How to Unscrew Breechplug on a Round Barrel?

[Chris Treichel]

I want to remove the breech plug on a round barrel... so, how do I get a good grip on it? About the only thing I have come up with to get enough grip is to cut a block of lead to shape and drill an appropriate size hole through it... fit that on the barrel (clear of the threads inside) and put that in the vise...

Any other ideas before I make a mess?

[B Staley]

I believe Midway USA have a set up for that

[Don Stith]

Get a block of wood approximately 2"x2"x6".  Drill a hole the diameter of the barrel length wise.
  Saw the block in two so you have two 6x1 pieces with a half round groove.
 Might neeed a bag of resin, like baseball pitchers use, to sprinkle on the blocks to improve grip

[Mike Brooks]

Get a block of wood approximately 2"x2"x6".  Drill a hole the diameter of the barrel length wise.
  Saw the block in two so you have two 6x1 pieces with a half round groove.
 Might neeed a bag of resin, like baseball pitchers use, to sprinkle on the blocks to improve grip

Powdered sugar will work in place of resin in a pinch.
 Also remember "righty tighty lefty loosey".

[conquerordie]

I was just contemplating how I was going to accomplish the same task this morning. You read my mind! Thanks for the trick.
Greg

[kutter]

I make a lot of bbl vise 'jaws' for cartridge guns I work on.
Most I make by casting them from lead right from the bbl itself as the form.  A simple sheet metal box with a cut out at each end to lay the bbl into, some shims to level the bbl a bit to 1/2 depth and pour 2 jaws.
If the jaws bottom out before they clamp down securely, shim one or both of the channels under the bbl itself with a cardboard shim to raise the bbl up. Rosin  (or suger!) helps.

I use a' bbl vise', but as I'm usually unscrewing. re-assembling a recv'r to a bbl,,but a breech plug can be done in a stout bench vise generally.

For that and a round bbl, you can take a square piece of maple and drill a round hole through the middle big enough so the bbl drops through to the depth you want to secure it. The other end will now be loose because of the bbl taper.
Take the bbl and coat it with release agent (paste wax/auto shine-ola wax works good). Mix up some of your favorite epoxy .
Drop the bbl back into the wooden block and tap it in place. Then fill the other end void up with the  epoxy keeping the bbl centered in the drilled hole. Let it cure.
Knock the block forward off the bbl.
Then with a saw,,hand or table,,saw a fairly wide saw cut kerf through one side of the block and into the cavity. Don't cut the block in half. Just a clearance cut through one side so the block can flex and hinge when clamped.

Clean any wax from the bbl and the block. Coat with rosin, and slide the bbl back into the block.
Clamp the assembly inito the vise and tighten with the saw cut upwards in the vise. You'll see it close up as you tighten the vise.

Remove the breech plug.
If the bbl starts to turn in the block and you need to tighten more but the block is bottomed out, take the bbl out and make the saw cut kerf wider to allow more clamping power.

I like the one piece block. You never loose the other half of the jaw set and never have to match up set halves when you end up with dozens of them around the shop,,if you get to that point!

[Chris Treichel]

Thank you for the advice

[WadePatton]

Hardwood as well as Al tubing blocks are regular necessities for holding any tubing securely, thick or thin.  A couple of guys in the bike world make up a few sets now and then, and that's where mine came from. 

Anyone with machine tools can crank 'em out pretty and precise.  I made some with hand tools once...oh the ugly!

Thin leather is what I'd try for additional grippage inside the blocks if necessary.  My block set of maple was made for ultra-thin bicycle tubing, but works just fine for the thick-wall tubing of bbls.

Heavily tapered tubing requires one block that pivots (in the case that your vise doesn't).  I'll get a pic sometime, but I expect that this would rarely be an issue near the breech.

Attaching the matching blocks to each other at one end with a strip of leather GREATLY diminishes the time one spends retrieving the other half from the floor, or locating it in the first place.

[WadePatton]

Powdered sugar will work in place of resin in a pinch.
 Also remember "righty tighty lefty loosey".

So I was removing a chainsaw clutch the other day.  Lefty-tighty, Righty-loosey I kept saying to me.  I kept saying it but then realized after THREE attempts that my hands weren't following my brains.

Somehow my grubby paws didn't get the message and were continuing as they were used to doing--lefty loosey fashioned. 

Silly Hands!!!

I re-established the link between my brains and hands and the clutch came loose properly when turned Rightly.   

[Scota4570]

Yes, rosin and maple blocks.  I put a 1/4" spacer between the blocks and then drill with a Forsner bit.    Music stores have violin rosin, if you can not find it at a sporting goods. 

Really, if you want to be 100% at not mauling you barrels, use this method for octagon barrels too.

Your machinist vice may not get it.  A real barrel vice is good to own.  An alternative is a couple of  slabs of steel  Say 2" x 1",  Make a wrench, like a giant tap handle.  Draw the two sides together with 1/2" NF bolts.  Use it to squeeze the rosin blocks around the barrel

[P.W.Berkuta]

I want to remove the breech plug on a round barrel... so, how do I get a good grip on it? About the only thing I have come up with to get enough grip is to cut a block of lead to shape and drill an appropriate size hole through it... fit that on the barrel (clear of the threads inside) and put that in the vise...

Any other ideas before I make a mess?

I also do as most have said except that I make my wood blocks larger and longer, I drill a larger hole through the blocks after I saw them in half then I use Bondo (auto body filler) as my barrel contoure molding stuff (be sure to use a release agent) then I use powdered rosin (find it at a bowling ally) on the barrel and blocks after I degrease both with a solvent.

[Chris Treichel]

FYI rosin is also as close as the nearest pine tree... I also do leather work and make my own string wax with 1/4 pine sap and 3/4 beeswax... Also use it for pitch bowls... no worries... rosin I have... Will give this a try this week.

[deepcreekdale]

Rice Barrels has a nifty barrel holding tool that fits in your vise as well as a great breech plug wrench. It is designed for octagon barrels but I have used it to remove breech plugs with a thin piece of leather from round barrels with no problems and no marks. It is a really well made tool. Here is the link:
 http://ricebarrels.com/

[jerrywh]

 Don Stith's method is what works most of the time even on modern guns. On rare occasions barrels are so tight that it won't work. If that method doesn't work then you have to do the same thing with a set of steel blocks that are a little oversized and pour a split set lead or pewter cast around the barrel. Steel blocks don't need to be as long. Look up barrel vise on a modern gun site like Bownell. I have a steel barrel vise for such. A lot of mine are on rare occasions. 

[JCKelly]

A bit of penetrant on the breech may help unfreeze it. Best commercial is Kroil, let it soak a while. Me, I'd let it work overnight.

I have READ that the best is a 50-50 mix of Automatic Transmission Fluid and (nice, carcenogeic) Acitone. I prefer to avoid acetone, so sometimes I use AFT & a few days soak.