AIAT - barrel won’t come off

#2
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#5
Supersubes said:
It was probably just put on with some torque. If it has wrench flats near the muzzle,use those.
Click to expand...
I agree with someone torqued the crap out of it. The barrel has wrench flats. No go. I put it in my barrel vise using my AW action wrench. No go. I’ll probably have to send it to Mile High. I just have a hard time understanding the major malfunction. Thank you.
 
#8
Cuban Croc said:
I have a used AIAT. I was attempting to change the barrel and it won’t come loose. The AT has the quick change barrel. I loosened the bolt a couple turns. No go. I put in my barrel vise. No go. Any advise?

Thank you.

-Al
Click to expand...
I have never heard of this happening! Is this the first time you have tried to remove the barrel since you acquired the rifle?
 
#10
Cuban Croc said:
Yes sir. I’ve only had the rifle about a week. I loosened the screw to change the barrel to a 6GT. No luck.
Click to expand...
That is whacked. No disrespect meant, but you are loosening the correct screw, right?

Hopefully, the guy you bought it from didn't use any type of thread lock or cross-thread it.

Let us know how you make out
 
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#12
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#16
Use a barrel vise and your AW action wrench and give it a good "oomph." I wouldn't worry about hurting anything unless you exceed 150 ft-lb or so, or if it feels like threads are galled if/when the barrel pops free. Hopefully the thing didn't gall or drag a burr when the barrel was installed from lack of lubrication or poorly machined tenon threads.

The barrel torque spec on the AW/AE was 100 ft-lb. Sure the AT/AX actions have the H cut in the bottom of the action for the quicklock feature, but you can still reef a barrel on there pretty good.

I experimented with torquing the barrel on my AT to 50 and 75 ft-lb before tightening the quicklock screw to see if it made any difference in cold bore POI or group size if I smacked the barrel between shots, so I would not be worried about putting the barrel in a barrel vise and using your AW action wrench on it to try and pop it free.

Absolute worst case they may have to debond the action from the chassis so they can stick it in a lathe and cut a relief groove at the shoulder of the barrel... hopefully it doesn't come to that.
 
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#17
Kiba said:
Use a barrel vise and your AW action wrench and give it a good "oomph." I wouldn't worry about hurting anything unless you exceed 150 ft-lb or so, or if it feels like threads are galled if/when the barrel pops free. Hopefully the thing didn't gall or drag a burr when the barrel was installed from lack of lubrication or poorly machined tenon threads.

The barrel torque spec on the AW/AE was 100 ft-lb. Sure the AT/AX actions have the H cut in the bottom of the action for the quicklock feature, but you can still reef a barrel on there pretty good.

I experimented with torquing the barrel on my AT to 50 and 75 ft-lb before tightening the quicklock screw to see if it made any difference in cold bore POI or group size if I smacked the barrel between shots, so I would not be worried about putting the barrel in a barrel vise and using your AW action wrench on it to try and pop it free.

Absolute worst case they may have to debond the action from the chassis so they can stick it in a lathe and cut a relief groove at the shoulder of the barrel... hopefully it doesn't come to that.
Click to expand...
How did your experiment work out?
 
#18
hafejd30 said:
How did your experiment work out?
Click to expand...

Torqued was better for both cold bore POI and group size hitting the barrel with a rubber mallet near the muzzle between every shot, but not significantly. I tested this between 4 barrels and 2 AT actions.

If you aren't frequently changing barrels my preference is to torque them to 50 ft-lb with a barrel vise and action wrench before tightening the quick lock screw. If you do change barrels frequently, my suggestion is pinch the action between your knees (like in that classic video of Jacob) and go as tight as you can with a strap wrench or the flats on the barrel if it has them, that way you can still change it easily in the field.

Just my opinion though.
 
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#19
Kiba said:
Torqued was better for both cold bore POI and group size hitting the barrel with a rubber mallet near the muzzle between every shot, but not significantly. I tested this between 4 barrels and 2 AT actions.

If you aren't frequently changing barrels my preference is to torque them to 50 ft-lb with a barrel vise and action wrench before tightening the quick lock screw. If you do change barrels frequently, my suggestion is pinch the action between your knees (like in that classic video of Jacob) and go as tight as you can with a strap wrench or the flats on the barrel if it has them.

Just my opinion though.
Click to expand...
I do between my legs with a wrench on the flats as tight as I can get by hand. When I remove barrel it’s the same process with a few wrench whacks to free it up. I don’t swap a lot. But will be doing so more with my second AT between my 260 and 300 WSM setup
 
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#22
Kiba said:
Torqued was better for both cold bore POI and group size hitting the barrel with a rubber mallet near the muzzle between every shot, but not significantly. I tested this between 4 barrels and 2 AT actions.

If you aren't frequently changing barrels my preference is to torque them to 50 ft-lb with a barrel vise and action wrench before tightening the quick lock screw. If you do change barrels frequently, my suggestion is pinch the action between your knees (like in that classic video of Jacob) and go as tight as you can with a strap wrench or the flats on the barrel if it has them, that way you can still change it easily in the field.

Just my opinion though.
Click to expand...

My findings and process as well
 
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