Oops, uh oh

[pearcetopher]

Hi guys, last night I tried slugging my barrel in my mossberg 4x4 300 win mag

I took a small piece of lead and preceded to pound it down the muzzle with a large brass drift.

I realized after pounding for about 15 minutes that the transfer from muzzle brake to barrel was causing the issue so I pounded harder.

Eventually the slug got through and went down the barrel and measure at .307 and a half

After trying to clean the barrel I realized that a large collection of brass and lead has deposited where the muzzle brake attaches to the barrel, probably causing a barrel obstruction.

After trying for hours it seems I cannot remove this muzzle brake to clean out the partial obstruction as it will just not unthread (counter clockwise)

I could really use some advice here, also is there a chance I screwed up the barrel by pounding on it with a brass drift?

Am i an idiot?

[Thompsoncustom]

Well you could try putting some PB blaster/Kroil on the brake and everywhere u can see or think it might get to the threads and then shoot some hot loads back to back and heat the barrel and muzzle break up, might come apart easier.

[KYCaster]

If there really is a restriction near the muzzle, I certainly wouldn't want shoot any HOT loads through the gun.....or ANY loads for that matter.

A hair dryer will accomplish the same thing at MUCH LOWER PRESSURE.

Jerry

[country gent]

If as you say you think yu have an OBSTRUCTION [B]DO NOT FIRE THE RIFLE WITH ANY LOADING. Clean and clear the barrel before firing. any retriction could casuse a failure of the rifle and serious injury. The muzzle brake should screw Should be right hand threads but could be left hand. The kroil is a good idea soak and hope it loosens. With a good magnifing glass look for parting lines joint where break is attached. Some came with a wrench for installing removing others a rod that fits thru the holes. Work slow and easy paying complete attention to whats going on

[Thompsoncustom]

Opps For me to I guess I should have put that and not assumed anyone would remove the obstruction first. Firing with anything in the barrel can wreck it real fast but once it is cleared then you shouldn't have any problems.

[mpmarty]

Be careful how you treat the brake and muzzle as that is where accuracy is determined.

[pearcetopher]

I wonder if excessive pounding on a brass drift on the end of the barrel has done anything bad

[MT Chambers]

Keep pounding, sumpins gotta give.

[WallyM3]

I wonder if excessive pounding on a brass drift on the end of the barrel has done anything bad

Lead and brass against 4140 steel? I'd say the barrel/brake should be examined, not the test instrument. Sounds like you got an important "heads-up" here.

[razerok1]

heat the brake up with a small pencil and try twisting it off while its still warm/hot.

[tyeo098]

Soak in PB Blaster.
Apply heat.

Make sure its not pinned [smilie=l:

[GL49]

heat the brake up with a small pencil and try twisting it off while its still warm/hot.

excuse my ignorance, but I don't understand what you mean

[prs]

Use a bigger hammer next time ;-)

If it is just threaded on, I think a heat gun would be safer on the metal than a pencil torch. Warm it up and use PB or Kroil and let it sit. Warm up again and try to remove. Repeat as necessary.

prs

[MtGun44]

Cannot scratch steel with brass, but you can dent/peen it if you are
near an edge, like the muzzle. If the rod were not well aligned
and you pounded on the muzzle rather than the lead, you may
have peened the muzzle edge. You have to remove the
brake to inspect and may have to us a crowning tool to
recrown the barrel, not too big of a deal.

Bill

[Garyshome]

Use Heat!

[snuffy]

The brake most likely has a thread sealer ,(locktite), on it. Red locktite will hold really tight. It must be heated to melt the locktite so it will release. After taking it off, the locktite will look like a white powdery substance. Cleaning of the external AND internal threads before reinstalling it is a must.

I'd re-crown it just because you can while the brake is off.

[pearcetopher]

ok after heating hammering and swearing I finally got the muzzle brake loose. There was no thread sealer I guess I was just being a wuss. After careful inspection I noticed the inside of the muzzle brake is badly gouged, so bad that I wouldn't think it would hold any accuracy so I definately need a new muzzle brake as I cant find the thread protector that supposedly came in the box unless someone here has one. My other option is to buy a cool looking one on ebay as it seems 5/8 be 24 threads per inch is the size i need for .308 muzzle brakes. Or I could shoot without but I also dont want to do that.

On another note it does appear that I have peened the barrel. Looking at the end of the bore I can see the groves as they come out of the barrel in little rectangles. One of the rectangles is not as big as the others and there are small traces of brass around that area so I am certain I have ruined this guns accuracy. How do i crown this thing or should it really go in the trash? Very upset all this happened because i wanted to slug the barrel. It now appears I would have saved more money shooting jacketed bullets then ever screwing around trying to cast with this gun.

[snuffy]

Best bet would be a trip to a good gunsmith, he will have a crowning tool. The guy I worked for did re-crowning while-you-wait. Or you could spend from $52.99 to $360.00 for your own crowning tool;

http://www.brownells.com/search/index.htm?k=muzzle+chamfering&ksubmit=y

[dverna]

ok after heating hammering and swearing I finally got the muzzle brake loose. There was no thread sealer I guess I was just being a wuss. After careful inspection I noticed the inside of the muzzle brake is badly gouged, so bad that I wouldn't think it would hold any accuracy so I definately need a new muzzle brake as I cant find the thread protector that supposedly came in the box unless someone here has one. My other option is to buy a cool looking one on ebay as it seems 5/8 be 24 threads per inch is the size i need for .308 muzzle brakes. Or I could shoot without but I also dont want to do that.

On another note it does appear that I have peened the barrel. Looking at the end of the bore I can see the groves as they come out of the barrel in little rectangles. One of the rectangles is not as big as the others and there are small traces of brass around that area so I am certain I have ruined this guns accuracy. How do i crown this thing or should it really go in the trash? Very upset all this happened because i wanted to slug the barrel. It now appears I would have saved more money shooting jacketed bullets then ever screwing around trying to cast with this gun.

You have learned a valuable lesson. At least you did not screw up a high end gun. The good news is that crowning the barrel will solve your problem at little cost and the added bonus is that it will shoot better than whatever the factory crown was.

When I had a muzzle brake installed on my .300 Win Mag I had the barrel re-crowned even though I had not damaged it. Stop beating yourself up.

If you pound the hell out of the next barrel, then you can give yourself a good *** kicking. We all make mistakes - not a big deal.

Don Verna