Can I unscrew a Rifle Barrel Myself?

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Bigjfb

New member
Very nice forum here, just found it, 1st post.


I have an old Rem 721 30-06, the stock is cracked and boogered up, the barrel is actually in OK shape after I cleaned it up. My plan is to rebarrel to a 25-06 with a take-off 700 barrel if I can find one. I know I need to have a smith do the rebarrel. I have a Rem BDl long action stock, with some work the 721 action should fit in there. The closest smith is very far away and backlogged. I just want to unscrew the 721 barrel so I can start fitting the action and whittling on the stock. I will not be using the barrel I take off. Is there a way I can get it off myself?

If anyone knows where I can get a rem 700 25-06 barrel, or any of similar smaller bore long action, please let me know. Cheaper the better. Will be a hunting/varmint rifle.

Thanks

Joel
 
Dave, the original 721 barrel has a fat swell/band around it where the rear sight mounts. The original stock has a recess for the band to fit into. The stock I will be using is a from a 700 has no recess, and whatever new barrel i get will not have that band to deal with.
 
A gunsmith removes a barrel by clamping the barrel in a special vise then, using an action wrench with inserts made for that action, he unscrews the action from the barrel. That is especially necessary with the round Remington receiver, which has no recoil lug. You can buy the tools from Brownells but they are not cheap and it is always a question about the cost effectiveness of expensive tools bought for one job.

Another point is that it is never a good idea to try to inlet a stock with only the action; there are a lot of ways to mess that up.

I suggest you contact the gunsmith and tell him what you want done. You don't need to take the rifle to him. Ask him to send you a signed copy of his FFL and with that you can mail the barrelled action (no stock) and the new barrel to him from your local post office. When he gets the new barrel put on, he can return the rifle directly to you.

Then, with the new barrel in place, you can do the stock fitting properly with less chance of messing things up.

Jim
 
Thanks for the great replies. The action is almost a perfect fit to the new stock, really only needs a little wood removed for the safety, and the right edge near the magazine. I don't want to grind the barrel band off, it is a decent barrel, may be of use to somebody someday, but I doubt it. Might be good to practice my rust-blueing skills.WHile I am aware smiths have specialty tools to remove barrels, I was hoping there was a bubba way to do it with a strap wrench and some blocks of woods in a vice or something like that, I guess I already knew the answer and just didn't want to accept it.
 
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