Inside or outside action wrench

[high country]

I am looking for an action wrench to remove the barrel from a Howa mini action. It is a flat bottom action with a similar radius around the top to a Remington 700. I understand that a Remington 700 action wrench works with one of the half's flipped over to use the flat edge on the flat bottom of the action. I also see an inside style wrench that uses the bolt channels inside the action.

What do people prefer, and inside or outside wrench design? No idea how tight that barrel is going to be, but Howa barrels have a reputation for being tight, so I if one of those designs is preferable for getting a tight barrel started, that would be very helpful info.

 

[BWS]

Just my limited experience removing a few 700 brrls;

Limited in numbers,NOT limited in tooling(really nice machine shop).... I kitted our H frame hyd shop press to do all manner of gun work(forming gauge metal mags) amongst other invaluable jobs.

Making bushings for this press is pretty straightforward.... mostly aluminum but have used bronze. Works so easy it hardly deserves writing.

Now the action wrench;

It's an outside type,which we made.... the single biggest element besides obvious "fit" is the actual heft of it. Once the barrel is in the press bushing..... oriented so the bigarse action wrench is @ about 9 o'clock.... it almost pops the action loose under it's own weight. Just sayin,this isn't usually brought up in these discussions.

So,a really STOUT/HEAVY outside style vs anything inside.... my money would be on the heavyweight. Good luck with your project.

 

[BBBBill]

One mistake I've seen is that some folks overtighten the action wrench to the point of compressing the receiver into the barrel. Of course it will be hard, if not impossible, to turn it off the barrel. The action wrench must be well fit to the receiver to fully support the receiver without crushing it. The fit should match as near perfectly as possible.

 

[Blue68f100]

If you go inside you are less likely to damage the finish.

 

[rdnktrkr]

My friends is an outside that he's used on both Rem and Howas, If I ever redo one of mine I will let him do it but I don't think I will ever shoot out a 30-06 barrel

 

[high country]

My friends is an outside that he's used on both Rem and Howas, If I ever redo one of mine I will let him do it but I don't think I will ever shoot out a 30-06 barrel

When he does that, does he just flip the one half of it over and use the flat side against the flat bottom of the receiver and the radius side around the top? That leaves a gap on the sides of the action, but should still be good for a decent amount of toque I would think.

I'm considering going with an inside wrench to use installing the Howage barrel and tightening the nut since that will be less tight (60-80 ft lbs), but having a shop with a big barrel clamp and outside wrench pull to factory barrel for me. That reduces the risk of damage to the finish on the action.

Thanks all for the input!

 

[rdnktrkr]

I don't know how he does it, we were talking about building a bolt action for me but I need to find a shorter action than what I have