Barrel Vice Recommendation

[sndmn11]

It should be a very simple thing; soak the threads in kroil for a few days and it will take longer to tighten down the barrel vise than to take the barrel off.

 

[Travis Bertrand]

viper seems to be the best bang for the buck and would work good for you. if you were doing more frequent changes, then a better vise might be in order.

 

[Axlrod]

A friend of mine ordered a preferred barrel for a Tikka last week. He asked them which barrel vice they recommend for a Tikka factory barrel removal. They said "none of them. we get more Tikka's sent in for barrel removal than all others. We use a 10 ton hydraulic press- it's overkill, but works every time"

 

[Old-Cat]

Another vote for the Viper barrel vise.

Viper Barrel Vise — Viper Bench Rest

Our barrel vise will handle barrels from .750” to 1.500“in diameter. The powder coat finish is so durable it grips barrels like a gorilla. The powder coat finish will also NOT harm the barrel in any way and will not leave any marks whether blued or stainless. With our barrel vise there is no need fo

www.viperbenchrest.com

 

[kswaterfowl]

I just bought the mechforce barrel vise. Pretty similar to the viper, but it's listed for smaller diameter barrels. Who knows if it is or not.

 

[Lawnboi]

If this is a one off thing for you, as in you don’t plan on screwing any other barrels on, I’d just pay a professional.

Reasonably tools you need to do it correctly

Barrel vise
Action wrench
Torque wrench
Headspace gauges

It quickly becomes something that is worth it to pay someone who has the tools to do it. Especially getting that factory barrel off.

If you plan on changing barrels more in the future I feel it’s worth the investment.

I bought a SAC modular action wrench and bravo barrel vise. Both have worked very well.

 

[Lytro]

I bought a Viper and have been unsuccessful in removing the barrel on a brand new T3X Lite with a blued finish. I may just have a stubborn one, but the barrel ultimately ends up slipping in the vise. Using a wheeler action wrench with a cheater bar and deadblow. I've tried cooling the entire barreled action and applying heat with no luck. I've had the threads soaking in Kroil for the past week and will give it another try soon. Fortunately, I'm three months into a 4-5 month wait for the proof prefit so I have some time.

 

[atmat]

Ultimately, a WKR here helped me with it and it came off very easy.

 

[Bowhunter-tw]

If this is a one off thing for you, as in you don’t plan on screwing any other barrels on, I’d just pay a professional.

Reasonably tools you need to do it correctly

Barrel vise
Action wrench
Torque wrench
Headspace gauges

It quickly becomes something that is worth it to pay someone who has the tools to do it. Especially getting that factory barrel off.

If you plan on changing barrels more in the future I feel it’s worth the investment.

I bought a SAC modular action wrench and bravo barrel vise. Both have worked very well.

Would the SAC modular wrench be appropriate for removing a factory barrel or is a wrench that surrounds the entire outside of the action more suitable?

 

[Lawnboi]

Would the SAC modular wrench be appropriate for removing a factory barrel or is a wrench that surrounds the entire outside of the action more suitable?

I havnt removed any factory barrels but the consensus is to not use an interior action wrench like the sac

 

[Bowhunter-tw]

I havnt removed any factory barrels but the consensus is to not use an interior action wrench like the sac

I guess I coulda read up on it but that would have been my assumption also. Thanks for the confirmation.

 

[Lytro]

Would the SAC modular wrench be appropriate for removing a factory barrel or is a wrench that surrounds the entire outside of the action more suitable?

The amount of torque required to remove the factory barrel seems to be fairly inconsistent, but I definitely would have broke an internal action wrench on the last one I removed.

 

[Bowhunter-tw]

The amount of torque required to remove the factory barrel seems to be fairly inconsistent, but I definitely would have broke an internal action wrench on the last one I removed.

Thats what ive seen. Im debating if I try and dive into doing a howa mini or not. Id like to rebarrel a 16” 223rem to a 20” 223ai but the barrel removal and the need for headspacing tools are making me question whether I want to go down that route. In addition to new reloading dies required

 

[atmat]

Would the SAC modular wrench be appropriate for removing a factory barrel or is a wrench that surrounds the entire outside of the action more suitable?

Everyone I know who has removed a factory Tikka barrel (and now me included in that) has gone with an external action wrench and a crap ton of torque.

Putting on a new barrel is much easier and can be done via internal wrench.

 

[Bowhunter-tw]

Everyone I know who has removed a factory Tikka barrel (and now me included in that) has gone with an external action wrench and a crap ton of torque.

Putting on a new barrel is much easier and can be done via internal wrench.

Would there be any way to verify torque with an external wrench? I would assume only an internal wrench could be used with a torque wrench to do this. Unless exact torque is not that critical?

 

[jeremy.b]

I went down this road a couple years back and here's where I landed:

• SAC Bravo Vise with Tikka Sporter bushings:
  
  

  Bravo Barrel Vise

  Bravo Barrel Vise secures your barrel adjustments, offering durable and precision-engineered performance for reliable use in all your gunsmithing projects.

  shortactioncustoms.com
• Wheeler external action wrench (I think I grabbed a Rem 700) + Longer Grade 8 bolts to reverse outer jaw to have flat clamping surface on both sides of wrench.
• Internal action wrench for spinning on shouldered prefit.
• Thin aluminum stock to protect action
• Drywall tape
• Powdered sugar (yes really)

Rough process outline:

1. Using (dry) powdered sugar, coat drywall tape and wrap factory barrel.
2. Secure in the factory barrel in the SAC vise. Crank it down!
3. Clamp the action with the Wheeler external wrench. I use thin aluminum between jaws of wrench and the action to protec the action. Position the wrench so it does not clamp the action over where the barrel threads into the action (maybe 1" back from the front of the action).
4. Torque the action wrech down well, but not enough to damage the action (i think I did ~40 ftlbs??).
5. Spin the action off, it may take a breaker bar on the external wrench to do it.
6. Remove the factory barrel from the vise.
7. If using a shouldered prefit
   • Make sure your SAC bushing will fit its contour (the Tikka bushing worked decent on a #3 contour)
   • Repeat the process to clamp the new barrel to the SAC vise.
   • Use the internal wrench to torque onto the new barrel.
   • Check Headspace!!!!
8. If using a barrel nut install:
   • Set headspace and initial position of barrel nut.
   • Buy a barrel nut wrench with a standard 1/2 socket drive cutout.
   • Clamp the action in a bench vise (protect it with thin aluminum) torque the nut down to spec.

I've pulled 2 factory barrels (a original T3 and T3X) without any issues and without needing a breaker bar. I think clamping the action behind the barrel threads may help in some cases. Some barrels I'm sure are just torqued on there super hard though!

 

[Rooggvc]

I bought a Viper and have been unsuccessful in removing the barrel on a brand new T3X Lite with a blued finish. I may just have a stubborn one, but the barrel ultimately ends up slipping in the vise. Using a wheeler action wrench with a cheater bar and deadblow. I've tried cooling the entire barreled action and applying heat with no luck. I've had the threads soaking in Kroil for the past week and will give it another try soon. Fortunately, I'm three months into a 4-5 month wait for the proof prefit so I have some time.

I have a wheeler barrel vice that uses the wood blocks. I have had good luck removing 3 factory barrels. I do add Pine Gum Rosin though. It's a little bit of cleaning to get the rosin off the barrel afterwards, but it has given me the extra grip I have needed. I don't know about using the rosin with a Viper Type Vice though?

 

[LRI_Chad]

LRI SuperDuty Series: Professional Gunsmithing Barrel Vise

The "LRI SuperDuty Series" of products are made to answer the need for commercial-grade tools specific to the gunsmithing industry. These tools have been vetted in our own facility for years (sometimes in excess of a decade) prior to being offered to the public. The SuperDuty Barrel Vise has...

www.longriflesinc.com

 

[bigunit]

For those using the viper barrel vise, are you clamping it close to the action and putting a bushing on the tapered side of barrel or do you grab the barrel where there's no taper farther up? I would think the closer to the action the better.

 

[NSI]

When I had a viper I clamped it close the action and used lead shims to fill in the tapering space since it's such a long vise.

My personal view on the viper is it works really well on barrels which are straight through all 3 inches of its girth. I ultimately did not enjoy using it on shorter profile barrels and sold it here on RS.

The SAC Modular barrel vise is finally back in stock so I ordered that today. I do enough barrel swapping that going from 4 finicky bolts to 1 foolproof bolt should be a major life improvement.

It's been said here before, but do not attempt to break a factory Tikka barrel off with an internal action wrench. They are designed to shear before the action gets damaged, and you will most certainly shear them off during the course of removing earth's most stubborn glued-in barrel. Use a Wheeler #1 with the flat edge flipped in and plenty of protection for your action. A dead blow on the end of that wheeler works well for me, but make sure you remove your bolt, bolt stop, pin, and spring before getting kinetic. Otherwise a 6 foot metal cheater bar will generally do the trick. However much pressure you think is too much in the barrel vice ... torque a bit more than that. The barrel will only be hurt when it twists in the vice, so be judicious about preventing that.

-J