barrel removal

[hydehunter]

anyone ever try and remove a barrel from a Cooper model 22 it a single shot bolt gun. a gun builder a few years ago tried to remove it so he could tread the barrel for a brake. he said he could not get it loosened and was afraid he might tweak the action. I want to have it re-bored by Jes any suggestions? do not want to mar up the barrel. thanks

 

[Brathany]

Can of LITFA

 

[hydehunter]

Can of LITFA

what is that?

 

[Sockeye66]

what is that?

It's a not very polite acronym for leave as is.

 

[PopNFresh]

always a risk to the finish removing a factory barrel, may have to use an old school exterior action wrench and a lot of hate
Winchester sometimes glued theirs too so you may need some heat on top of the hate

 

[K.E.C. Darkside]

Did you talk to Jesse at JES.
Might give him a call.

 

[hydehunter]

Did you talk to Jesse at JES.
Might give him a call.

been trying to get with him all week, no joy

 

[hydehunter]

always a risk to the finish removing a factory barrel, may have to use an old school exterior action wrench and a lot of hate
Winchester sometimes glued theirs too so you may need some heat on top of the hate

the barrel is still good so that is why I do not want any damage, just want a different cartridge for a change

 

[MagnumManiac]

I always used an action vice/wrench and barrel vice, the type that bolts onto the action top and bottom, the barrel vice stays stationary on a pedestal and the action vice is what rotates. Never marred a barrel, not once.
Brownell's sell them, but you need to make your own barrel vice inserts to suit the barrel contour.

Cheers.

 

[Joe Entrekin]

I have done this several times with no problem, Use a Wheeler general purpose action wrench and Kelbly barrel vise with toilet paper tubes around both the barrel and action to protect the finishes. If it's extra stubborn you can use two barrel vises to double the friction. Be sure everything is really tightened up well and give it a careful go, and use a little cheater on the action wrench if necessary. On a Cooper you shouldn't need heat but it's an option if it's stubborn. Of course this all needs to be set up in a substantial vise on a heavy workbench.

 

[Lee7588]

I use a barrel vice and action wrench, when I put the barrel in the vice I wrap the barrel with a piece of leather where it makes contact with the vice. Never had any issues. I get the leather scraps from craft shops like Hobby Lobby or Michaels

 

[Muddyboots]

The only caveat is if somehow thread locker was used. I can tell you I went thru Hades trying to get a barrel off. 4' cheater, Mac gas etc was just laughed at. My GS had to use his bench vise with his own homemade spacers with propane oxy torch with cheater and BFH. He was impressed and said by far worse one ever. Yeah my luck.

 

[Taj]

A piece of an old telephone book page wrapped around the barrel before you stick it in the barrel vise will usually work. Things have to be degreased and clean. Use a little rosin on it. I worked for an old gunsmith about a hundred years ago that made us pull every barrel before we refinished the gun, so every newly blued barrel had to be reinstalled. We always used old news paper or old phone book pages and it always seemed to work and we never scratched a barrel. Warming it up a bit may help but a tight barrel responds to an impact on the action wrench better than getting a hernia just pulling on it. I have a piece of old hickory ax handle that does the job for me. A sharp wrap on the action handle will often make it happen. Just my 2 cents worth. Good Luck!!

 

[hydehunter]

thanks everyone for the suggestions for removing a barrel but I have no tools or the desire to do the job, that's what a gunsmith is for, as I will not mare up a very accurate barrel