Enfield-Rifles.com Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home > Enfields > Enfield Gunsmithing
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - That Barrel is Tight
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

That Barrel is Tight
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1234>
Author
Message
  Topic Search Topic Search  Topic Options Topic Options
Pukka Bundook View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: February 02 2015
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 1369 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Pukka Bundook Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 7:22am
Heating it enough to make spit sizzle will not hurt anything Simon.   It's still well below soldering temp and that won't hurt an action.
 
 
Back to Top
Sponsored Links


Back to Top
Honkytonk View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: December 30 2017
Location: Brandon Mb
Status: Offline
Points: 4562 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Honkytonk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 7:39am
That's how we used to check bearing temps on rotation equipment. If you could keep your bare hand on the housing but it felt pretty warm, all good. If you put your hand on it but had to remove quickly, you need to turn up the jacket water flow or increase oil flow (if so equipped). If you spit on it and it sizzled, bearing failure is emminent.
Back to Top
Goosic View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: September 12 2017
Location: Phoenix Arizona
Status: Offline
Points: 7853 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Goosic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 7:51am
Originally posted by britrifles britrifles wrote:

Yikes. Did you heat up the wrench?  Or heat the receiver behind the wrench?  
heat the receiver only.
Back to Top
paddyofurniture View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: December 26 2011
Location: NC
Status: Offline
Points: 4436 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote paddyofurniture Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 7:51am
When things get tough you get a longer bar!
Always looking for military manuals, Dodge M37 items,books on Berlin Germany, old atlases ( before 1946) , military maps of Scotland. English and Canadian gun parts.
Back to Top
britrifles View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: February 03 2018
Location: Atlanta, GA
Status: Offline
Points: 5297 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote britrifles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 1:55pm
Last thing I want to do is twist the receiver off.  It’s a Long Branch Mk 1/2, I doubt there is many of these left in the world.  I’ll do a rough estimate of the torsional strength of the front of the receiver, not sure what the steel type is, but I will assume a mild steel.  

OK, the plan is to get the barreled action clamped up in the barrel vice, heat the receiver with a propane torch, put the action wrench on, then wack the wrench with the sledge.  If that doesn’t turn it, I’ll try the extension bar.  How does that sound?

The aluminum bushings will yield if I get this too hot, so I will go easy with the heat.  
Back to Top
Goosic View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: September 12 2017
Location: Phoenix Arizona
Status: Offline
Points: 7853 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Goosic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 2:37pm
Heat the receiver before you clamp it.
Back to Top
paddyofurniture View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: December 26 2011
Location: NC
Status: Offline
Points: 4436 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote paddyofurniture Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 3:20pm
Give it heck!
Always looking for military manuals, Dodge M37 items,books on Berlin Germany, old atlases ( before 1946) , military maps of Scotland. English and Canadian gun parts.
Back to Top
Honkytonk View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: December 30 2017
Location: Brandon Mb
Status: Offline
Points: 4562 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Honkytonk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 3:27pm
Do you have access to dry ice? When fitting bearings on a pump shaft, the shaft (barrel) is heated electronically... could be done with a tiger torch. The bearing (receiver) is sitting in a cooler of dry ice. If you had access to dry ice, rig up a tray (half a coffee can) with it, placing the receiver on the bed. Cover with towels. After 30-40 minutes of cooling the receiver, start heating with the torch. Just where the barrel screws into the receiver and about 4" forward. Even heat. When spit really sizzles (or if you have a Raytek gun) and your 4" heat soak is +212f, and while the receiver is still in the dry ice, try the "shock" strike. I've seen some really tight bearings removed from pump shafts using this method.
Back to Top
Doco Overboard View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: January 26 2020
Location: USA
Status: Offline
Points: 150 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Doco Overboard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 6:18pm
Last LE I re barreled I hung the wrench on the receiver that was removed from the bench and C-clamped at a downward angels to the leg of the bench with a weight on the wrench and Kroil loaded into near and around the extractor slot.
After about 30 hrs I remounted the vise, reinstalled the wrench and used a cheater on the wrench to snap it free.
I was expecting to see a shim galled to the inner collar or something like that but there wasn't. It was just crud accumulated with a little rust and what seemed like powder fouling.
It might be a good idea to survey the body and make sure theirs not a screw that's been ground off or something if you have reason to think that occurred.
Back to Top
britrifles View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: February 03 2018
Location: Atlanta, GA
Status: Offline
Points: 5297 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote britrifles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 26 2020 at 6:46am
SUCCESS AT LAST

Many thanks to Goosic for suggesting heat applied to the receiver.  I heated to about 500 deg with a propane torch.  Goo started to bubble out from the barrel shoulder/receiver front face.  I also broke out the 2 foot power bar to tighten the 1/2 inch barrel vice bolts (these are Grade 8 bolts so can take a lot of torque).  With the the 3 foot extension pipe on the receiver wrench, it popped free.  



I was scarred it would twist off the receiver, I could feel my ears burn.  
Back to Top
Pukka Bundook View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: February 02 2015
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 1369 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Pukka Bundook Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 26 2020 at 1:33pm
Good on you Simon!
 
Heat helps a Lot!
Back to Top
Marco1010 View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: February 04 2020
Location: New Zealand
Status: Offline
Points: 396 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Marco1010 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 26 2020 at 2:26pm
Wow ! you have been persistent.
Been watching your progress and I'm sure I would have turned the air blue with my swearing at the thing.
Great to read all the advice and support from others during the process, and gives me great confidence to tackle problems like you faced.

job well done !
Back to Top
britrifles View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: February 03 2018
Location: Atlanta, GA
Status: Offline
Points: 5297 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote britrifles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 26 2020 at 3:45pm
There is a lot of collective experience in this forum, and our members are willing to share. No doubt, the internet has its advantages!

I got the barrel refinished,  it took a lot of sanding to remove the machining marks and all traces of the old finish.  

I didn’t take a “before” picture of the barrel, but it looked similar to the barrel at the top on this photo.  Next step will be to refinish the receiver.  
Back to Top
Stumpkiller View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: April 03 2020
Location: Port Crane, NY
Status: Offline
Points: 239 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stumpkiller Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 26 2020 at 6:53pm
Definitely would have used up my repertoire of nautical terminology.  

I sheared off two of four bolts on a mower spindle with a broken mounting flange, bloodying a few knuckles, and by the time I had it dismounted THE ADMIRAL had the cats with her huddled behind an upturned mattress in the furthest bedroom.

Col. Colt and cheater bars make all men equal.
Charlie P.

Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.
Back to Top
britrifles View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: February 03 2018
Location: Atlanta, GA
Status: Offline
Points: 5297 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote britrifles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 27 2020 at 2:28am
From what I can tell, this barrel indexed at the correct breaching up angle stated in Reynolds book (18 degrees) when hand tight.   It just takes a set after 70 years.  It looks like the Kroil had completely penetrated the threads too, it bubbled out from the barrel shoulder when heated.

I’m going to assemble with anti-seize compound so the next guy doesn’t have to sweat this.   

Getting the barrel aligned when breached up looks like it might be a pain, the barrel vice hides the chamber flat, maybe use the front sight protector to index?
Back to Top
britrifles View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: February 03 2018
Location: Atlanta, GA
Status: Offline
Points: 5297 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote britrifles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 27 2020 at 6:03am
 Got the receiver all cleaned up in the ultrasonic cleaner.  I had cleaned it the best I could before I fired the rifle.  The ultrasonic cleaner loosened 79 years of crud accumulation from every nook and cranny.  The cleaning solution was black when I was done.  

Bubba, a previous owner, had sanded off the finish right down to bare metal in places.  That’s what the shiny areas are in the photo.  I don’t see much choice but to sand the rest of the phosphate off in the external surfaces of the receiver and then apply the bluing.  It will look like the barrel when I’m done. 

Here are the parts that I will refinish. 
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1234>
  Share Topic   

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.04
Copyright ©2001-2021 Web Wiz Ltd.