How do I remove the factory barrel from a Remington 700?

Rustystud said:
I have removed thousands of factory barrels from Remingtons.

I own several store bought action wrenches and made several more.

For removing a factory barrel for the first time I highly recomend the Brownell's wrap around action wrench. Properly fitted it will not harm the action and will remove the action from the barrel in 99% of the cases.

I would not reccomend any rear entry action wrench to remove a factory barrel for the first time.

It is hard to beat the combination Brownells Action wrench and Barrel Vice. Yes, they are costly but you get what you pay for.

Nat Lambeth
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Nat is right on the money. It costs for good equipment, but it's better than ruining an action or the finish. I used the same combo for years with excellent results,
A little Rosin helps get some grip also. Get the barrel vice as tight as you can with good fitting bushings, that's where you'll run into trouble.
Make sure to make witness marks if there are none if your putting the same barrel back on or with a new one once everything is done and your installing it the final time.
A barrel nut makes things so much easier. Savage got it right.

John K
 
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I cannot hold a barrel in my Aluminum V-block vise tite enough to keep from spinning either with rear entry or receiver ring action wrenches even though I use the vise with a hydraulic floor press. My method is to chuck the barrel in the lathe and use a parting tool to relieve the shoulder pressure by cutting to or slightly below the tenon diameter at the front of the recoil lug. Once this is done you can spin the action off by hand. I haven't seen any evidence of locktite or anything similar on either the 40X rimfire or 700 actions I have removed. My procedure makes the factory barrel unusable but I don't care because I'm removing to install a custom barrel anyway and have no use for the factory barrel.
Dave Burton
 
Been reading this site re removing Remington factory barrels. There MUST be a better way! Does acetone disolve Loc-tite? If so, a lengthy soak of the barreled action may help. It could get in via tapped holes, and the end of the barrel tenon. I am uneasy about heat, unless the temperature Is accurately controlled. I think Remington needs to answer for this, and clean up their production techniques. I would rather scrap a barrel, than damage an action.

Have any of you guys seen bolt races (even right behind the locking lugs) damaged by rear-entry action wrenches?

PS: An ultrasonic cleaning tank might could help a solvent penetrate the threads.

PPS: Thanks for hearing out a newbie! ;-)
 
Fussy1 said:
Been reading this site re removing Remington factory barrels. There MUST be a better way! Does acetone disolve Loc-tite? If so, a lengthy soak of the barreled action may help. It could get in via tapped holes, and the end of the barrel tenon. I am uneasy about heat, unless the temperature Is accurately controlled. I think Remington needs to answer for this, and clean up their production techniques. I would rather scrap a barrel, than damage an action.

Have any of you guys seen bolt races (even right behind the locking lugs) damaged by rear-entry action wrenches?

PS: An ultrasonic cleaning tank might could help a solvent penetrate the threads.

PPS: Thanks for hearing out a newbie! ;-)
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It doesn't take that much heat. Just use your little propane torch. Most do not have an adequate barrel vise.
 
Thanks! The only one i ever took(cut) off had no sealant. At least the Rems/Savages are easier than Mausers, presuming you want both the shoulder and the tenon end to fit tightly.

Did I read somewhere that Remington was no longer replacing barrels only, but providing only receiver/barrel assemblies?
 
Is it really loctite or a sealant they use to keep the bluing salts out? If you put the scope base hole up and fill it with kroil and heat it with a propane torch til it bubbles out of the hole the action will come right off
 
That sounds like it would help. I still don't understand what Rem. is doing when installing. Are they using excessive(?) torque as a means of setting the headspace on a chamber that is deep, while the shorter chambers need a lighter hand? Is the glue used to make sure the low-torqued barrels don't loosen during use? Keeping bluing salts out would be a good excuse...

Re trying to get some solvent on those glued threads, it should be possible to force some solvent in via the threaded holes. I think I read something about a hammer-activated grease gun that was used on blocked grease fittings.
 
Fussy- i put kroil in the scope base hole and in the lug recess. Ive also just put it in the lug recess as its angled down and boiled it out of the scope base hole. Kroil will go uphill and thru anything. We use it in industrial settings on studs that are so rusted you cant see the threads and it dissolves the rust and gunk everytime.
And yes its just a plain ole thread sealant on remingtons to keep the bluing salts out of a place they cant rinse well. If its not applied perfect the bluing salts rust the joint and make the barrels hard to get off. Just notice next time one thats easy will not be rusted and the tuff ones will
 
Dusty, thanks for the rust explanation. I am a little less angry with Remington, now...
 
Just stay calm and a lil less fussy!! You take off a few hunnert and youll learn all the tricks. Ive never cut one off and never hurt the finish except on the barrel.
 
So you are saying my Bat receiver will collapse when over torqued? Or the recoil lug will shrink in thickness? I just measured the headspace on a new 260 Remington. Took the barrel off, lubed the threads and torqued it to 75# and remeasured. I then tightened it further to 125# and guess what? HS didn't change. You may have stretched the threads a few tenths, but the barrel shoulder is still against a recoil lug and the face of the front ring.
 
The change in head space comes when the barrel wasn't tight to begin with as in 10 foot pounds and then 120 foot pounds. MikeinCo has an instrument to measure that Butch.
 
Fussy1 said:
That sounds like it would help. I still don't understand what Rem. is doing when installing. Are they using excessive(?) torque as a means of setting the headspace on a chamber that is deep, while the shorter chambers need a lighter hand?
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Butch Lambert said:
How would over tightening change the headspace?
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In my experience with Remingtons it is not that difficult to overtighten a barrel and lose headspace. I have in my hand a 700 and I'm measuring the chamfer on the threads. It measures 1.110. A barrel with an OD of 1.200 only has .045" per side of seating surface. I'm not sure the torque it takes and it will depend on barrel hardness, thread lube, etc. but the shoulder on the barrel will compress. I've done it myself unintentionally more than once.

Here's an interresting story. My dad, quite some time ago, had a 222 40X LV built. It wouldn't shoot and he sent it back to Mike Walker at Remington to have it rebarreled. Mike put a new stainless barrel on it and it remained that way until I took the barrel off. That barrel was a SOB to get off. I'm pretty sure it was some sort of white thread locker all over the threads. No reason to protect for blueing here. The most interresting thing was the barrel shoulder was peened over till it had a knife edge burr on it. Headspace adjusted? Dunno. Overtightened? Absolutely.
 
Interesting. I've been reading M1A/Garand/carbine sites re indexing. They claim the barrel shoulders are undercut for a crush-fit-to-index. And they talk about peening shoulders. Was surprised to hear that military arsenals had roller set-ups for the same purpose. Some guys convert pipe cutters to do it. One would think that a narrow upset ridge would be peened back to its original state by repeated firing. School never ends!
 
I removed a barrel from a brand spanking new 700 last week. It came off with just 1 light whack. The easiest factory 700 barrel I've ever taken off. It did have sealant in it but it looks like they may have changed it from the old stuff, or maybe I just got lucky. Time will tell.
 
jackie schmidt said:
It works on all of their Customs, as well as Stiller's, which share bolt dimensions with a Remington. (or close enough).

If Jim's has that dimension in the lug area, then yes.

It will not work with Bat's and Farleys...........jackie
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I just finished barreling my first Borden Rimrock action. I was surprised when my dedicated Remington 700 action wrench would not quite fit but my Panda wrench worked perfectly.

I think some 700 wrenches would probably work if they are just a wee bit looser. Mine is from Darrel Holland and is relieved to prevent the possibility of bending the anti-bind rail on the port side of Remington actions. Not needed on Jim's Rimrock action.
 
SGS said:
I just finished barreling my first Borden Rimrock action. I was surprised when my dedicated Remington 700 action wrench would not quite fit but my Panda wrench worked perfectly.

I think some 700 wrenches would probably work if they are just a wee bit looser. Mine is from Darrel Holland and is relieved to prevent the possibility of bending the anti-bind rail on the port side of Remington actions. Not needed on Jim's Rimrock action.
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I have a couple of early Al Davidson Rem 700 wrenches that needed a small notch to be cut in one lug before they would fit all 700's.

Edit- One caution especially on old Davidson type wrenches, be sure to undercut the sides if they go all the way from front to back. I put mine between centers and undercut all but the last 3/4" of the front end. This prevents bending the action if a barrel is really tight. I've seen a few 700's that a 600 ft/lb air wrench would not break loose. On those I went to a 900 ft/lb air wrench. Sometimes an undercut in the old barrel just ahead of the recoil lug is required.
 
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