To all,

Just had a customer come in today with a Wby MkV in 300 WBY that he wants some work done that requires the barrel to be pulled.

Put the barrel in the vise and the wrench on the action and even with a 4 foot cheater bar, the barrel would not break loose.

It is soaking in penetrating oil right now and will try her again in a day or two.

just wondering, have any of you had similiar problems with the Wby Mk V rifles. I have had a few Rem M700's that were tight but could always break them loose with the breaker bar.

Any information or tricks would be greatly appreciated. This is a Japanese mae Mk V if that matters.

Thanks for the help,

50

Fiftydriver,

Warm half the action with a propane torch. Use powdered sugar on your barrel blocks. Place the blocks as close to the action as possible. Right next to it if you can. Make certain the action wrench is bolted to the action tightly and as you apply pressure to the wrench, take a hammer and smack that portion of the wrench that sits over the actions threads. Unlike Remington actions, Weatherby's don't use any thread locking compound, or, at least they didn't the last time I looked.

Good luck,

Malm

[ 10-23-2003, 09:47: Message edited by: G.Malmborg ]

Some of the MK V's, especially Japanese made, are very tight.

The rules apply: Good fitting barrel vise bushing, sturdy barrel vise that will take the force of a 800 pound Sasquatch on the action wrench, and a very good fitting action wrench. ('Ol Squatch helps out in the shop sometimes, and I let him test fire the .500 and larger bore DGR's)

My bushings are bored a little oversize (0.020") and I wrap card stock or file folder stock around the barrel, between the barrel and the bushing. Also important is to have the bushing fully split, don't use one that is cut through on just one side. And I use a 3/4" drive ratchet with a 30 inch handle to tighten the vise bolts, never had a barrel slip, even those old Enfields. Bushings are made from brass, aluminum, or steel. Don't use plastic, wood, lead, etc, this material is for those lucky guys that have never had a tight barrel.

Get everything real tight, put a good strain on the action wrench, and have a buddy give the action wrench handle a smack with a 8 pound sledge, direct the blow on the handle close to the wrench head. If the wrenches and the vise will not take a smack from the big hammer, they are not built heavy enough.

Below is the vise and a Remington action wrench. Look closely and you can see the cardboard between the bushing and the barrel. Vise clamp bolts are 1" diameter high strength aircraft bolts. The vise body itself is made from blocks of 4140. This wrench is made for the Remington action, it has a lug that fits in the magazine opening, a index screw that screws into the front action screw hole, and another lug that aligns the barrel recoil lug (have three, one for the stock lug,one fits the Holland, and one fitts the Tubb.) There also is cardboard wrapped around the receiver. The cardboard also prevents marring bluing, and will hold even a teflon coated barrel in the barrel vise without slipping. The secret is TIGHT!!! Don't let your 120 pound girl friend tighten the barrel vise bolts. And I have several other wrenches, each is machined for a specific action. The wrenches have 24 inch handles, takes care of most barrels, but just in case a 4 foot cheater is against the wall.

Note the rod stuck into the action from the rear: It is turned to fit the bolt bore snugly, and prevents crushing of the receiver by the action wrench. It is pushed in all the way to the end of the barrel prior to tightening the action wrench bolts. Not too important for a Remington, but the Mausers are fairly soft and will distort, especially if the barrrel is tight and you put a big stain on the wrench. I have several of these rods, turned in incremental sizes, so I can pick one for a snug fit.



Below is the complete assembly. Stand made from 4 inch channel and is bolted to the 8" thick concrete floor. Notice the location: right next to the chambering lathe. Saves a lot of steps. And the 30" ratchet is on one of the clamp bolts.



[ 10-23-2003, 19:48: Message edited by: John Ricks ]

I forgot to remove front scope mount filler screws on a Winchester Model 70 a while back. Barrel came right off once my brain was in gear.

Wally

It was a Weatherby MKV that defeated me when I tried to remove the barrel. That thing was tight! I cut the barrel off just ahead of the receiver then set it up in my action threading jig and bored the shank out. My vise was mounted on the bench at that time and was too flexy. It has since been moved to a more solid location and I think I could get that barrel off if I had to do it now. Regards, Bill.

To all who replied,

After a night soaking in penetrating oil and effort in the vise, the barrel proke loose.

One of the posts stated that Wby rifles do not use thread locker but there was on this rifle.

TO be fair though, this rifle has been tinkered with alot and not by someone who knew what the heck they were doing.

Had to replace or mend nearly every screw head from the rings to the action screws.

Perhaps someone also poured the loctite to the thread somewhere along the way as well.

Thank you for all the tips and ideas, its good to have a pool of experienced people to ask questions to.

Again I thank you for your experience!

50

50 or anybody,

What kind of penetrating oil did you use? Where can I get some? Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Mingbogo,

There are dozens of penetrating oils on the market. The stuff I am using right now is called "Liquid Wrench" and I picked it up at my local tool shop for about $3.00 per 16 oz can. Seems to work well so far. Everything I have used it on has worked loose much easier then without it.

Just go to your local hardware store or tool shop and ask for penetrating oil. Ask for the most aggressive penetrating oil they stock and they will get you something that will work.

Good Shooting and Smithing!!!

50

Thanks for the info my friend. I thought maybe it will save me some time and money if you guys already know which type of penetrating oil works best. Anyhow, I will look into it. Thanks again.

Kroil works very well too.

"I cut the barrel off just ahead of the receiver then set it up in my action threading jig and bored the shank out"

That is the long and painfull way. Put it in a lathe and remove the shoulder from the barrel. It will almost unscrew by hand.