Broken Action Wrench..........F**K !!!!!

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I just ran into the tightest barrel on a 700 action ever, finally got the barrel cinched tight enough in my barrel vise and the f**king action wrench broke off. It has only done 4 or 5 barrel removals and reinstalls. This is the internal wrench from Brownells, wonder if they warranty it? Surely it should take more torque than I put on it, I'd never have thought that the shank would bend and tear like that..............Now I have no idea how to remove the 458 barrel to rechamber it, a new wrench and a little heat on the action ring. I suspect it to be locktited, I have seen this before on 700 actions and barrels but still never failed to come off. I suspect some heat will release the locktite and it'll come off easily after that. And yes I know not to apply too much heat to the receiver ring, just too hot to touch should release the locktite.
Anybody else ever broke an action wrench or had a 700 that tight before? I have done dozens of 700s and never have I run into one this stubborn.
 
SkytopBrewster said:
I thought the internal wrenches weren't rated for tight barrel removal, only good for torque up, I guess this confirms that?
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There is no other type of wrench for a 700 Rem that I'm aware of...........perfectly round action..........I have the external wrenches for the flat bottom and 98 type actions, but to my knowledge there is no such thing as an external wrench for the 700.

I sure wish it did "Looky cause then I know I'd get warranty, one and possibly the only good thing about Snap On tools. And good old Sears Craftsman warranty is even better...........
 
Sure there is the brownells one, it's notched for the recoil lug as well as has a hole for the front action screw. Check it out works good for removal.

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I have had a couple of tight factory 700's... most older 700's have been Loctited at the factory but most of them remove without heat... on the few really snug ones I heated the receiver ring quite hot but less than soft solder and then they removed easily.

The internal wrench is sufficient and better than most external ones on a 700. Most of them clamp around the receiver squeezing on the threads...

I'd mail you up my wrench but I am too busy working right now... Brownell's is excellent, I am sure they will replace it...

My home made wrench... from a piece of Ford axle... sturdy...

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guntech said:
I have had a couple of tight factory 700's... most older 700's have been Loctited at the factory but most of them remove without heat... on the few really snug ones I heated the receiver ring quite hot but less than soft solder and then they removed easily.

The internal wrench is sufficient and better than most external ones on a 700. Most of them clamp around the receiver squeezing on the threads...

I'd mail you up my wrench but I am too busy working right now... Brownell's is excellent, I am sure they will replace it...

My home made wrench... from a piece of Ford axle... sturdy...

wrench-0.jpg
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Thanks Dennis, Bevan said he has a couple and is sending me one. He makes his out of Cat head bolts, so I'm sure they're pretty tough as well. I made one out of 4340 bar stock, years ago just like yours but didn't radius the cut just behind the butterfly and it eventually broke off right there. I thought the factory made one would be "the end all be all" but my old homemade one lasted 30 years and this one about 20 months.
I actually have seen an outside wrench but it used the 1/4" action bolt as a stop and I just thought that would be way too much torque on the 1/4" bolt and threads of the action, plus like you said squeezing the action ring is exactly the opposite of what one is trying to accomplish.
 
A 1/4" bolt takes a lot more force to shear than you might think. Grade 5 coarse at the threads is 2300lbs, fine is 2600, at the shoulder 3500lbs for both.

A grade 8 coarse is 2900, fine 3300 and at the shoulder both are 4400 lbs

You don't need to clamp an external wrench too tight if you can use a lug bolt to locate the wrench.

I frequently pick up 3-4000lb engines via 2 1/4" or 5/16" bolts in single shear.
 
My action wrench is a grade 8 bolt with the head ground to look like the locking lugs of the bolt and has a nut welded on the other end for me to put my wrench on. It took me about 20 minutes to build and has worked countless times. Most of the old 700's I've taken apart have locktite from the factory so I just heat all of them up. I use a cigarette lighter till its pretty warm and that seams to soften the locktite enough.
 
Gunrunner8, a site member builds a very nice internal wrench. I've used it with a 3 foot snipe over the Johnson Bar handle to turn off some very difficult actions. So far, haven't had to use any heat.

His wrenches are very well made, reasonably priced and his shipping is quick. He is in Kamloops so close enough to be there in a week or so.
 
Dave at West Country Sports in Sundre, Ab had a home made internal wrench for sale along with a 700 barrel or two if you want to try another one. Personally I use the external clamp system that holds onto the recoil lug and reciever O.D. at the same time, I also run a high grade cap screw into the front reciever ring to prevent slippage. I have come across a few tight ones over the years, fortunatly I have managed to get the task completed without fail using this system . David.
 
bearhunter said:
Gunrunner8, a site member builds a very nice internal wrench. I've used it with a 3 foot snipe over the Johnson Bar handle to turn off some very difficult actions. So far, haven't had to use any heat.

His wrenches are very well made, reasonably priced and his shipping is quick. He is in Kamloops so close enough to be there in a week or so.
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Thank you for the kind words Gerarld. Indeed I machine my internal action wrench from heat treated 4340 solid 1" dia alloy steel.
Right amount of radiouses while turning them in the lathe and while milling them in the milling machine makes them stand up to 400f/p or so. Strong enough to break the blue loctite but not the red one. If anybody knows better steel for that purpose I would be glad to hear about it.
 
Gunrunner8 the steel you use is probably the best imo ,if these wrenches get made with steel that is to tough we all know someone will eventually damage the locking lugs.
Imo if the barrel doesn't remove with reasonable force then a bit of heat to break the loctite or cutting a relief on the shoulder is in order.

I never had a barrel that didn't spin off with my external action wrench although some were very tight.
 
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gunrunner8 said:
Thank you for the kind words Gerarld. Indeed I machine my internal action wrench from heat treated 4340 solid 1" dia alloy steel.
Right amount of radiouses while turning them in the lathe and while milling them in the milling machine makes them stand up to 400f/p or so. Strong enough to break the blue loctite but not the red one. If anybody knows better steel for that purpose I would be glad to hear about it.
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And how much do these infernal devices cost us?
 
Suputin said:
And how much do these infernal devices cost us?
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Wel, I will take as much as I can get like everybody else in here but....
Tha raw steel cost me almost $15 and it takes me solid two hours to machine one so $115 plus actual shipping is fair enough for everyone when you consider that machining HT 4340 steel is hard on tools and on machinery.
It will fit Win 70, Ruger 77, Savage 110, Rem 700, Mauser 98 and many other actions.
I work at machine shop and in my free time I like to be more usefull....
Inform me please of your e-mail and I will send you a picture.
 
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I purchased a LaBounty action wrench when they were available ... it works fine .. details are available on line ... Guntech's reservation about wrenchs that compress the receiver over the barrel thread is an observation to be aware of ... not sure in practice how much of a problem. I'd like to try an internal bar wrench at some point. And so Gunrunner8's option is really attractive!
 
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