Stuck 98 Mauser barrel any ideas?

[firebyprolong]

So I'm trying to get a barrel pulled on a 98. I have tried ever trick I could think of. Koil, heat gun, steady pressure with a cheater pipe and tapping with a hammer. Been working on it for two days. Every time I get mad I walk away before I break stuff. I've got it in the barrel vice with 60lb of wheel weights hanging on the end of the cheater overnight just to see if it will pop. Next step is relieving the barrel shoulder. Anyone have any ideas? I've had 1917 barrels come off easier than this one.

[leebuilder]

Been there.
Reliving the shoulder is an option. I use a 0.050 thou parting tool I made just for that. You don't want to put any twists in the receiver.
Good luck!!!

[Reverend Recoil]

I have used a hack saw to relieve the barrel shoulder. A 3/16" deep cut all the way around close to the face of the receiver ring will work to get off the tightest barrels.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

First, the vise or whatever you have holding the barrel has to be the immoveable object. Next, a tightly screwed on receiver wrench with a cheater bar and all of your weight should do the job. I've used a pipe that slid over the handle that was 4 ft. in length, and there was nothing it wouldn't take off. Sometimes a sharp, sudden application of force like hitting the handle with a large hammer will do the trick, the sudden shock breaking the bond.

[Texas by God]

I have used a hack saw to relieve the barrel shoulder. A 3/16" deep cut all the way around close to the face of the receiver ring will work to get off the tightest barrels.This is how I do it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[largom]

First, the vise or whatever you have holding the barrel has to be the immoveable object. Next, a tightly screwed on receiver wrench with a cheater bar and all of your weight should do the job. I've used a pipe that slid over the handle that was 4 ft. in length, and there was nothing it wouldn't take off. Sometimes a sharp, sudden application of force like hitting the handle with a large hammer will do the trick, the sudden shock breaking the bond.

The sudden shock of a LARGE hammer is the secret!

[Goatwhiskers]

FWIW: I use 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF when I need a penetrant. According to lab reports and personal experience it makes kroil look like you were using axle grease to try to penetrate the joint. Apparently the acetone is so thin that it creeps into any opening available, carrying the oil with it. For barrels and frozen choke tubes it sometimes takes more than one application of the heat gun alternated with more penetrant. You do need some type of container with a cap to keep the acetone from evaporating, Brownells has some cute little oiler bottles great for the purpose. GW

For those frozen choke tubes I made an tool from an old socket so I can use an impact driver and a big greasy ball peen hammer. Couple of raps and the tube unscrews with oil all the way to the bottom of the threads. Clean off the carbon and rust and you're good to go.

[firebyprolong]

Another 4 hours down the drain. Chucked up in the lathe and relieved the shoulder and three more heat cycles with the heat gun using 50/50 mix. 4 foot cheater bar with all my weight and an 8 lb hammer. No love, still tight all I've managed to do is get mad enough to throw a hammer across the shop and turn the air blue enough to warrant a thunderstorm warning. At this point buying a stripped action is starting to look really appealing.

[Cap'n Morgan]

The Mauser 98 locks on the barrel end and has no true shoulder to relieve. Cut the barrel close to the action and drill/turn out the thread.

[firebyprolong]

This is a Berlin made 1909 argie 98 and it's locked up solid. Just pulled a barrel from a FN 98 this afternoon for a friend, one good stout tug and pop his was loose. Mine sat on the bench looking smug the whole time.
If I have to cut and bore out the treads i would have to hire it out. My lathe spindle is just an inch so no way to get the action chucked up. So I'm gonna have to rube golburge something up on the mill. The more I pull and curse at this action the more I think about cutting out that barrel stub.

[roysha]

Only ever had one that bad. I put it in the freezer overnight with the barrel vise jaws and got everything as cold as the freezer would get it. I even considered getting some dry ice and packing the barreled action in that, but really didn't want to make a special trip to get the dry ice unless I had to. Next day I clamped the barrel in the vise as quickly as I could, used the heat gun to warm the receiver ring a little, slapped the action wrench on and whacked it with a 4 pound brass hammer. It broke loose but was still a booger to unscrew. Cleaned up the threads and the darn barrel practically wobbled in the action

[500Linebaughbuck]

The sudden shock of a LARGE hammer is the secret!

you mean LARGE SLEDGE hammer:bigsmyl2:

[Texas by God]

If your action wrench is solid enough, immobilize it. Put your best pipe wrench on that barrel with a cheater pipe. Cut that relief groove. Haul on that wrench- it'll break that unwanted barrel loose(probably with a loud POP).

[Bird]

I had a similar issue with a 1909 argie, with an aftermarket 30-06 barrel that was shot out. I tried everything mentioned above, with no success. I even managed to snap the vise from the benchtop.
I ended up cutting the barrel off an inch or so from the receiver face and ground and filed the barrel stub for six sides so I could use a socket and bar for better grip. I ended up making a jig for the receiver and jammed it under a single post car lift with a car on top. i slid an 8' tube over the cheater bar and stood on top of the tube. I guess about 1400 to 1500 ftlbs was enough to break it loose. It did put a slight twist in the receiver, but I left it alone, and has been shooting well for many years.
All this is not worth the effort nowadays. A $60.00 or free mauser might be worth a try.

[bstone5]

Some Mausers barrels shoulder on the face of the receiver and shoulder internal to the receiver just in front of the bolt locking lug space. The cutting of the barrel in front of the receiver will help for the first shoulder at the front of the receiver. If the barrel is seated against the internal shoulder than a lot of torque is required to loosen the barrel.
In some cases I have cut the barrel off short and then TIG welded the barrel to my steel welding table with the receiver in a vertical position. The internal receiver tool is inserted and torque applied with a long cheater bar. Some care is required not to bend the receiver.
Sometimes a lot of torque is required to free the barrel.

[Jedman]

As Bill Clinton said, I feel your pain !

Jedman

[firebyprolong]

212925Got it! It froze hard here last night so I just left it in the barrel vice and added a pipe wrench on the other side of the vice as slip insurance. Built a pipe cheater that would accept at 5' rock bar. Gave the receiver ring a little heat and sucked up the action wrench. Got the bar on gave it a pull and dropped a 8lb hammer on the wrench handle. Let loose with a pop and I landed in a pile with a rock bar on my lap.

[Texas by God]

212925Got it! It froze hard here last night so I just left it in the barrel vice and added a pipe wrench on the other side of the vice as slip insurance. Built a pipe cheater that would accept at 5' rock bar. Gave the receiver ring a little heat and sucked up the action wrench. Got the bar on gave it a pull and dropped a 8lb hammer on the wrench handle. Let loose with a pop and I landed in a pile with a rock bar on my lap.
Well, with that out of the way- what are you building?

[firebyprolong]

I'm building a 35 whelen with a green mountain short chambered barrel from midway. A freind and I both bought one last year when they went on sale. His flat shoots so I have high hopes. I've wanted one ever since I got 4 boxes of factory Remington ammo in a trade 15 years ago. Opened the box and thought, " I need one of these badly". I've been gathering parts and pieces ever since. It's about time I get one built. I was originally going to build one on a 1917 action but this hacked up 98 just fell in my lap with a sewer pipe bore.

[lefty o]

tight ones definately make quite the popping/cracking sound when they finally come apart.

[Texas by God]

That 09 DWM will be a great .35 Whelen. And more svelte than a 1917 for sure.��

[Hardcast416taylor]

The last 1917 Winchester Enfield that I took the barrel off from, about 15 years back, required and resisted about everything but a priest saying a benediction over it to get it loose. In the end it was a freezing then heating plus the 24" pipe wrench with a 36" `cheater` on it to make that long awaited `POP` sound. Today it is a .338/06 that is a nail driver.Robert

[swheeler]

212925Got it! It froze hard here last night so I just left it in the barrel vice and added a pipe wrench on the other side of the vice as slip insurance. Built a pipe cheater that would accept at 5' rock bar. Gave the receiver ring a little heat and sucked up the action wrench. Got the bar on gave it a pull and dropped a 8lb hammer on the wrench handle. Let loose with a pop and I landed in a pile with a rock bar on my lap.

I see when it was drilled and tapped they drilled right into the receiver locking lug, quite common anymore on everything, used to be mostly Springfields. :-(

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Many gunsmith-rebarrelled Mauser 98s, and possibly some military ones, have a barrel tightened up on the front face of the receiver. A shallow cut into the barrel, as close to the receiver as you can get, will loosen that, just like it will almost everything else. Do it close enough to the receiver, and you can even set the barrel back a thread and use it on another rifle.

More of them, though, tighten up with the rear face of the barrel on the internal stop-ring of the 98, and there is no way you can relieve the pressure there. If the useful techniques we have heard here don't work, you can cut off the barrel close to the front of the receiver, and drill or counterbore it out, ideally just meeting the crests of the threads so that the remaining metal can be pulled out like a triangular-wire coilspring. Or you can counterbore it as close as possible, then use a Dremel tool and carbide burr, or similar, to cut down to the thread crests in two or three places. If you left a little of the old barrel standing proud of the receiver, you should be able to drive the pieces far enough inward with a hammer and soft metal punch to get them out.

[swheeler]

212925Got it! It froze hard here last night so I just left it in the barrel vice and added a pipe wrench on the other side of the vice as slip insurance. Built a pipe cheater that would accept at 5' rock bar. Gave the receiver ring a little heat and sucked up the action wrench. Got the bar on gave it a pull and dropped a 8lb hammer on the wrench handle. Let loose with a pop and I landed in a pile with a rock bar on my lap.

213000

This is the correct location of front base holes on receiver ring(look where yours is drilled), I just drilled and tapped this last Friday

[firebyprolong]

The armorer who put this one together could read a mic and that's for sure. Both the shoulder and the breach were in full contact and are bright and smooth,I'd bet 95% thread contact as well. I need to chuck up my blank and knock just a touch off the thread hight. I slopped her up with anti- seize to check the fit and can't spin it more than 3/4 s on with hand pressure. As to the drill and tap you know it's in the wrong spot I know it's in the wrong spot but the guy that slapped two piece weaver bases on it didn't. The same guy did the bolt forging according to the guy I got the donor rifle from. At least he was careful enough to get them on square and drill and tap nice straight and square bottom hole just deep enough to accommodate a mount screw, with a threads all the way to the bottom. They are perfect holes other than one being over the lug. It's gonna take a little fitting to get a one piece mount to fit but easy is boring.

[swheeler]

I'm seeing more and more mausers drilled wrong, used to just be Springfields and I thought I knew why, now I'm wondering. I'm guessing it was drilled and tapped using a BSquare (or clone) jig, but the Special Notes on Argentine mausers front rec ring was over looked and the line "or the mount holes will be located too far to the rear." applies. Good luck on your build, you'll like the Whelen.

[firebyprolong]

I sure wasn't trying to be rude or dismissive in that last post swheeler, and I hope it wasn't taken that way. That was ment to be humorous and nothing else. Sometimes I forget that folks can't see the smile behind the written word.
I just thought it odd that someone would do everything right except for the base location. It really is quite nice job other than that one glaring detail and the use of the cheapest junk based weaver made at the time. I need to do some checking and order a few bases. I'd like to go with a steel one piece but would settle for two if my hole spaceing works. If no matter what I have modify holes in a base I'll just go with a one piece. I have a mill, I can make it work.

[justashooter]

a well assembled '98 will have pressure at shoulder and at breach face. most are tight at shoulder only. relieving with a cut-off wheel usually gets the most stuck barrels to back out. cutting the barrel off is creating a different kind of serious problem.

[KenT7021]

I quit using cheater bars on action wrenches many years ago.I use the Brownell's action wrench with a home made barrel vise.The Brownell's wrench has a short heavy handle which is perfect.I hit the end of the handle as hard as possible with a home made HEAVY brass hammer.Most actions come right off the barrel.If the barrel slips in the barrel vise I use a pipe wrench in addition to the barrel vise.This is only possible if you're not trying to safe the barrel.

[swheeler]

I sure wasn't trying to be rude or dismissive in that last post swheeler, and I hope it wasn't taken that way. That was ment to be humorous and nothing else. Sometimes I forget that folks can't see the smile behind the written word.
I just thought it odd that someone would do everything right except for the base location. It really is quite nice job other than that one glaring detail and the use of the cheapest junk based weaver made at the time. I need to do some checking and order a few bases. I'd like to go with a steel one piece but would settle for two if my hole spaceing works. If no matter what I have modify holes in a base I'll just go with a one piece. I have a mill, I can make it work.

No offence taken, we're good. I've spotted a half dozen or so on here over the years and all were mausers, the pawn shops show or have shown 50% or better of all sporterized Springfields to be drilled that way, the BSquare jig comes with two top plates stamped M and S, mauser and Springfield. The directions list the exceptions and how to use correctly, 09 ARG, Mexican, and Arisaka are listed IIRC. Rem, Win, Savage all miss drilling into them;-) I know one local gunsmith will not rebarrel if drilled so.

[Mauser 98K]

b4 you start hacking on the thing. does the barrel bottom out on the face of the receiver or does it bottom out inside the action. i have seen them both ways. if it bottoms out inside the action then hacksaw will get you nowhere.

but you need one of these..

213226

213227

most action wrenches go inside the chamber. while this works sometimes, a lot of the time the wrench is just not strong enough. i have twisted the crappy inside action wrenches b4 i came up with this one that the action plugs into...

[Texas by God]

He removed it on post #17. That action wrench of yours looks great. My home made one does not!

[firebyprolong]

I went ahead a few years ago and bought a brownells action wench when I didn't have a lathe. Since I've become better equipped I've built a few sets of jaws for it. After 5 years I figure it's paid for itself a couple of times. Mauser I'd say you built yourself a dandy wrench there.

[john.k]

There is a very easy way to make tools for action and barrel,and that is with the low melting Cerro metals....one type has sufficient strength to use in press tool making,yet still melts at low temp....One type was even used in short run car panel press dies....Cerromatrix?.....simply make up a mold box,cardboard and silastic is ok,and cast around the part to be held....The more irregular the shape,the better.

[Texas by God]

john.k, that's a great idea and that's how Briley makes fixtures to install their custom choke tubes on various shotguns.