Stuck Choke tube

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treebutcher

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I picked up a barrel for my Winchester a couple days ago with a removable choke tube that was stuck (I knew this). The barrel is in great shape with a couple scratches but no rust at all. I have had is soaking in liquid wrench for a day or so without any luck. So I'm looking for advice on removing it without destroying the barrel or choke
 
Hmmm...must be a tough one if soaking it didn't help. Maybe its not rust, might be some sort of thread damage?
Are the chokes teeth accessible?
 
Use a lathe.
Hold the wrench in the chuck. force the barrel against the wrench with the tailstock. This will keep the wrench fully engaged... turn a bit by hand, backing the tailstock as you go... this is your best chance...
 
Use a lathe.
Hold the wrench in the chuck. force the barrel against the wrench with the tailstock. This will keep the wrench fully engaged... turn a bit by hand, backing the tailstock as you go... this is your best chance
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I don't have a lathe, sure wish I did. I see what your talking about I may see if I can call in a favor at the local machine shop.

The end of the choke is extended beyond the barrel by about 3/8" So if I got desperate I could get it out but I'm trying to avoid the destruction.

Thanks good information.
 
It's a common thing with those WinChoke barrels and tubes. A little heat to the outside of the barrel followed by cold water down the inside from the chamber end usually gets things loosened up enough to remove it.
 
If you can't access a lathe, I would wrap the barrel in cloth and put it into a vise and try to work the the choke back and forth slowly. Back when I got my Remington 870 20 Gauge, there were issues at the factory where they would leave a burr on the threads which caused the RemChokes to seize. I was fortunate that the salesperson had just dealt with this issue on another shotgun so he advised me to slowly work the choke in before seating it all the way home so that it didn't seize. Unless your buddy put a thread locker on this choke, it sounds like the same problem. He told me that he spent over an hour working the choke back and forth until the burr flattened enough to allow him to get out the choke. He used a vise and the enclosed flat choke wrench but he told me he had to hold on ot the wrench with pliers... Hope this helps.
 
Boil the end of the barrel in water for an hour or so. Then stick it in ice water. Repeat until I loosens up. Hot oil is OK as well but smelly and not as safe as water.

If the barrel is plain without a rib, dipping it in molten lead then into ice water works better yet.

The expansion and contraction from the different temps will loosen pretty much anything with threads.

Choke tubes are a pain in the butt but sadly necessary in many cases. People forget how much crud is produced by the expanding gasses from burning powder and the carbon residue that creeps into the threads. Add to that the pressures of the shot column passing over it and swaging everything together you get stuck choke tubes.

I remember a fellow at the trap shoots that used to change his tubes for each distance. He was a good judge of the tube needed and was religious about changing them out. He was meticulous about making sure everything was CLEAN. He had a very nice brass bristle brush used for cleaning steam pipes. It was purposely set up to fit about 3 inches into his muzzle. He would add a little carbon dissolver like Hoppe's No9 to it and insert it into the threads. There was a soft plastic stop so it wouldn't damage the crown so when he gave it a couple of turns that was enough to clean and lubricate the threads. He also had great wrench made up with four teeth rather than the common flat wrench. I don't every remember him having a stuck tube. He was a serious competitor and many years before it had happened to him once. He attributed his losses that day to that stuck choke tube. He swore it wouldn't happen again.

The boiling method came from him. I have used it a couple of times and with some patience, it works.
 
dry ice or even liquid nitrogen on the choke tube should shrink it enough to loosen it so that a regular choke wrench will work.
 
A trick I picked up from an old mechanic type was to soak rust frozen parts in break fluid over night. I just got the plunger in an 870 bolt to free up this way. Break fluid seems to be able to go where normal penetrating oils, even Kroil, fears to tread.
 
Grouse Man said:
You've had penetrating oil on it the whole time? Time is your friend. And some heat. And vibration.
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Agree, most penetrating lubes say to tap the bolt or nut. If it's rusted the lube is only get down so far and stopping. If you could figure out away to put a twisting load on it and just leave it stand, it might break free. Wrap a piece of rubber around the barrel and snug it up in a vice, just tight enough so it won't move you don't want to deform the barrel, and snap a vise grip on with a ratchet strap putting a load on it. It will bugger up the choke but there's more at the store. You can even try some heat right away it might pop free.
 
another way to get the choke out, the barrel will survive, but the choke might be damaged is to use a square or hex tool and tap into the round muzzle until tight then use the wrench of your choice to turn the tool and choke out of the gun. Think of it as a large screw extractor. simple to do without a lot of specialized tools. A bench vise to hold the barrel, carefully, don't over tighten if you don't have a barrel vise.
 
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