Barrel Nut Wrench

[pshort]

Howdy Folks,
What is being used for a barrel nut wrench? I've looked thru many of the tool catalogs for spanners, etc but nothing is the correct size.
Perhaps someone makes one. I'm a new owner of an 81, so am not up to speed yet on all the resources....

Thanks for your help,

Sincerely,

Paul

[81police]

The wood handle winchester winchoke spanner wrench works the best so we've found...

http://www.midwestgunworks.com/page/mgw ... es/6130019

[pshort]

Howdy,
Hey, thanks 81p... Just what I'm looking for! One more for ya, how about the barrel housing nut?

Thanks again,

Paul

ps. got the Henwood book the other day, still reading it....

[Superimposed]

I wanted to clean up my Model 81 barrel and spent a lot of time puzzling over how to free up the barrel bushing nut. I bought a winchoke wrench and promply ruined it. The bushing nut was froze on tight. I soaked the muzzle in penetrating oil, bought a # 38 drillbit, as close to the pin hole size I could find, made a makeshift bushing that would fit over the barrel bushing from a PVC pipe, (with hole drilled in it to acomodate the drill bit). I tried to turn off the bushing nut to no avail, the bushing nut would not budge. I buggered the barrel nut hole some and ruined the PVC pipe bushing. I think I was on the right track however. I am going to use the same technique but have the machinist turn me out a steel bushing, with hole. The day before my hunting trip, I took my barrel to a machinist. He put the barrel in a lathe and we applied the drill bit, and between both of us, we were able to turn off the barrel bushing nut. This procedure allows you to remove the barrel from the shroud. Next you can tackle the barrel spring retaining nut without the interference of the barrel or barrel bushing nut. I purchased a spanner wrench from a second hand store and filed it to fit the barrel nut. Any piece of steel will do with the barrel removed or the barrel retracted from the barrel shroud as long as it is the proper thickness and spans the two notches. Watch out for the spring tension as the contents will come flying out. Not impossible to contain the contents by hand or reassemble. It will take some hand and arm strength. Take note of the exact way the parts, springs come out and reassemble the same way. A 12 gauge wire brush is handy to scrub the inside of the barrel shroud. I put a patch over the wire brush and swab with solvent. I followed up after cleaning parts with a coat of lubriplate on all parts. When reassembling, insert the barrel, then the internal parts, springs etc. and align the long spring retaining washer (with alignment extrusion within washer hole), with the keyway cut into the barrel, (at the threaded part of the barrel), in order to properly seat the barrel in the shroud. You can withdraw the barrel enough to accomplish this and still be able to install the barrel nut under the pressure of the springs. Would be a good idea to have a second person to assist you. This is the difficult part of the procedure. Rehurse the assembly without the long spring to acquaint yourself with aligning the spring retaining washer with the barrel keyway. Wear eye protection, work in a small room to contain flying parts, and observe gun safety, keep the barrel pointed away from anything you don't intend to shoot (with flying parts). Note, you can retract the barrel in the shroud by either pulling on the breach of the barrel or pushing on the front of the barrel muzzle. This will give you an idea how the recoil mechanism works and where it will be when properly assembled. I disassembled and serviced a 103 year old Model 8 barrel recently and the barrel bushing nut was just hand tight. Guess it depends where they have been. Does anyone want to correct my nomenclature I do not have the Henwood bible in front of me?

[pshort]

Howdy,
Thanks for all the tips. I borrowed a win 12 ga spanner and my barrel nut just came right off easily....... Now I need to make the wrench to take off the housing nut. I see what you mean by no obstruction after bbl nut is off. I'll post back when I get it apart...
Thanks again for the help...

Paul

[pshort]

Howdy,
I just got my 81 up and running today.. I finally made a tool for the housing nut out of a flat piece of 4140. I held the tool in a vise while turning the housing. It was tight, but came loose.. I removed all the parts, cleaned, greased and reassembled. Lots of gunk inside the housing. I just couldn't shoot it that way... The mechanical part of this rifle is in great condition. The wood is decent, but if I ran ran into some a little bit better I'd get it.....
Thanks for all the tips and help.....

Paul