Having a tough time removing a Mauser barrel!

[Gazz]

I have a VZ24 barreled action that has a sewer pipe bore so I want the barrel off. I made some aluminum barrel blocks/bushings for my barrel vise to fit the barrel, sprinkled rosin on the mating surfaces and clamped it in the vise. The vise is something I made using 2 pieces of 1" steel plate and 7/8" bolts so fairly heavy duty. I am using a receiver wrench that came from Midway that I added another handle to so now it is like a very large tap wrench. I'm using a large breaker bar to tighten the bolts on the vise to the point that I am afraid I am going to break the breaker bar - I am a large guy 260 pounds give or take few pounds so the vise is clamped tight but yet when I attempt to turn the receiver off, the barrel slowly spins in the vise. I have tried warming the receiver, added Kroil, warmed the barrel, chilled the barrel with ice, got help from a neighbor kid for more muscle on the wrench and even set up a hydraulic jack to push on one end of the receiver wrench to the point the added handle to the wrench begins to bend which is 3/4" hot rolled rod. I left it jacked like that for two days figuring that whatever was holding the barrel in place would just give up. But no, it didn't budge. So I warmed the receiver with the jack pressure still on it but no joy. Next I took it out of the barrel vise and welded the barrel to my welding table. The welds pop off the barrel when I try to twist the receiver off so I figure the barrel needed a bit of warmth before welding being something other than mild steel so I give it some preheat with the o2/propane rosebud. Same thing, the welds let go and take parts of the barrel with them. I am trying to avoid cutting the barrel off and putting the receiver in the lathe and boring barrel stub out but I am beginning to think that is what I will end up doing unless of course, somebody here tells me what I am doing wrong and provides the answer! Thanks for your support!

[Mk42gunner]

Back when I was building rifles on surplus Mauser's I used a 24" pipe wrench on the barrel against the floor and sometimes hit the handle of the receiver wrench with a three pound hammer. I have never taken a good barrel off, only junk ones that I didn't care about how the pipe wrench damage looked.

Robert

[ButchC]

Sounds like resulting to drastic measures might be the fastest course at this point. I know relief cuts are common with some 1917s that put up a fight. Most difficult barrel removal I've heard of spent a month in the freezer after a heaver Kroil application. Wish I could recommend more but it sounds like you've tried all the tools I have available.

[Gewehr-Guy]

I make a relief cut with a hacksaw close to the reciever on O3A3's, and it takes the pressure off the threads. I know a Mauser barrel seats against an inner shoulder also, but a relief cut sure should help.

[Gazz]

Ah yes, a relief cut. I did remove a barrel from a 1917 one and it popped right off - no need for the relief cut. I have also wailed on the receiver wrench with a small sledge but that didn't do anything except to ding up the receiver wrench handle. I'll try a relief cut with a hacksaw tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestions!

[Texas by God]

Kroil, PB blast, the relief cut, the pipe wrench and a cheater pipe is what I use for the tough ones. Never put heat on the reciever. Like mentioned above, if the barrel is already bad the pipe wrench will just give it character.
Good luck!

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[samari46]

I just stick stubborn barrels with the receiver in a lathe and turn off the entire barrel shoulder where it screws up against the receiver. Take just as long as a relief cut. Then with some washers and 1/4x20 cap screws attach to a steel block I drilled and tapped. Usually just takes a pipe wrench with a spritz of kroil and off the barrel comes. Used to buy junker 1891 Argentine mausers and 1895 Chilean mausers for cheap as a source of parts and the barrels are usually rusted and corroded. Frank

[Fishoot]

When a barrel turned in my hydraulic press I would grind flats in it so there was a shoulder for the press to hold onto. I did lots of Turkish Mausers that way. The flat surface prevented the barrel from turning. The only part that can turn is the receiver. I used a receiver wrench with a sledge hammer in my right hand which I applied to the wrench handle while putting downward pressure on the wrench with my left hand. It worked every time. Of course, your old barrel is toast after that treatment.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I clean up the barrel block and barrel, then epoxy the barrel block/barrel and tighten, let the epoxy cure/harden and give it a turn. Most epoxies can be removed with heat, JB Weld works but needs more heat than I care to use to remove.

[Blanket]

I have drilled cross holes thru the barrel and bolt it to the bench then use an air hammer on the end of the action wrench, seems the vibration pops them better than just force

[john.k]

Relief cut doesnt work on a 98 ,as the seat is inside the ring ....maybe the front ring gap is a little excessive ,and water has got into the thread......years ago ,a workmate used to bend the old military barrel into an L shape ,and use it as a handle........i do agree though ,that a big enough impact gun will rattle just about anything loose ,if you can rig a purchase ....like welding a big nut onto the stub.......For the higher carbon steel ,stainless electrode generally works better,as does a high amp weld that melts plenty of the parent metal into the weldpool.

[303Guy]

Never put heat on the reciever.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

Not even hot air gun heat? Mind you, any heat might expand the receiver harder onto the shoulder. Just asking out of interest.

[KenH]

I removed the barrel from a MKII Ruger by putting receiver/barrel in a dry ice surrey (-95°F) for a hour or so, then clamping in barrel vise, slowly playing a propane torch over receiver as pressure was applied. Came loose nicely. I'd read Ruger MKII barrels were so tight they couldn't be removed outside of factory but the dry ice surrey worked.

[rockrat]

Relief cut should work. Had to do that with an O3A3. Another thing I read about was to plug the rear of the chamber and with the receiver/barrel pointing down, put some ATF or Kroil in the receiver to fill to the rear of the barrel, and let sit for a few days and let the lube work itself around the barrel/receiver threads.

[smithnframe]

Try grinding a flat on the barrel next to the receiver.

[country gent]

If you have a good fit and surface on the barrel blocks and they still spin then try coating them with powdered rosin, or red loctite ( this should have some curing time). I hate to mess up a barrel as even a completely ruined bore can be used for stock for other projects.

The relief cut even if its tight on the inner shoulder might allow the kroil oil to get into the joint better.

[ulav8r]

Shock is better at breaking parts loose than a steady pressure. Heating is permissible up to about 350 degrees. Heating then cooling, then heating again would probably be better than heating only. Kroil or acetone and ATF work better if the joint is flooded for a day or two and lots of vibration is applied. Mount the gun vertically in a vise and tap on the barrel several times a day with a 12 ounce hammer, hitting the barrel just ahead of the action. On the third day apply a hard constant pressure to the wrench then use your 3 lb. hammer on the wrench.

P.S. If you have a lathe, cut the barrel off and bore it out if nothing else works.

[edp2k]

50/50 ATF + acetone, soak for a few days.

[Gtek]

Maybe a little too tight on receiver wrench head pinching shank? Flat bottom/V-Head type? I have drilled a hole in plate standing release agent smeared action vertical. Release agent on everything and back head off about 1/8" to 3/16" and putty dam sides then fill with JB Weld. Post cure, pop apart and clean up and you have a perfect fit non-marring head insert for THAT receiver.

[tomme boy]

Maybe if you filled out your profile we would know where you are from. I could have it off it 10 min if you were here near me. I have the right receiver wrench and barrel blocks. I also have a lathe if it came to it. You need to shock the action and barrel to get it apart. I sed to use a 4lb hammer to break them loose. I never have had an action I couldn't get apart.