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

Hi guys. I am a newbie here and am looking forward to gaining some valuable knowledge and being able to reciprocate (when I can).
I am really sorry to make my first post a thread jack, but I have a question regarding the 700 barrels as well. You all have covered how to remove the barrels so I am covered there. My questions is this: What is required (besides the tools already mentioned and a torque wrench) to install an aftermarket barrel on a Remy 700? Can you get away with a GO NO/GO gauge set or will the barrel have to be sent to a gunsmith for the install?
Any help is GREATLY appretiated, and I apologize again for the thread jack.
Ken
 
keninsb said:
Hi guys. I am a newbie here and am looking forward to gaining some valuable knowledge and being able to reciprocate (when I can).
I am really sorry to make my first post a thread jack, but I have a question regarding the 700 barrels as well. You all have covered how to remove the barrels so I am covered there. My questions is this: What is required (besides the tools already mentioned and a torque wrench) to install an aftermarket barrel on a Remy 700? Can you get away with a GO NO/GO gauge set or will the barrel have to be sent to a gunsmith for the install?
Any help is GREATLY appretiated, and I apologize again for the thread jack.
Ken
Click to expand...

need more information, f'rinstance WHOSE aftermarket barrel? The barrels typically used by shooters on this site come as 'blanks' which means you need extensive tooling to thread and chamber said blank.....

al
 
alinwa said:
need more information, f'rinstance WHOSE aftermarket barrel? The barrels typically used by shooters on this site come as 'blanks' which means you need extensive tooling to thread and chamber said blank.....

al
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response Al. I was hoping to order a pre-made barrel. H-S Precision makes barrels to your specs HERE. I am just a hobby gunsmith, but I was wondering if with the right tools (barrel vice, action wrench, torques wrench and GO, NO-GO gauges) I could put a new aftermarket barrel on. Does that sound doable?
Thanks again,
Ken
 
Ken, there are many custom actions that yes, you can order a barrel all finished and it will install and be within all tolerances. They old all criticle dimensions within the installation range.
Remingtons are machined amazingly close to one another. I have taken barrels that I had laying around and screwed them onto an entirely different Rifle and they checked out just fine.

But, you can never be sure. If you do order a "pre-finished" barrel, and the bolt closed on the no-go gage, what would be your plan then? Or, if it would not close on the go gage?.

These are tough questions to answer. If I had the barrel and action in my hands, I could easilly figure something out. But without the correct tools to do any modifcations.............
 
jackie schmidt said:
Ken, there are many custom actions that yes, you can order a barrel all finished and it will install and be within all tolerances. They old all criticle dimensions within the installation range.
Remingtons are machined amazingly close to one another. I have taken barrels that I had laying around and screwed them onto an entirely different Rifle and they checked out just fine.

But, you can never be sure. If you do order a "pre-finished" barrel, and the bolt closed on the no-go gage, what would be your plan then? Or, if it would not close on the go gage?.

These are tough questions to answer. If I had the barrel and action in my hands, I could easilly figure something out. But without the correct tools to do any modifcations.............
Click to expand...

Thanks Jackie. Well, I read on one site that sells replacable 700 barrels that have a nut like Savage so you can replace then anytime. Anyway, the site had an installation video that showed installing the GO gauge and bolt BEFORE installing the barrel. Then you thread the barel on until it makes contact with the GO gauge. Then tighten down the barrel nut. I thought this same procedure might work with a Remington or aftermarket without a barrel nut. After installing the barrel, then you are supposed to check them with both the GO and NO-GO gauges. Does that sound reasonable?
Thanks again,
Ken
 
keninsb said:
Thanks Jackie. Well, I read on one site that sells replacable 700 barrels that have a nut like Savage so you can replace then anytime. Anyway, the site had an installation video that showed installing the GO gauge and bolt BEFORE installing the barrel. Then you thread the barel on until it makes contact with the GO gauge. Then tighten down the barrel nut. I thought this same procedure might work with a Remington or aftermarket without a barrel nut. After installing the barrel, then you are supposed to check them with both the GO and NO-GO gauges. Does that sound reasonable?
Thanks again,
Ken
Click to expand...

Yes that will work, I do it all the time WITHOUT gages.... just use the cartridges you intend to shoot as your headspace gages. All's you're trying to do is make sure the end clearance ("headspace" or "head clearance" or whatever...) is under 3 thou.

al
 
I certainly haven't removed "thousands" of factory 700 barrels but maybe a couple dozen. I think Nat's advice is sound. I don't have a Brownell's wrench but have used them a fair bit. I have been in a lot of shops and seen what they used.

I ground a piece of tool steel that fits into the rear of the action and it a pretty good fit. I grab it with a wrench and it is usually pretty easy to get stuff apart. If loctite has been used, I heat with a propane torch until it "smokes" and then finish taking apart.

I recently had an action on which the barrel was installed with a 1500 ft/lb impact wrench ( I think:D) I could not keep the barrel from slipping. I tried paper, card stock, rosin and even wet/dry paper. I finally soaked it overnight in Kroil and then, on a tip from Butch, used powdered sugar as the friction enhancer and it popped off.

A local guy here uses the Brownell type wrench but his vice is copper V-blocks in a hydraulic jack setup. He popped a tight barrel on a Sako finnbear off for me one time before I had my own wrench. That copper with rosin sure held onto that barrel.
 
Some 700s are very tight and some not so tight. The last one I took off took a 900 ft/lb pneumatic wrench, a 600 ft/lb air wrench would not budge it??!!!
 
WOW! I had no idea that the barrels were torqued doen so tightly! Compare that to an AR-15 that has a torque spec of 30-80 ft lbs (I think). I am REALLY glad I joined this foum. Seems like there is a wealth of knoledge here. Thanks again to everyone for the input.
Ken
 
keninsb said:
Well, I read on one site that sells replacable 700 barrels that have a nut like Savage so you can replace then anytime. Anyway, the site had an installation video that showed installing the GO gauge and bolt BEFORE installing the barrel. Then you thread the barel on until it makes contact with the GO gauge. Then tighten down the barrel nut. I thought this same procedure might work with a Remington or aftermarket without a barrel nut. After installing the barrel, then you are supposed to check them with both the GO and NO-GO gauges. Does that sound reasonable?
Thanks again,
Ken
Click to expand...
As I read your post, you're going to install a replacement barrel without a nut - i.e., the barrel already has a shoulder.

What are you going to do if the gauges show the headspace too long, or short? Actually, that's only one measurement, and not a safety one. Should the head clearance vary, all you really have is a little wildcat. There are ways to overcome the "wrong" head clearance, as with any wildcat where the shoulder is pushed back, or blown forward. You might have to fool around with dies, but worst case is one to neck size & bump the shoulder, and a second one with the top cut off to size the base.

What you absolutely cannot fool around with is the bolt to barrel clearance, because that could indicate the case wall just ahead of the web is unsupported. And that is a safety issue. Understand this one before firing.
 
Wildcatter said:
Some 700s are very tight and some not so tight. The last one I took off took a 900 ft/lb pneumatic wrench, a 600 ft/lb air wrench would not budge it??!!!
Click to expand...

I think it's worth noting that a "600 ft/lb" air wrench is rated with a zero inertia bolt. Trying to budge something as massive as a barrel or action using a swing-hammer really drops this "torque rating" down into the dirt. I'll seriously doubt that any 700 barrel joint will show over 150lb on a torque wrench. I'll SWAG that anything over that will deform the action ring, in a bad way :)

al
 
Rem700roundactionwrenchwithbushingsandbarrelvisemountedtobenchwithbushing.jpg


I got an early Rem700 22-250 at the gun show for $180 with a shot out throat.

I made an action wrench for it that was much like a second barrel vise and Aluminum collet.

It took hundreds of foot pounds to get it off, as there was some kind of white glue applied to the thread at the Rem factory decades ago.
 
Clark,
It looks to me like your vice type action wrench would compress the receiver threads into the barrel threads, making it harder to unscrew.
Jerry
 
Jerry,
That is a 7/8-14 thread on the action wrench and collet.
If I put 200 foot pounds on those nuts, and assuming 50% efficiency for oil lubed threads, could you calculate the change in Rem700 receiver diameter or shape?

What is the typical clearance between a factory Rem700 receiver and it's barrel's threads?
 
A wrench around the receiver compressing the threads would make the barrel much harder to remove. The only thing I have found that makes a 700 barrel quite tight to remove is how good the Loctite was when Remington assembled it. Some are Loctited, some are not.

I use a rear entry wrench 'spade' wrench that engages the flats in the action just behind the locking lug recesses. The barrel is clamped in a vise. I first try with my weight at the end of a 24 inch bar. If the barrel doesn't break lose with a snap I will heat the action a bit to weaken the Loctite and try it again.

If heat isn't required the barrel is removed in about 30 seconds.

If heat is required the barrel is removed in about 2 minutes.

And I have never damaged an action this way. I would not want an air tool hammering away at my action.

barrelvise-0.jpg

wrench-0.jpg
 
keninsb said:
Thanks Jackie. Well, I read on one site that sells replacable 700 barrels that have a nut like Savage so you can replace then anytime. Anyway, the site had an installation video that showed installing the GO gauge and bolt BEFORE installing the barrel. Then you thread the barel on until it makes contact with the GO gauge. Then tighten down the barrel nut.
Click to expand...


You tighten down the barrel nut while holding the receiver so it doesn't rotate.

That works great on a Savage, or Remington with a barrel nut, but it only works "because" there is a barrel nut.

I thought this same procedure might work with a Remington or aftermarket without a barrel nut. After installing the barrel, then you are supposed to check them with both the GO and NO-GO gauges. Does that sound reasonable?
Thanks again,
Ken
Click to expand...

If by "same procedure" you mean putting the go gage in the chamber, closing the bolt, and tightening the shouldered barrel, that is a bad procedure. It might work, if the barrel happens, by coincidence, to fit the receiver, but in general, if you get a shouldered barrel, leave the bolt out of the receiver and all the gages on the bench when you install and torque the barrel. Then, after the barrel is installed, use both a go-gage and a no-go gage to check it for proper headspace. If the headsapce checks, you are good to go. If it doesn't, you need somebody with a lathe and the skills to modify the breech end of the barrel so it does headspace correctly.

Fitch
 
HOley kuhRAPP Fitch, nice catch!!!

I didn't even see that part of the question.....

LISSEN to this man, this Fitch feller....... NO!!! You CANNOT screw your barrel in to set headspace on a barrel without a barrel nut! All my advice about setting headspace was for Savage style, adjustable headspace setups. People ARE making Remington barrels using a Savage style nut. This is how I read the op.

MY BAD!

al
 
jackie schmidt said:
.... I made aluminum inserts for my big Brownell vise where I machined the ID to match the countour of the barrel up by the chamber. I wipe the barrel with a good de-greaser, wrap a piece of tablet paper around it, and secure it in the vice. The paper is for added friction..........jackie
Click to expand...

I don't know why I didn't think of paper.

When I first took the barrel off someone told me about some powder I could get in a sporting goods section. I couldn't find powder so I ended up getting the ankle prerap stuff you put under athletic tape to keep it from sticking to skin.

Works great. Never a mark on a barrel in the T2K vise or a slip. Nice thing is nothing to clean off and it is off in about 1.5 sec.

I have both types of wrenches, internal type on lug is about all I use now as it is quicker with a big rachet but the other is nice to if working on a savage for someone (maybe because that is what I started with).

I love being able to see all the different techniques. The way I look at it, you can never have too many tools in the mental rolodex. I'd probably saved some money if I had found this sight sooner. Thanks for sharing all the thoughts.
 
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