Barrel Removal & Parts Pricing

[MtnCreek]

How difficult is it to remove a Remington 700 barrel? Any tips on barrel removal?

Also, I would be grateful for some help in pricing some rifle parts. I have a brand new Remington 700 ADL Synthetic Youth in .243. What would be some ‘fair to all’ prices for some of the parts?

Stock - Youth w/ LOP inserts
Barrel - 20” Sporter
3-9x Scope & 2 Piece Mounts - No Name Glass


Thanks!

 

[hoghunting]

You'll need a strong work bench, a barrel vise to hold the barrel and an action wrench to fit the 700 action. www.brownells.com carries the parts.

 

[rcmodel]

It's not difficult, but you have to have a barrel vice, and a Rem 700 action wrench.

Then to put a new barrel on, you need a finish chamber reamer and two headspace gages at a minimum.
You may also need a lathe.

rc

 

[ironworkerwill]

It unscrews from the receiver. 700s can be difficult to remove the first time. You will need a bench vice and 2 pieces of hard wood plywood cut out round in the middle for the barrel and covered in leather and wood block or leather wrapped steel handle to go inside the receiver. I think there are vids all over the web. A picture is worth a thousand words. It will be less confusing than what I just wrote.

 

[rcmodel]

Sticking something through the ejection port and jumping on it is a surefire way to spring the action rails.

You need a Rem 700 action wrench.

rc

 

[MtnCreek]

I have a wheeler action wrench and I made a barrel vise for Savage rifles. I'll need to confirm, but I believe the wrench also fits a Remington 700. I can see something on the threads in the action that looks like a white grease, so hopefully it will thread off pretty easy.

If needed, is there any reason I shouldn't add a little heat to the action?

 

[ironworkerwill]

all you should need is a sharp wack-no heat

 

[rcmodel]

Not as long as its just a "little".

You wouldn't want to get it over 300 or so as it could affect the heat treatment.

rc

 

[MtnCreek]

Thanks for the info!

If anyone has parted out or bought some parts lately and has some info on fair pricing, I would be grateful for some guidance. I need to re-coup a little money if possible, but I have no idea what they're worth.

Thanks!

 

[BBBBill]

Go over to GunBroker, do a search for the parts that you want to sell, and see what they are selling for. If you watch that for a couple weeks, it will give you a pretty fair idea.

 

[anchorman]

I'm not sure that a vise and wood blocks is going to do the trick, but maybe you'll get lucky.

FYI, some pictures of barrel wrenches/action wrenches on this thread on practical machinist:

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/gunsmithing/removing-carcano-barrel-receiver-246196/

speerchucker makes some pretty stout stuff. I made a lesser version out of aluminum that took a lot of effort to make work, and didn't want to cooperate. granted I was trying to remove the BBL from a wwI era rifle that had probably been left in a puddle for a while.

 

[Reloadron]

Well if I were going to remove a Remington 700 barrel I would use my action wrench as RC suggested. I use one of these from Brownell's but others sell action wrenches. Next you use a barrel vise with the correct bushing like one of these from Brownell's. Now as mentioned that barrel vise with the correct bushing needs to be on a good heavy duty bench! I generally take a piece of lead shim stock dip it in rosin as can be seen here and wrap it around the barrel before clamping the barrel down in the barrel vise and I like the steel bushings. Not unusual if needed to place a large pipe over the action wrench handle to use for leverage.

The problem with all of this would be if you look at my links the cost involved in buying the correct tools to do the job. After several rebarreling jobs the tools pay for themselves. However, for a single job it is likely best to take the barreled action to a competent smith with the right tools.

Next as RC mentions when the new barrel goes on you need chamber reamers and headspace gauges for the new caliber. While a reamer and the gauges can be rented you are looking at more cost. There is much more to correctly installing a barrel than "twisting" one off the action. Again, the task is not difficult but having the correct tools to do the job is essential. All things to consider.

Depending on the condition of the take off barrel I would do as suggested. Check the auction sights and sales sights to get a feel for rhat the barrel or other parts are worth.

Just My Take
Ron

 

[Jim K]

There are all kinds of home-made barrel vises and action wrenches, and I have known Bubbas to use pipe wrenches - tears up the gun, but who cares?

But if you want to do the job right you need the right equipment or take the gun to someone who has it.

Jim

 

[Kp321]

Rem 700's are difficult to remove the barrels from for two reasons, round receiver and tapered barrel. I use a Surgeon action wrench that fits in the receiver like a bolt. It sure beats trying to get a grip on the round receiver without marring the finish. The tapered barrel presents a challenge trying to hold in a vise. I use brass inserts in my barrel vise that are tapered to match the barrel, along with plenty of rosin.

 

[MtnCreek]

Barrel removal did not go well. The action wrench fit the Rem action, but I couldn't get it to budge one bit. The plan was to just send the stripped down action to my smith for a build, but it looks like he'll be getting a barreled action... I was trying to reduce mailing cost, but in the grand scheme of things, a little extra postage won't make any difference.

And on chambering, I’m leaving that to a professional. Accurate Ordnance in Winder GA is doing the build. I’ve yet to make up my mind on cartridge, but .243ai and .260ai are at the top of the list. High velocity, low drag, low recoil should =

Edit: If anyone is interested, here's their site. http://accurateordnance.com So far, they seem like really good folks. The guy I've talked to is named Mark.

 

[lefteyedom]

get the 260 Ai,

trying to save a buck on a project is a fast way to ruin it. (Don't ask How I know)

 

[Catpop]

I've done it with a piece of walnut bored to the correct diameter then split into hold the barrel in a big vice; and machined piece of barstock with 2 handles welded on. The barstock was split on one side with a hacksaw after being bored to proper size and then drilled and tapped for a clamp Allen head cap screw. I used it to remove more than one end bluged barrel for cutting back and recrowning.

 

[AR15barrels]

I remove and install 700 barrels a few times a week.
I use the Brownells wrench that clamps around the outside of the receiver.
I also have a surgeon wrench, but the Brownells wrench is the only way to go for breaking apart factory 700's.
I use the surgeon wrench for re-installing barrels.

I made my own barrel vise that is very similar to the Brownells barrel vice.
It's a serious hunk of steel and it stays bolted on the front edge of my 2600lb Bridgeport milling machine.
I only use solid aluminum or steel bushings.
I match the taper to the barrel and use a piece of heavy paper grocery bag to protect the barrel finish.