Bronco howitzer barrel help.

[homslice]

A friend of mine picked up a Bronco Howitzer on another gun website.
He was very excited to show and after I saw it I told him not to shoot it.
The barrel was upside down so you had to flip the gun over to read the writing on it.
With a closer examination I noticed that it looked like the barrel was partially unscrewed.
I see there is a castle nut on the barrel and I'm wondering if I can use an ar wrench to loosen it and the screw in the barrel.
Any advice or input you can give me?
I've never touched one of these before.

 

[gunrunner100]

Appropriate headspace gauges and a close fitting wrench and vise should do the trick.

 

[billdick]

The barrel may be in the right place with correct headspace. The barrel could be off another action and didn't index the stamping properly on this different action. It needs to be checked for headspace and may well be correct. Have it checked by someone that knows what they're doing if you don't.

 

[hunter5425]

A gunsmith with the correct head space gauges could check that in a jiffy and if incorrect set it up in a few minutes. This isn't a difficult or complex problem.

 

[FatCatsDad]

A friend of mine picked up a Bronco Howitzer on another gun website.
He was very excited to show and after I saw it I told him not to shoot it.
The barrel was upside down so you had to flip the gun over to read the writing on it.
With a closer examination I noticed that it looked like the barrel was partially unscrewed.

Great catch, he's lucky he showed it to you.

 

[Longstud]

Like it was previously mentioned, check the headspace. An action with barrel nut is because the machining is not exact on them so the nut allows setting for proper headspace. Want to get away from a barrel nut and gauges you have to spend $$$$ on a precisely made action where the barrel just screws on. Curtis,KS,Defiance,Surgeon.Impact and the list goes on!!