Repro Spencer barrel removal?

[edgalaxie]

I'm getting close to solving most of the feeding problems with my Armi Sport 45 Schofield carbine.

Now I'd like to remove the barrel and polish the edges of the chamber to get it to feed better. Is there a trick to taking the barrel off? Just twist hard enough? Heat the receiver?

[Two Flints]

Hi Edgalaxie,

Not sure if I would go that far . . . too much at risk, damaging the threads, denting the barrel, try to do your other "fixes" before attempting removal of the barrel.

Did you purchase your .45 Schofield Spencer "new" or "used", just curious to know.

Two Flints

[edgalaxie]

I have done the other fixes. The cartridge is hanging up while going into the chamber, and sometimes jamming pretty good. I've messed with the stripped down action and a cartridge and the edges of the cartridge are definitely being held up by the edge of the chamber, which is pretty rough.

I bought it new.

As to removing the barrel, they just unscrew. I understand your caution, but gunsmiths do it all the time. I just want to know if there is some sort of locking screw that I can't find, if there is threadlocking compound on the threads, or whatever.

Also, the channel for the Lane extractor is very rough. I'd like to polish it, and it's pretty much impossible to get in there with the barrel on the action.

Ed

[Herbert]

The barrel just unscrews,the ones I have removed came relitivly easy as I have the proper tools dor the job.I thought the 45 Scofield modle had the double blade extractors,if this is the case I would not remove any more metal from the cartridge stop slot in the barrel as this is the weak point of this desighn(my 44 Rusian blew the barrel starting from this slot)

[edgalaxie]

Thanks Herbert. That's what I thought.

Mine has the Lane extractor, not the double blades, though it is cut for them.

[edgalaxie]

Yep, just some heat and proper application of leverage and the barrel came right off. It took a lot to get it started, so I wonder if there was some sort of threadlocking compound. Once started it unscrewed easily.

[Fox Creek Kid]

Well, I'm too late to tell you NOT to do this.    Putting the barrel back on may requiring machining a thread back for a proper crush fit & then headspace reestablished. Too late. You should not have done this IMO.

[Herbert]

I have never had any trouble re-torking the barrels on AP Spencers after removal,I have done this quite a few times so the barrels can be relined and the action can be more eaisly worked on to modify the action for a original stylecartridge guide spring,the early ones were quite tight but no more than industry standard(use a good paded action wrench and barrel viceand no harm will be done)the later ones are only just torked up and come off very easly.Whith the Spencer tread used on these barrels and actions it is very easy to modify these rifles to take downs(I have converted mine to a take down sporting rifle an it works very well)

[Blair]

Repro "and/or" original?... I would like to see photos of that system and how it locks up.
My best,
Blair

[Herbert]

I have been meaning to send photos to Two Flints but have been lazy latly.I got the idear from the Marcot Spencer book,there are two Spencers pictured in the book that uses the take down system ,one a very early Spencer sporting rifle serial No 1,the other a Burncide-Spencer sporting rifle presented by the Burncide rifle company to Edward Stabler in 1865,booth rifles use a tapper pin that goes through the frame and a small section of the botom of the barrel,the pin is just taped in when the barrel is screwed in,the tapper pin locks the barrel in place( I used the same system but also put a lock cap over a steped tapper pin that screws into the frame locking the pin in place(I have found that this locking cap is not necesary as just a small tap on the end of the tapper pin locks the pin in place)If I was to make another one I would use a diffrent system ,somthing like the Savage 99 system so I could change barrels easly( with the tapper pin system the barrel first must be torked up the the tapper pin hole bored,then you remove the barrel and take a small amount of metal off the barrel shank or frame so the barrel can screwed in and out by hand,so this system is only really good for the original barrell)with the Savage system you could have barrels in 56-50, 56-46 and with a spare lower block 44-40,this idear apeals to me

[edgalaxie]

Too late, Fox Creek...and I'm really glad I did. The lead-in to the chamber and the extractor cut needed polishing very badly. They were VERY rough. I could not have done it with the barrel in place.

[Fox Creek Kid]

If you remove a barrel then screw it back on to the same torque it'll screw back on just a little farther, which will put the front sight off slightly. If you screw it on until the sight lines up properly, it won't be torqued quite as tightly. Sometimes you can get away with it, but many times the barrel will vibrate loose because it's not torqued as tightly.

Every time I've done it the above happened and then you have a real mess on your hands, e.g., set barrel back a a thread, rechamber if needed & reestablish headspace, weld up forearm screws holes and re-tap (not applicable here). Far more can go wrong than right. Just remember you heard it here.  

[Herbert]

I have had no trouble with head space since I have turned my AS Spencer into a take down and this is with no torque on the threds,just the tapper pin holding the barrel solid,this is after thousands of 45grs of FF and a 395gr NEI bullet