bench vise uses lead sheets to grip the barrel.

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    If you're using a bench vise, can I guess you don't have an action wrench? You can use the biggest honkin' Wilton and that won't cut it. As far as heat goes, it (usually) takes dull red heat and slow cooling to alter case hardening. I've arc welded bolt handles on 1916 bolts and a mere 1/32" away from the weld would not be scratched with a HSS end mill. Try boiling it (for a looong time) and have another go. Water is a lubricant, when boiling a penetrant, and the continuous low heat will soften crud.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by country gent View Post
    I have seen military barrels torqued in tight to time them. cutting a relief groove helps a lot. lathe with a cut of blade works well. Stay about 010-.015 away from receiver face and cut slow be ready on the machine clutch , it may pinch the blade when you get to depth.
    This relieves the thread shoulder tension, leaving the threads tension to deal with. Another trick s to set it in the vise tight soak with kroil and insert the action wrench with a 3 ft pipe on it hang bucket on it and add 200-300 lbs of lead in the bucket then let it set
    May have to try the lathe idea

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  9. #9
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    I had to make a relief cut on a O3A3. Even though I took it out of the lathe after I made the cut, it came off so easy I bet I could have taken it off by hand.

  10. #10
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    You can use a hacksaw to make the relief cut on the barrel, I've done it on a couple of 03A3 drill rifles.

  11. #11
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    A hacksaw can do it but be carefull and work it slow cutting o the forward stroke only.

    ANd as I stated be ready to shut machine down quick if it pinches. Keep everything as short as possible amount of blade out, holder length and work slow.

  12. #12
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    Gently warm the action and cool the barrel, for more temperature difference effect?
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  13. #13
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    I have very little gunsmithing experience, but I do have considerable mechanical experience, so just let me say that more often than not, a deadblow hammer is not your best friend. Sometimes you need the vibrations that occur when using a steel hammer.

  14. #14
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    Best advice I've heard is to put your longest extension on your wrench, use Kroil, fill a bucket with sand and hang that on the end of the extension. Come back in the morning and see what you have.
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  15. #15
    Boolit Master

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    I am curious, at what temp. does the case hardening get ruined? Anybody know? I had a friend once tell me that holding a fresh made bullet nose on a piece of case hardened steel will soften it enough to drill a hole with normal drill. I never really believed it it. Anybody's thoughts? Lead melts at 621 and alloys lower, say 550. Temp would be lower if hard and out of mold.

  16. #16
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    I usually don't spend a lot of time on getting a barrel off. My barrel vise has a 20 ton jack and I machine aluminum blocks to fit the barrel. There is an eight pound hammer sitting next to the vise for when something does not move the way it should. And yes, I have used heat a time or two. Making a relief cut on a Mauser may not do much good because the Mauser barrel seat on the inside. I have machined the old barrel out of the action when they are rusted in but that is very seldom.
    Case hardening is not very deep, if you heat till you see blue you have gone to far. When the case hardening is tampered with on a Mauser you can have bolt set-back. This sometimes happens with out heat when chambering to a high pressure round.
    If you are not going to use the old barrel again you can grind flats on it so it won't turn in the vice or weld something to the barrel.

  17. #17
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    I also use a shop press with a 20 ton hydraulic jack. I use steel blocks with aluminum inserts to grip the barrel. The steel blocks are bolted together around the inserts around the barrel. For most jobs I used a Brownell's action wrench that comes with several top halves to closely match the more common receiver rings. The barrel in the blocks is held in the press under the jack's ram, and the wrench turned counter-clockwise. Often, on Mausers, it is necessary to used a pipe extension on the wrench's handle. As noted in several posts, a sudden sharp blow on the handle will often loosen the barrel, and sometimes the same blow in the opposite direction will help break the rust bond if there is one. I have only had to make a relief cut on one barreled action, a No.1 Mk.III Lee Enfield. It can be summed up as the irresistible force (wrench) vs. the immovable object (press). For certain, proper set-up is important, because if you twist or otherwise deform the receiver the game is about over.

  18. #18
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    The Mauser 98 has the stop ring inside- the OP has a 1916(93) which doesn’t. The barrel shoulder is the stop ring. Good tools are key as stated above.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by ascast View Post
    I am curious, at what temp. does the case hardening get ruined? Anybody know? I had a friend once tell me that holding a fresh made bullet nose on a piece of case hardened steel will soften it enough to drill a hole with normal drill. I never really believed it it. Anybody's thoughts? Lead melts at 621 and alloys lower, say 550. Temp would be lower if hard and out of mold.
    One more time re case removal:

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    You can find this a hundred times on the interwebs.

  20. #20
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Case hardening is a little different as it a thin hard layer and normally don in a cyanide or arsenic bath. Most modern too;s steels are hardened to hardest point and then "drawn back" by annealing with a soak time added. The process actually starts around 400* this just relieves a little of the brittleness and the part is still very hard. Case hardening the heat bath set the hardness and the soak time the depth of the case.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check