barrel removal on a french mas 1873

[burnt_servo]

anyone have any experience removing the barrel on a French 1873 / 1874 ?

I understand that it should be possible , in theory , but google has let me down and this is something I would like to know about .

thanks

 

[burnt_servo]

bump ...

no one has ever pulled a barrel off of one of these ?

 

[burnt_servo]

well now that I have got my hands on one and started to play with it , it appears that the barrel is soldered into the frame .

anyone have anything to add to this ?

 

[H Wally]

This is based on nothing other than my observations and I've never pulled an 1873 barrel, but I believe they're threaded. You'll see that there's a seam about 1/5 of the way back from the front of the ejection rod housing that lines up with the transition of the barrel going into the frame.

Also, at 0.55 of this video if you freeze frame there's a reference to an armourers tool for removing the barrel - it's a wrench with a cut out for the ejector housing. I'd say hit the frame with a little heat (just enough to get the oil to soak in) and penetrating oil to make sure it isn't seized, then make a tool to hold the barrel snugly and twist it off.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8j6izHFlX4#t=55