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Questions often come up about how to change barrels. I replaced the barrel on my Model 94 444 Marlin and took photos. This is my setup. The first photo is the barrel blocks, a barrel and the receiver wrench. I make my barrel blocks out of maple cut from a scrap of butcher block countertop. They end up about 1-3/4" square and can be up to 3" long to fit my vise. Before I got a lathe I bored the blocks with a drill bit and then chiseled out the taper. It doesn't need to be a perfect fit to the barrel since the vise will crush them tight against the barrel. Now I have a lathe so I bore them in the lathe. The barrel is the 444 barrel that is going back on the receiver. The wrench is made from a piece of 3/4" square bar stock about 18" long. The clamping strap is 3/8" x 3/4" bar stock and the bolts are 5/16" coarse thread. I put plain old masking tape on the wrench to avoid scratching the receiver.
The second photo shows the barrel vise with the barrel clamped in it. The vise is made from 7/8" steel plate. The clamping bolts are 1/2" fine thread all thread. The opening between the bolts is 3". I coat the maple blocks with rosin before I clamp the barrel in place. The vise is attached to the 3/4" plywood cabinet top with 5/16" lag bolts.
Last picture is everything together. I keep the receiver wrench as far forward as possible on the receiver to keep it over the solid steel at the front of the receiver to avoid crushing the receiver. The important thing to remember is to open the action before you twist the receiver to keep from shearing the extractor off. In order to keep sights lined up I use a small level on the sight base or sight dovetail and then check the receiver for level when I tighten the receiver.
Vises and receiver wrenches are made in different styles but they will all work the same as mine. I have used this setup with different barrel blocks to remove the barrels on my 1873 and 1895's to recrown them. I have also rebarreled Model 70's and a Model 700 Remington using different receiver wrenches. It works!
The 'receiver' wrench part was easy for my 1894 Marlin - just four old oak floor-boards and some stout bolts, since the receiver was so 'flat'.
The 'barrel' wrench part involved trying drilled-out blocks of wood (oak, maple) to no avail, lining the hole in those blocks with bicycle inner-tube (again, slippage), and finally, risking 'marring' the barrel with an ill-fitting 'barrel vice' insert of aluminum, designed for AR-15's (the vice's contours were for smaller-diameter barrels, so I had four hard-contact areas of aluminum-to-barrel).
The AR tool worked, combined with the floor-boards.
Presto - one aged Marlin 1894 in .44 Mag becomes one 'unobtainable' round-barrel .45 Colt 1894, for about $100 (cost of barrel)...
Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws "first do no harm" - gun control LAWS lead to far more deaths than 'easy access' ever could.
I have a barrel vise, but no receiver wrench.
I don't have the needed tools ( drill and taps ) to make one either.
Could I possibly convince you to duplicate that one and send it to me? I will gladly remit to you a number of pictures of dead presidents for your work and shipping ...
Joe
***Be sneaky, get closer, bust the cap on him when you can put the ball where it counts .***
Marc wrote:Joe, I would love to be able to help you but I am having health problems. I am at my limit now. I will keep you in mind when I get to feeling better.
Marc,
Sorry to hear about the health issues. Take care of yourself and get better soon.
Can you give me the dimensions of the square stock, the flat piece, and the bolts? If so I can check the local hdwr stores and see if I can come up with what I need to make one. Hopefully my old drill motor will do four holes like that.
Joe
***Be sneaky, get closer, bust the cap on him when you can put the ball where it counts .***
Joe, I am not home but the basic dimensions are in my first post. The clamping strap is about 4" long and the bolts are spaced about 3" center to center. There is nothing written in stone on the dimensions. I just used what I had laying around. It does work fine as is. I couldn't make it any better if I bought material for it.
Marc wrote:
The second photo shows the barrel vise with the barrel clamped in it. The vise is made from 7/8" steel plate. The clamping bolts are 1/2" fine thread all thread. The opening between the bolts is 3". I coat the maple blocks with rosin before I clamp the barrel in place. The vise is attached to the 3/4" plywood cabinet top with 5/16" lag bolts.
I'm working on a similar set up and have a question. Did you thread the all thread into the bottom plate or are the holes drilled all the way through and the securing nuts are on the underside of the whole set up? I hope that makes sense...
Thanks!
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits.
-Mark Twain
Proverbs 3:5; Philippians 4:13
Got to have a Jones for this
Jones for that
This running with the Joneses boy
Just ain't where it's at
I came up with a similar design to Marc's a number of years ago after seeing another example somewhere.
I used some 1.25" plate for the vice, those mounted on a piece of 3/4 steel that bolts to the table. The 1" coarse threaded bolts do not go through the 3/4 but the heads are embedded into a slot cut into it.
I had a friend make me up some aluminum shims, the inside closely matching early Winchester models 73,76, 86, 92 and 94 barrel contours. They can be switched out in a minute or so. Being they are aluminum they have not crushed and can be repeatably used. Sometimes I slide in a very thin sheet of sheet brass to match the barrel contour perfectly. I have never scratched a barrel with this setup and it has easily removed some very tight barrels.
I threaded the holes for the all thread but either way would work as long as you can keep the bolt from turning-like 3855's setup. The springs to hold the jaws open are a nice feature. I should do that with mine.
The setup I used on my 92 Winchester was a lot more primitive.
I used a couple of blocks I made from limbs off a Walnut tree in the yard for the barrel, and used a very large Monkey wrench on the action. (I am a farm equipment mechanic by trade) with well padded jaws.
Once it was assembled I draw filed and refinished everything. I would have done damage if it had been really tight, but as it was there was no issue at all.
I've done the same with an old SMLE action to switch barrels, but had to heat that a bit with the propane.
.***
