Difficult Barrel Removal on Mauser

[nekshot]

bruce, one of my vz24's was stuck fast like yours. I did everything mentioned here over a six month period and only had about a 6 inch stub left for a barrel. I heard of hitting it and I really did not hit that hard but it popped when I tried to turn it and off it came. Some of the threads actually tore off from rust.

[Pirate69]

I am trying to use a Beuhlar action wrench that I bought in the 70"s. It going up between the rqails and locks in the bolt recesses. Any concern with this type of wrench?

Which is the best option? A Wheeler Action Wrench or the one being sold by Numrich?

[Goatwhiskers]

Pirate, any wrench that goes between the rails stands a chance of warping the frame. You need the kind that has a flat surface bearing against the bottom of the receiver ring. Goat

[waksupi]

Pirate, any wrench that goes between the rails stands a chance of warping the frame. You need the kind that has a flat surface bearing against the bottom of the receiver ring. Goat

Yep. I broke a pre-64 Winchester M70 action trying that, with a stubborn barrel.

[Reg]

You have to be careful with those action wrenches, both in the rail type and over the extension type. Both will twist or crush the action itself if too much pressure is applied. Best NEVER to pound on the handle of any action wrench with a hammer, this can really mess up a action.
Most Mauser barrels are not tightly fitted like the 14 and 17 Enfields. They do lock up on the inner ring and when tightly fitted between the inner and outer ring they can be tough to remove, especially if the get rust in them as is quite commonly found.
I have never found it to fail, put the action on a truing arbor, support the end of the barrel with a live center or even use a steady rest and with a grooving tool ( any width ) cut a groove in the barrel as close to the front of the ring as you dare and deeper than the minor diameter of the thread. This will releave that pressure and generally ( unless rust is involved ) the barrel will unscrew with little pressure.

[flounderman]

use a large heavy hammer on the action wrench handle, or put a pipe on it and use the hammer. the shock from the hammer blow will loosen the barrel and won't do the damage leaning on a pipe over the action wrench handle will. tighten your barrel vise, tighten the action wrench and whack the handle and it will come. I have seen relief cuts on remington barrels where they relieved the shoulder against the receiver

[Char-Gar]

Here is what has been done for generations to remove stuck barrels. It can be done in a lathe, by making some mandrels and so forth, but it can be done a lot easier with a plain old hacksaw. The barrel will be toast, if that is OK with you.

Take your hack saw and cut a groove a blade's width in front of the receiver. Turn the receiver and continue until you have cut one 360 degrees about 1/2 the highth of the blade deep. This will allow the metal to bring back away from the receiver and it will spin off with ease when you use your vise and wrench.

All it takes is 10 or 15 minutes and a little "elbow grease".

[Reg]

Char-Gar is correct, I just use a lathe because it's handy and I am lazy. Another trick is if it dosn't break loose with normal pressure then actually try to tighten the barrel. Sometimes a barrel that is badly rusted will require a bit of back and forth movement to get things working. A good panther pee can also help. What ever you do, do not get to banging and clanging on things. Those receivers, especially Mausers, are softer than you think and it dosn't take much to wreck one.

[KCSO]

No, No NOT a pipe wrench!!! Use a real barrel vise, they are not that spendy. Yo can mkae an action wrench from 1 1/2" square stock and you will need a cheater bar about 2 foot long. Put the barrel in the vise and coat it well with rosin and clampp it down real tight in the blocks. I got Oak blocks with one of my vises but later cast up a set of aluminum blocks and they work better. The barrel will pop out sooner or later. If you need a barrel vise i have an old Wheeler that I don't use any more.

[Pirate69]

The Beuhlar wrench does not put any pressure on the rails. All the pressure is on the locking lug recesses. However, you guys have made a believer out of me. I will be looking for a flat bottom action wrench.

KCSO, I sent you a PM.

[plainsman456]

If you do not have any rosin,you can use powdered sugar.
I use a pipe wrench and vise with a action wrench.
When set up against the bench the wrench will keep the barrel from turning,then use a 2 lb shop hammer to jar the action wrench,if it will not give with armstrong pressure applied.
I have never had to heat one up yet and some barrels can have the marks cleaned up and re used for a project later.

[nanuk]

I had to remove a steel bar from a sleeved frame

I got a black can about 1ft deep, filled it 50/50 with Diesel fuel and acetone, and put the end in and let it heat in the sun, with a plastic bag covering to help keep the acetone in it

the other side wouldn't budge after the D/A treatment, so on the 30ton press it went....

I mushroomed the end about 15% getting it out, but I am now a believer in the power of Diesel and acetone for rust penetrant

[Larry Gibson]

If you do not have any rosin,you can use powdered sugar.
I use a pipe wrench and vise with a action wrench.
When set up against the bench the wrench will keep the barrel from turning,then use a 2 lb shop hammer to jar the action wrench,if it will not give with armstrong pressure applied.
I have never had to heat one up yet and some barrels can have the marks cleaned up and re used for a project later.

+1

I've had several such barrel that could not be removed via a barrel vise over the years. A good and proper fitting action wrench holding the action in a large vice. A large pipe wrench is then put on up close to the front of the action and a 4' pipe is slipped over the handle as a cheater bar. Have had to put all my weight on it a couple times and the "crack" when it breaks loose sounds like a gunshot. I think I've done 4 that way and have not ruined or damaged an action.

Larry Gibson

[KCSO]

Some are that way, especially square threads like the old 1917's. I have had some that wouldn't pop loos even with me jumping on a 3 foot cheater bar. If a good soak in Kroil and a cheater isn't doing it then you may need to put the thng in a lathe and turn off the shoulder. If you are using the Wheeler you might need to go to aluminum blocks instead of their Oak. The aluminum blocks rosined up seem to hold a lot better. I make mine from scrap stock.

[Char-Gar]

Some are that way, especially square threads like the old 1917's. I have had some that wouldn't pop loos even with me jumping on a 3 foot cheater bar. If a good soak in Kroil and a cheater isn't doing it then you may need to put the thng in a lathe and turn off the shoulder. If you are using the Wheeler you might need to go to aluminum blocks instead of their Oak. The aluminum blocks rosined up seem to hold a lot better. I make mine from scrap stock.

Ahem... My post about cutting a groove in the barrel just forward of the receiver with a hacksaw, accomplishes the same thing a turning the shoulder off with a lathe, plus it is quicker that setting up the lathe. Plus, lots of folks with stuck barrels don't have a lathe or one long enough to chuck up a barreled action.

[M-Tecs]

Cutting a grove doesn't work as well on Mausers. The contact should be on the inner race and not on the barrel shoulder. It won't hurt but it might not help.

[David2011]

In our gunsmithing class we used a Brownell's barrel vise clamped down hard with the correct size bushings and the Brownell's action wrench which had a Vee cut into the handle side and a flat bar on the removeable side, to go against the bottom of the action. The large flat area provided enough support that the bolts didn't have to be "farm-tight" on the action wrench; just "guten-tight." The barrel vise had been drilled out and rethreaded to take 4 5/8" bolts instead of the factory 1/2" bolts. The 1/2" bolts finally stripped out from tightening enhough for Mausers. We used a cheater bar on the barrel vise Allen screws to get them as farm-tight as we could. Usually a whack or two with a piece of 2" x 2' bar stock would break the action free. The bushings were made to fit the Mauser barrels and the action wrench would not slip on us because of the large flat area. Kroil never hurt, either. We never failed to succeed, but then we didn't have your particular rifle. The action wrench handle had been welded back on a couple off times over the years. . .

David

[Fishoot]

I have had great success with Kroil soaking. I put a puddle of Kroil in the extractor notch with the action tilted at 45 degrees, let it sit overnight then rotate and let the kroil migrate to the other side. I have had to turn a relief groove in front of the receiver on Mosins but not for Mausers...so far. I use a home made H-frame barrel vise with a 12 ton hydraulic press with 3/4" plywood and rosin to contact top and bottom of the barrel. When the press is pumped you hear the wood fibers cracking and it pinches nearly 360 degrees. One Turkish Mauser was tough. To remove it, I ground flats on the top and bottom of the barrel (sewer bore) with an angle grinder to make shoulders on top and bottom of the barrel. Then instead of plywood, I used steel 1/2" thick squares to pinch the barrel. That makes provides much more anti-twist mechanical advantage when you need it and don't care about the barrel.

[flydoc]

One old trick for hard to remove barrels that seem to slip in the oak or even aluminum clamps is to take heavy brown paper ( old grocery bags) and saturate with accraglas or other epoxy and wrap the barrel where the clamps will be set. One layer will do. Let cure overnight before clamping . The glue and paper can be later removed with heat . Got to degrease that part of the barrel of course.

[Pirate69]

Well, this has been a learning experience and it turned-out to be a good one. Based on all the advice given, I got the job done without destroying anything. I found a 1" X 1" bar that is 36" long and drilled it to accept a 1.75" u-bolt. Covered the bolt in tygon tubing and installing it in the rod. I made a good flat bottom action wrench. The barreled action had been soaking in Koil for about 2 month. Locked the barrel down so it would not turn and put some pressure on it. It would not move. Again put pressure on the bar and gave it a good whack with a 2 lb hammer. Pulled down on the bar again and it moved. After one complete turn, I could unscrew the action with very little effort.

I had been soiling the barrel thread from the chamber side and I noted the the Kroil Oil had penetrated all the way up the threads when I got it off. Kroil Oil worked well. Action threads look perfect.

Thanks to all again for the the advice and coaching.