I picked up a pretty rough M8 in 35 Rem. a few months back. One of its issues was a loose barrel jacket. I just finished getting the problem taken care of. I thought it would be nice to share the experience.
First picture is the rifle taken down for the fix. I must say the money for the Circle Branch Pro take down tool set was well spent.
Second picture is the jacket head apart after using a 1/16" pin punch to push out the old pin. The pin is in the foreground. It was pretty loose and came out easily. I was somewhat supprised to find that the jacket head is threaded onto the jacket and that the pin is just an anti-rotation device to keep it tight. Obviously it can auger the hole out over the years and let the jacket come loose.
The last two pictures are of the new pin in place and ready to go. I used a 1/2" long pin and drove it all the way through and into the inside. I then used a dremil tool to cut it down and grind it flush on both sides. In this case I found that a 5/64" roll pin was a nice tight fit with out having to drill out the hole and use a larger pin. At first I though I would have to go up to a 3/32" pin. The jacket assembly is nice and tight again and all I need to do now is clean up all the old rust and gunk that has accumulated over the years and put her back to together.
Thanks very much for the posting. It is a problem many of us have and seeing some good pictures of your "fix" lets us see how to make the repair. It looks like the gun cleaned up pretty good.
Good job, thanks for posting WG - just the kind of helps we need.
Though defensive violence will always be “a sad necessity” in the eyes of men of principle, it would be still more unfortunate if wrongdoers should dominate just men. - St. Augustine
We fixed a loose barrel jacket on a M 81 too. Basically the same procedure but I used a solid pin. I didn't drill any bigger than necessary, maybe a number or two drill size up to get a good fit for the new pin. We then but loc-tite-ed on the inside joint and out side.
Don't try to loc-tite the assembly, we did and never got it together, but we had to take it apart and start over.
Wildgoose,
You seem to have a real grasp of the proceedure here and much appreciate the posting, nicely done! I have a barrel shroud assembly that requires removal from the barrel head. I have punched out the pin and soaked the barrel head in Sea Foam Crud Cutter for days. I used my heavy padded vise and tried to loosen the barrel head from the shroud assembly countless times. Of course being very careful with the proceedure so as not to mar or damage anything. No go, No budge, Not even a squeak! I tried mild heat, solvents, oils, everything and so far, tighter than! Of all the folks I spoke with, none had further suggestions on how to proceed. I was hoping you may have the answer! Any help would be much appreciated. Oh, by the way, nice take down tools!
Regards,
RB
Remcrazy
I'm just a backyard trying-to-do-it-yourselfer; take this for what it's worth. Two things I have run into: one, someone used JB Weld or ... and the two pieces are now one until the end of time. Two, I did not get "all of the pin" out and there is still something/piece holding it. I hope you have issue #2 and can resolve it by drilling the hole slightly larger (for a little larger pin) thus removing the last of the old pin.
Hope that helps.
Though defensive violence will always be “a sad necessity” in the eyes of men of principle, it would be still more unfortunate if wrongdoers should dominate just men. - St. Augustine
Sounds like the barrel jacket was screwed in at the factory,drilled, pined and never came loose as some do. This means that the pin didn't auger out its hole and allow the cycling of the rifles action to loosen the threaded connection between the jacket and head. So now the threads are bonded most likely by hardened oil or corrosion, possibly both. imfuncity is on to something too in that when the original pin hole was drilled it caused a portion of the head material to be smeared into the jacket as the bit passed through. If a thread locking compound or an epoxy like JB weld was used then heat is all that will break it loose. Hopefully that isn't the case. If it is then you will just have to heat it until it lets go and hope for the best.
Assuming its just good and stuck a trick I have used in other similar applications in order to not have to over heat the parts is to cool one part to shrink it and heat the other to expand it at the same time to break the bond. You might try plugging the jacket three or four inches from the breech end with tin foil and filling the left over space with crushed ice (dry ice would be even better) and then apply moderate heat to the head casting to expand it faster than the jacket will. Hopefully repeating this cycle a few times might loosen up the threads. In order to give you some working time to complete this process start with having placed the whole assembly in the freezer over night so it will be cold to start with. If it doesn't work you are not out anything but your time. May not work but seems you have tried about everything else so far.
Most appreciated gentlemen! I will give all this a try and see if it eventually loosens. I'm certain that this is all factory and no JB Weld involved. It appears to have never been apart. You may be correct in that I didn't get all the pin out! I will investigate that first and proceed to the next steps. Will post with progress, I hope!
Thanks again for all the helpful suggestions!
I started a thread in October of 2010 [barrel jacket/adapter is loose] and no one really knew how to fix the problem. I had mentioned the 8/81 was a poor design and had given up on them because of the three I bought two had loose heads. Because of this thread I am back and think it should be a sticky
Thanks
[b]Member of Berwyn Rod and Gun Club since 1983, it is an outdoor range located in Bowie Maryland, if interested in joining call 301-261-7515 or 301-464-9830[/b]
I definitely agree on the cold/heat method. Dry ice from a CO2 extinguisher I have used many times in industry. For heating try a "heat" gun from Harbor Freight, they never last forever, even the expensive ones. The H/G is just like a blow dryer only hotter. Plus they are safer for us than torches. For most "Loctite" you must get over 360deg F to loosen.
Be aware there are several mentions of the factory using a braze or high temp solder on these barrel jacket threads as a fix for loose threads. (especially the FBI model) I suggest a close inspection of the joint magnified. I would discourage all but an experienced professional from trying to disassemble any soldered threads.
Note: most factory repairs will also have a barrel date code ending in a "3". You should look for it.
Phyrbird wrote: ↑Thu Dec 26, 2013 2:51 am
I definitely agree on the cold/heat method. Dry ice from a CO2 extinguisher I have used many times in industry. For heating try a "heat" gun from Harbor Freight, they never last forever, even the expensive ones. The H/G is just like a blow dryer only hotter. Plus they are safer for us than torches. For most "Loctite" you must get over 360deg F to loosen.
Be aware there are several mentions of the factory using a braze or high temp solder on these barrel jacket threads as a fix for loose threads. (especially the FBI model) I suggest a close inspection of the joint magnified. I would discourage all but an experienced professional from trying to disassemble any soldered threads.
Note: most factory repairs will also have a barrel date code ending in a "3". You should look for it.
My Model 8 in 25 Remington, DOB 1910, has the barrel and extension nut brazed or soldered together. The joint area clearly has a silverish looking ring of material visible all around the joint area. Furthermore there is no pin in the joint area. I'm thinking this was the way it came from the factory, rather than a fix.
Also, there is a stamp indicating RP in a circle in the extension nut area but no 3. I've read that the 3 was indication of factory repairs, so I'm thinking there were no factory repair.
fechnerj wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2020 9:37 am
My Model 8 in 25 Remington, DOB 1910, has the barrel and extension nut brazed or soldered together. The joint area clearly has a silverish looking ring of material visible all around the joint area. Furthermore there is no pin in the joint area. I'm thinking this was the way it came from the factory, rather than a fix.
Also, there is a stamp indicating RP in a circle in the extension nut area but no 3. I've read that the 3 was indication of factory repairs, so I'm thinking there were no factory repair.
I too have a 25 REM with the barrel jacket brazed on
Pretty sure mine isn't factory done tho
Yikes, mine is a bit neater than that. Dang, I wish I could figure this web photo thing out. None of the sites I've looked at has panned out so far so I could post some photos.
A picture of my 25. I think this is a factory original. There is no set screw in the collar area.
Yep, I have the photo thing figured out thanks to Cam.
