Barrel block - where to find?

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prosper

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I've had a project in mind for a while now - a Stevens 200 in 7.62x39 (308) at 20".

All the pieces are here - a new bolt face, the pre-threaded and chambered barrel, headspace gauges and barrel nut wrench. I cut a couple v-notches in a nice dense chunk of hardwood, split a rubber hose in two and lined the notches, and clamped them all together in a 6" vise. Turns out that's not good enough, the barrel just spins in the blocks. I tried whacking the wrench with a hammer to see if the impact'd loosen things up a bit, but no joy there either.

So, it comes down to this - where can I get a proper barrel block, or how do I make one?
 
Use bedding compound/JB Weld, etc, to bed the barrel to the blocks. Dust the surfaces with rosin, clamp it up. Powdered rosin is used for some sports, or get a bit from a violinist, and grind it up. A machinists vice may or may not work.
If you need to make a barrel vice, here are some options: get two steel bars, at least 1"x2" or bigger, about 6" long. Drill two holes through for clamp bolts, use 3/4" or 7/8" bolts. Use rectangular hardwood blocks, bedded to the barrel, as above. Or, if you can acess a lathe, clamp the steel bars together in the 4 jaw chuck, drill and bore a hole through, half in each piece, say 1 1/2" diameter. Take pieces of aluminum bar, 1 1/2", drill and bore to barrel diameter. Split these bushings. Use rosin, clamp up. Heavier, stronger is better. High class bolts are better than common grade.
 
I also found this:

The Savage 110 Action Vise is expensive. Can I do without it or make a suitable one myself?

It is not difficult to remove the barrel from a Savage. The ‘trick’ is to use heat to break the thread sealant. Using a large bench vise and some hardwood to hold the action in the vise you should be able to remove the barrel without scratching anything if you have a barrel nut wrench. If you don’t care about scratching the barrel and/or nut you can use a pipe wrench.

You can make a quite suitable action vise out of hardwood, and a couple of bolts only be careful if you are using heat to break the sealant on a factory barrel. Plans to make one out of wood are here.
Click to expand...

I'm not certain about using heat - wouldn't that affect the temper/hardness of the steel?
 
The 110 barrels I've pulled didn't use sealant, but maybe some do. Rem 700s do. The heat required to break down a thread locker isn't all that great. An action clamp recessed for the recoil lug might work, the recoil lug has a little tab that engages the receiver. If the recoil lug can't turn, neither can the receiver, the barrel nut should be able to be unscrewed. I don't know if the rig shown in the link is strong enough for a factory barrel. I've never pulled a 110 factory barrel without using a heavy barrel vice with machined bushings.
 
I made clamping blocks out of walnut but any hardwood will/should work. The key is getting a tight fit around that tapered barrel. I drilled a hole equal to the 'front' of the barrel and sanded the 'rear' to be a very tight fit. The wood opened up under compression.

I used a table top 4"/5" vise so your larger 6" might be all you need. Use lots of elbow grease to clamp that down tight (the blocks creak and groan under compression with a few simply splitting apart). With a few sharp blows on the wrench, the nut should come off. I used a heavy head hammer (yes, it does ding up the wrench but ...).

If that doesn't work (some barrels were too tight and would just rotate in the blocks), I took it to a local machine shop and used their hydraulic press. Bingo. Two to three wacks and the nut is free. Just remember to wack in the correct direction/rotation.

The key is just holding that barrel tight enough so it doesn't slip. The nut is on tight but there is no sealant used.

After that, I just use my table vise and tighten snuggly (you don't need to he man the nut). I can now easily swap barrels at home.

Welcome to the world of Savage Switch barrels.

Prosper, where did you get that barrel? I am also very interested in this cartridge. Did you get the mag parts as well or just single feeding?

Jerry
 
I have a 20 ton shop press in the garage I could try, but I'm somewhat concerned about damaging the barrel with that sort of pressure. Think I'll try the steel bedding in between a couple wood blocks & rosin powder.

Purpose-built action wrenches & barrel vises are too expensive if I can do it myself for nothing :)

I've had the barrel for a while, it's a Winchester 70 '06 barrel that's been set back, re-chambered & threaded. I got it on ebay for $75 a while back.

I don't know what sort of mods I'll need to the mag; I'm hoping none. The bolt head is obtainable from SSS, or you can use the factory bolt face with a lengthened extractor (also obtainable from SSS)
 
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20 ton presses don't need to squeeze 20tons of pressure do they.

Just apply until the blocks squeak. Try and if the barrel slips, apply more pressure.

The compressive force needed to crush your barrel exceeds the force available from that press. Remember those WOOD blocks - They will crush first.

Let us know how it shoots.
Jerry
 
You can also wrap the recoil lug with tape then use a large cresent wrench to hold it in place a quick hit on the barrel nut wrench it should come loose.
 
I guess I would have stopped a long time before the barrel crushed. Didn't the wooden blocks give him some indication of how much force he was applying?

Only need to hold the barrel which really doesn't require that much force.

Jerry
 
The factory has never used a sealant. Gun oil and rust will seep into threads, that and the use of thread lube during a re-install sometimes give the appearance of a sealant.

Using a HSS drill bit, bore a hole the same diameter as the barrel into a 4" long wood block then cut the block in half with a thick blade. A hack saw cut doesn't remove enough material unless you put three blades on the saw but a radial arm or table saw will and be much straighter. Powdered rosin does work well.

I only use the blocks during install now. I hold the action and recoil lug for a removal and nothing for the barrel. You must hold the barrel to tighten because it will turn with the nut but it doesn't take near as much force as a factory removal.

Squeeze it tight and whack the cr@p out of it the first swing.

Cheers
 
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