Removing a No4Mk1 barrel - Update I got it!!

Power Pill

Power Pill

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Ive got a sporter no4mk1 that im trying to remove the barrel from to install a 45acp kit.
I'm using round jaws on the barrel and a custom made aluminum action wrench with 3 foot bar for leverage, but i cant get the barrel to budge.
The barrel isnt slipping in the round jaws and the action wrench is solid. I think if i apply any more force my work bench will break! I tried applying small amounts of heat with a propane torch , but still no luck. Yes i used heat sinks to prevent ruining temper.
Anyone have any tips or tricks that could help me out? Im hoping to salvage the barrel. So i dont want to make any relief cuts in it.
Thanks in advance!
 
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Some penetrating oil won't hurt. Make sure your wrench is a good fit and make sure you are not tightening the wrench onto the receiver ring so tightly that you may be clamping onto the barrel. Set the works up so you can strike down on the wrench and give it a good swat with a three pound hammer. You wrench much turn on the receiver ring and not behind it or you will twist the receiver. Occasionally, these barrels can be very tight.
 
If you do cut a relief groove in the barrel just in front of the receiver ring, the barrel can be machined to create a new clean shoulder, and a breeching washer made so that the barrel can be reused.
Installation spec for a No. 4 barrel was 120 ft.-lbs. The barrel has been in place, what - 75 years? It could resist removal. I broke a barrel loose on a scrapper with 600 ft.-lbs of torque.
A relief groove will really ease removal.
 
If you dont need the barrel any more a big pipe wrench near the knox should take it off. Hold the receiver wrench in the vice. A good bump will break it free with a crack.

Ir as tiriaq said cut a relieve cut just a head of the receiver
 
Ha! Listen to the guys above - removing Lee Enfield barrels is not for faint of heart, using make-do tools on rickety work benches. Some require an awesome amount of torque force or good swat with big hammer to break loose, and then threads look perfect - not rusted at all - on some. A good "trick" is to install the barrel action vertical in padded vise jaws, and flood the rear of barrel with good penetrating oil - so it can seep down between barrel and receiver at least overnight soak, if not for a day or two. Might help. Tiriaq's suggestion is the best, if you have a lathe - a relief cut, and a plan for a breeching washer. Pretty much bullet proof!
 
Reviewing you post - not sure that you are getting any where near to required torque to undo a stubborn one. My barrel vice uses two 5/8" fine thread bolt to pull the halves together, and I turn inserts from aluminum to match the barrel shape - at 200 foot pounds on the vice bolts, easy enough to have a barrel rotate with out Lee Enfield or P14 Enfield actions letting go - have to use 3 foot extension on strong arm to "really" tighten those vise clamp bolts, and then have nearly lifted myself off the floor at the end of a 48" pipe, used as a snipe on the action wrench - I am getting near to 300 pounds. I got that one loose, finally, with a moderate swing with a 3 1/2 pound sledge hammer on the action wrench handle - it let go with such a loud crack, I was sure I had broke something - if I did, I have not found what it was that I broke...
 
I was just coming to say you need to make sure its held tight to break it free. Any play beyond the wrench flexing a little will stop it from breaking/cracking free.

I used a kurt d688 for my vice. Works a million times better then any high jawed "bench vice"

If you dont cut the relief groove it can feel much like hitting something very hard with a baseball bat when it comes free. Maybe wear gloves
 
So i reread your post. You want to keep the barrel.

I have done this before on a few mle/clle/older stuff. I used aluminum soft jaws in the vice to hold it. Once i got it all clamped on the knox real tight with the wrench already on the action. The wrench is parallel with the table the vice is on now. I give it a big wack with a heavy hammer. Like 10 pound dead blow. Can normally crack it free it one good wack. But if your vice flexes it will be a lot harder getting it off.

Some are pretty easy and some honestly you think they are welded. Well not so much LE as the p14 rifles but they can be tight and applying the load slowly will be less likely to break it free.
 
The relief cut is your best option.

I had a fellow come over last fall with a barreled No4 receiver, wanting to remove the barrel but save it for future use.

His set up for removing barrels was pretty sloppy/light and the barrel was marked up pretty badly from his efforts.

Upon closer inspection, he had applied so much effort to the action wrench, that he had caused the leading edges on the bottom of the receiver to be damaged and the barrel actually had a noticeable twist to it.

He felt it could all be easily corrected and I asked him why he brought it to me.

The receiver turned out to be OK, as in functional and straight but that marring on it would take some time and effort to make it presentable again. I turned down the job.

Finally, a week or so later he came back, in a much more laid back mood and politely asked if I could help him get the barrel off.

As Tiriaq suggested, I chucked it up in the lathe and attempted to make a relief cut. That's when the twist in the barrel really showed up. The receiver was wobbling far to much to get the tool close enough to make a good relief cut.

Finally had to make the cut with a ZIP CUT blade on an angle grinder to get close enough to the receiver to actually relieve the pressure between the shoulder face and the face of the receiver.

When it did come apart, it was possible to see what appeared to be scrape marks on both faces. That barrel had been torqued in so tight that it had lightly welded itself with compression to the receiver.

That's the worst one I've come across,

As mentioned, most come apart with relative ease but considering wartime tolerances and pressures to produce, a few so so assemblies slip through.
 
Good news i got it!
After reading everyones replies i decided reinforced my work bench to stop it from flexing/moving on me. Instead of pushing/pulling on the action wrench i used my 4lb hammer and gave a few downward smacks on the wrench handle. After about 4 hits the action came loose and spun off freely!
Thanks again for everones advice!
 
Power Pill said:
Good news i got it!
After reading everyones replies i decided reinforced my work bench to stop it from flexing/moving on me. Instead of pushing/pulling on the action wrench i used my 4lb hammer and gave a few downward smacks on the wrench handle. After about 4 hits the action came loose and spun off freely!
Thanks again for everones advice!
Click to expand...

Shock usually works better than brute force when breaking a joint loose...
 
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