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My son has a Ruger American 450 Bushmaster Ranch with that awful muzzle brake and yes, it is deafening to shoot. I have tried heat and a good fitting 7/8 wrench but this thing will not budge. As a side note to all of this, I use a Magneto Speed chronograph and the blast from the brake keeps it from registering any speed. Any help/advice would really be appreciated.
Murf
Is it one of the two piece brakes they put on where the part with flats is a locknut? Try holding the front section with a round screwdriver while backing off the locknut.
I did, but it wont budge.
I had one that I had to take off.
Someone had installed it with Red Loctite.
I took my heat gun and warmed up the break.
Then it finally came loose.
Give it a shot.
The heat gun won't effect the bluing.
How hot did you have to get it? As you face the muzzle, it unscrews counter clockwise, right? Is the hex nut part of the brake?
If I remember correctly.
The Hex part is the lock nut.
The round part is the break.
But it has been a few years since I had that rifle in my hands , and I don't remember if it was a Factory Break.
The heat gun can not overheat the parts , but it has to get pretty warm.
A hair dryer won't work.
Red locktire is sort of like herpes.... it's on there for life.Quote:
Originally Posted by murf205
However; what I've read says heat it to 450-500 F for a couple minutes, and that will 'soften' it.
Red loctite needs at least 500 degrees F. One thing you might try that can help is to spray it with WD-40 every time you walk past it. And try to crank it in both directions. WD-40 is not the best penetrant around, but it won't damage the blued finish. http://www.useloctite.com/downloads/...ok_updated.pdf see page 26. Says at least 5 minutes.Quote:
Originally Posted by murf205
Bill
I've had Kroil break down red loctite. Took some time but got it done. I'd immerse the brake in it for a few days. I used a tall medicine bottle & stood the barrel in it.
Thanks guy's I'm going to try the heat gun first while the can of Kroil is on order. Am I correct on the direction to loosen the nut/break?
I don't ever remember any gun that had Left Handed Threads.Righty Tightly , Lefty Lucy
A hacksaw and crowning tool. Just kidding! Sort of....
Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk
I'm not going to go quite that far. My son would have a duck and I couldn't blame him. But I have an ace in the hole, Mr Jimmy McCollough of McCollough Rifle Co is only about 30 min away from me and he has bailed me out before.
LAGS, I just talked with Ruger customer seevice in North Carolina and the lady said the same thing about the heat gun. When i get home im going to try it. I wish they would ship the gun with the thread protector and let the buyer put the break on if they want it.
If they did that it would get loose during shipping and scar up the stock or metal.Quote:
Originally Posted by murf205
Put dry ice on the barrel before you use the heat gun on the muzzle brake.
The dry ice will make the barrel shrink and the heat will expand the brake!
The brakes are installed with Loctite.
The heat softens the loctite.
It is not an issue with a Pressed Fit.
So cooling the barrel is not much help in this case.
Another thing that I use to Cool Down metal parts for press fitting is the Spray computer dust blaster.
It isn't as cold as dry ice.
But it in the long run is cheaper when doing only small parts.
Well the heat gun didn't work either and that was the recommendation of Ruger Customer Service. They said if that didn't work to call back and they would take it and remove it for me. I might just take them up on that offer. At least if something goes south it will be on them to fix it.
Turn jam nut wrong way first, then back off.
I tried that-twice. This thing is ON THERE.
Try this company for your next brake,
https://gentrycustom.com/Products/Qu...9/Default.aspx
They fixed my Striker pistol.
Hard to believe heat did not do the trick. Did your son buy the gun used or new? If he bought it used, did some "gunsmith" attach it with epoxy?
I would be sending it back to Ruger. If they screw it up it will be their problem.
Most epoxies break down at the same temps as red locktite.
depending on barrel weight and mass how you hold it while heating will make a big difference bet is with the break up and barrel down. Heat rises this way the heat is going into the break. Not being pulled back into the barrel and vise. If th barrel and break are heavy with thicker walls it may take some soak time at temp to get them fully up to temp.
Chances are you have a good way to soak this on hand. FIll your electric lead pot and heat to 650-700* then dip the flash hider in and block up let soak 20-30 mins in the lead at temp.
While applying torque to the jam nut, use a plastic or Rawhide mallet to vibrate the brake. Repeated/ fast tapping on the face of the brake. Best with 4 hands.
Did Ruger say they use Red Loctite? If yes, 500 degree heat is needed.
What baffles me is that my son told me that the rifle was new with the thread protector on it and he unscrewed it and screwed the brake on hand tight so a 7/8's wrench 12" long should take it off. The Ruger tech I talked to said they didn't use Loctite...hmmm. I heater the brake/muzzle from the bottom and sides and I got it HOT.
Personally I would take the drive instead of the hassle of shipping back and forth to Ruger.Quote:
Originally Posted by murf205
Sounds like a trip to the gunsmith is the easiest solution.
You've tried heat, why not try cold, give it a crushed ice and salt bath, that should shrink both
the barrel and break away from each other.
Be sure to wash the salt water off and use a oil on the barrel/break.
Ruger told me to put in a barrel vice, insert a steel rod through the muzzle brake and unscrew it. Use the largest diameter rod that will pass through the brake. And as you have indicated, it is tight. It will break loose with a snap and a pretty good amount of force. No mention was made about using heat or cold. I had mine off in less than a minute after it was placed in the vice. Good luck.
You mentioned one important thing.
You have to clamp the barrel in a Barrel Vise that circles the barrel for a full grip.
Trying to hold the barrel in a standard vise , won't keep the barrel from rotating.
That is correct. I had the leather in the vise but it still wouldn't hold the barrel. I am waiting on my son to get back with me and let him decide if he wants the brake on or off. I do the load development for him and I can't stand brakes. It even gives my Chrony a fit much less the Magneto Speed chronograph. If he doesn't care to know the speed of the round it is cool with me. Since this is a short range rifle, it will not be earth shattering not to clock it but the darn thing will make your ears ring if you hunt with it and don't use ear protection. I can't do that but heck, I have tinnitus already.Quote:
Originally Posted by LAGS
In some cases I made Blocks to fit the barrel and used my Vise to clamp the blocks around the barrel.
I just used some 1x2 hardwood like maple or Oak.
I cut 4 pieces about 3" long.
I glued two pieces together , then the other two together.
Then I lined up the two glued blocks in the drill press , and drilled a hole a little smaller than the size on the barrel where I was going to clamp it.
Now you will have Two blocks with a half circle.
Place them around the barrel and clamp it in the vise with the barrel going Vertical and the break pointing up.
That gives you more surface of the blocks on the vise.
I forgot.
When you are drilling the hole for the barrel.
Put an 1/8" spacer between the two blocks , so when the hole is drilled ,it leaves a little room between the blocks for compression.
I have used leather and mostly sheet lead to keep the barrel from slipping if it still slips using the bare wood.
This is a simple cheap fix that does work in a lot of cases.
I made Blocks for my barrel vise in this way so I don't have to keep buying blocks for odd sized barrels like my Octagon muzzleloader barrels to remove the breech plug.
If you can get the locknut flats in a good smooth jaw vise, then putting a rod through it like Ruger says should work. Holding the flats in a vise and heating the brake should work.
Is it this brake?
Attachment 294739
Yep, that's it. Again, if it was mine, I'd do just that but even though he is my son, it is his rifle and I'm going to let him make the call.