ruger #1 barrel removal
- Thread starter blindside
- Start date
You will need a barrel vice and action wrench. They are is as firmly in place as a bolt action rifle. The action wrench is easy, because of the shape of the receiver. The dowel pins for the rib must be removed. The barrel must be clamped in front of the forend hanger; it is actually easier to pull a barrel if it can be gripped close to the receiver.
If you have to ask how to remove a barrel you should not be doing it before you do a great deal of research.
That being said it will be easier to remove a barrel on a brand new factory than on a gun that has seen fifty or more years of moisture and corrosive ammo. A modern factory will have used lubricant on the threads and the barrel will be torqued to a specific ammount.
Before you remove the barrel you have to put index marks on the barrel and the action. The marks have to be distinct, easily visible, and easy to line up.
"Just about" doesn't cut it.
You also have to have a barrel vise that fits the barrel and and an action wrench that fits the action. You may need rosin to hold the barrel in the barrel vise depending on the materials the jaws are made of.
The barrel vise has to be bolted to a very solid work bench or you just may tear the vise off the bench. There is nothing like having your work bench pull away from the wall when you are leaning into the action wrench to take that recalcitrant sucker apart.
Be prepared to repair damage to the finish on either the barrel or the action if things go wrong. Be prepared for the action to collapse or be ruined. I have had one soft Brazilian M54 (98 clone) bend when I put some force on the action wrench. I have seen one gunsmith put a bar throught the action of a No. 4 Lee enfield with the barrel held in a vise and twist the action into trash.
I have a Model 99 savage that a home gunsmith had attempted a barrel removal with a large cresent wrench and a shop vise. The well the rotary magazine sits in is now oval rather than round. The barrel has rings swaged into it from turning in the vise. I am figuring out a way to swage the magazine back back to round and will be turning the barrel in a lathe to get rid of the rings. The barrel came off easily after being shot with a blast of propane through the chamber and down the bore to freeze and shrink the barrel shank. Propane used to freeze and shrink metal should not be used indoors or near any flame or spark. A hose off a C02 Fire extinguisher works as well to shrink the metal. Liquid nitrogen works too if you can get it.
Every time you take a barrel off a receiver you run the risk of damaging the barrel, the action, or both. And there is no reason to take the barrel off unless you are putting a new one on or modifying the old one to reduce headspace, or recutting a chamber.
Every time you put a barrel back on you run the risk of damaging it or overtightening it - on some guns not dificult to do .
Why do you want to remove the barrel?
That being said it will be easier to remove a barrel on a brand new factory than on a gun that has seen fifty or more years of moisture and corrosive ammo. A modern factory will have used lubricant on the threads and the barrel will be torqued to a specific ammount.
Before you remove the barrel you have to put index marks on the barrel and the action. The marks have to be distinct, easily visible, and easy to line up.
"Just about" doesn't cut it.
You also have to have a barrel vise that fits the barrel and and an action wrench that fits the action. You may need rosin to hold the barrel in the barrel vise depending on the materials the jaws are made of.
The barrel vise has to be bolted to a very solid work bench or you just may tear the vise off the bench. There is nothing like having your work bench pull away from the wall when you are leaning into the action wrench to take that recalcitrant sucker apart.
Be prepared to repair damage to the finish on either the barrel or the action if things go wrong. Be prepared for the action to collapse or be ruined. I have had one soft Brazilian M54 (98 clone) bend when I put some force on the action wrench. I have seen one gunsmith put a bar throught the action of a No. 4 Lee enfield with the barrel held in a vise and twist the action into trash.
I have a Model 99 savage that a home gunsmith had attempted a barrel removal with a large cresent wrench and a shop vise. The well the rotary magazine sits in is now oval rather than round. The barrel has rings swaged into it from turning in the vise. I am figuring out a way to swage the magazine back back to round and will be turning the barrel in a lathe to get rid of the rings. The barrel came off easily after being shot with a blast of propane through the chamber and down the bore to freeze and shrink the barrel shank. Propane used to freeze and shrink metal should not be used indoors or near any flame or spark. A hose off a C02 Fire extinguisher works as well to shrink the metal. Liquid nitrogen works too if you can get it.
Every time you take a barrel off a receiver you run the risk of damaging the barrel, the action, or both. And there is no reason to take the barrel off unless you are putting a new one on or modifying the old one to reduce headspace, or recutting a chamber.
Every time you put a barrel back on you run the risk of damaging it or overtightening it - on some guns not dificult to do .
Why do you want to remove the barrel?
blindside said:
They usually are not that tight... Your biggest problem may be getting to top rib off the barrel... or taking the action apart... if you do that, how do you propose to hold the barrel and turn the action?... and if by chance you get it off, what now? We have inquisitive minds...
If you want to try it at home without specialized tools, here is how: Make sure the extractor is clear of the barrel, and the rib and dowels are off. Pad a vice and hold the receiver firmly. A vice with large jaws will minimize risk of receiver damage. You need to hold the receiver firmly, not crush or twist it. Take some 1/2" rope, double it, and start wrapping it around the barrel from the muzzle end. When you get to the hanger, run a strong hardwood bar - pick handle, etc. through the loop. Wind the rope tighter on the barrel. When it stops winding, you can apply torque to the barrel, and perhaps it will unscrew. I have removed '94 barrels with the rope trick, never tried it on a No. 1, it won't work on a bolt action. I've broken 1/2" nylon rope trying. Experimenting on scrappers. RH threads on a Ruger. Make an index mark if you are going to reinstall the barrel.
For an action wrench for flat sided receivers, use a couple of 1" square steel bars, one about 6" long, the other a couple of feet. Drill for bolts, thread one bar, oversized holes to pass the screws on the other. Clamp this onto the receiver with non-marring shims. You can make a barrel vice similarly, mine uses 1 1/2" barstock, 7/8" clamp bolts, with a bored bushing hole, half in each piece. I use machined aluminum sleeves, but you can make clamp blocks from hardwood, with bedding compound to get a perfect fit on the barrel. Use powdered resin on the blocks. No. 1 barrels have the extractor cut, which must be properly indexed, of course. Generally speaking, fitting a new barrel to a No.1 is more complicated than fitting a barrel to most bolt actions.
For an action wrench for flat sided receivers, use a couple of 1" square steel bars, one about 6" long, the other a couple of feet. Drill for bolts, thread one bar, oversized holes to pass the screws on the other. Clamp this onto the receiver with non-marring shims. You can make a barrel vice similarly, mine uses 1 1/2" barstock, 7/8" clamp bolts, with a bored bushing hole, half in each piece. I use machined aluminum sleeves, but you can make clamp blocks from hardwood, with bedding compound to get a perfect fit on the barrel. Use powdered resin on the blocks. No. 1 barrels have the extractor cut, which must be properly indexed, of course. Generally speaking, fitting a new barrel to a No.1 is more complicated than fitting a barrel to most bolt actions.
tiriaq said:
Thankyou very much
Will give it a gentle go. If its a no go then off to smith. The only thing I've personally taken barrels off and on was the 351 and 401 WSL. They were a piece of cake. However I would imagine these babies are on with more umph, so if it dont come right off the bat we wont horse. Thanks again for the great answer
PS, and your right,I do have a couple of crappers down stairs to experiment on. If I can get those cruddy suckers apart that'll be an indicator
Last edited:
David Henry
CGN Regular
- Location
- West of the big road
Ruger #1
Ruger #1 barrels are not as a rule super tight but here's how I remove them.
Build a bushing using a soft alloy that fits snug right up against the forend hanger iron. Mill a cut out in one half of the bushing to accept the forward dowel pin from the quarter rib which you leave in the barrel. This will give you the anti-slip protection that you might wish you had thought of if its a tight fit, clamp barrel in sturdy barrel vise.
Before you set your parralel clamps on either side of the reciever, STOP. Take a bit of time to build a blank that will slide into the breech bolt mortise, again a snug fit. This will prevent you from squeezing the reciever when you apply your recieve wrench, I line my reciever wrench with brass to save me any clean up if you should damage the finish on the reciever flats.
It should go without saying that the reciever and ejector work are completley stripped before proceeding with barrel removal.
As they say "There is more than one way to skin a cat" but this method seems to work well for me. Good luck regards David.
Ruger #1 barrels are not as a rule super tight but here's how I remove them.
Build a bushing using a soft alloy that fits snug right up against the forend hanger iron. Mill a cut out in one half of the bushing to accept the forward dowel pin from the quarter rib which you leave in the barrel. This will give you the anti-slip protection that you might wish you had thought of if its a tight fit, clamp barrel in sturdy barrel vise.
Before you set your parralel clamps on either side of the reciever, STOP. Take a bit of time to build a blank that will slide into the breech bolt mortise, again a snug fit. This will prevent you from squeezing the reciever when you apply your recieve wrench, I line my reciever wrench with brass to save me any clean up if you should damage the finish on the reciever flats.
It should go without saying that the reciever and ejector work are completley stripped before proceeding with barrel removal.
As they say "There is more than one way to skin a cat" but this method seems to work well for me. Good luck regards David.
