Do-It-Yourself Receiver Wrenches And Adapters

Anew customer called my shop awhile back and said he was in the process of building some personal hunting rifles and needed the barrels removed from two military Mauser actions. He also wanted one of the actions drilled and tapped. I gave him a price suited to largeand small-ring Mauser rifles, without asking any more questions. Imagine my surprise when he showed up with two 1891 Argentine barreled actions! It was too late to back out. Besides, I considered it a challenge.

It got more challenging when I realized that my Brownells receiver-wrench base fit too far back on the receiver to allow the top half of the wrench to grip the receiver ring properly. The wrench assembly kept slipping back away from the receiver ring, and I was in danger of marring or even twisting the receiver. Those old barrels were really stuck. I put it all down (before I got really aggravated) and went to the next item in the queue, installing anew barrel in an FAL.

As I was torquing the barrel, I was struck by the fact that the Brownells receiver wrench set for the FAL is a two-piece affair that bolts to the base. Hmm…so is the Remington 700 set, the Remington 788 set, the SMLE adapter, the Arisaka adapter, ad nauseam. Yup, looks like I’d been bitten by "Rule #1"—you have to be at least 5-percent smarter than what you’re working on. Okay, now I knew how to get these Argentine barrels out.

I just had to make a handy base for the bottom of the Argentine receiver, and use whichever top half fit best (in this case, the Winchester M70 head and a thin lead shim). One whack with the 2-pound ball-peen hammer and they came right off. After having spent the time and effort to make a complete wrench base and handle, it occurred to me that I could simply have made an adapter from apiece of bar stock and used my existing wrench base. Another Rule #1 violation. (Sigh.) Live and learn.

Oh, well, I now have two wrench bases, which came in quite handy recently when I needed to straighten a 95 Mauser receiver that someone had twisted with one of those receiver wrenches that goes into the bolt-lug races. I’ve had occasion to remove and/or install barrels in quite a number of odd rifles for which there are no available receiver wrenches. While some of the barrels can be removed by clamping the receiver in a vise (with a suitable filler), the problem then becomes one of holding and turning the barrel.

A pipe wrench works well if you’re not going to reinstall that barrel, but anew barrel will probably look rather rough if you use a pipe wrench as an installation tool. That’s why, outside of factories and arsenals, the most common method for barrel removal and installation is the use of receiver wrenches and barrel vises. In this article you’ll find sketches of tooling I’ve fabricated to augment the basic Brownells receiver-wrench base.

The wrench heads and adapters can be very useful when one of these guns comes in, and nothing in your existing wrench collection will grip the receiver properly. I don’t know if they will fit on other makes of wrench bases, but if your wrench base has a different bolt-to-bolt center distance than the Brownells wrench, just 1891 Mauser Adapter

1895 Steyr Straight-Pull Adapter FN 1949 Wrench Head change the hole location to match your wrench base. Depending on your base’s dimensions, this may necessitate changing location of the 1/4-inch hole for the Savage 99 flat-sided receiver adapter. The only material you need for most of these receiver-wrench adapters is a chunk of 1-1/4- x 1/2inch bar stock. Some of them require modification of an existing wrench head. Because of the Krag receiver’s odd shape, its adapter requires a bar at least 3/4 inch thick.

If you can’t get 1-1/4-inch stock, you can use the more common 1-1/2-inch material and adjust the dimensions accordingly. The wrench heads for the MAS 36, the MAS 1949/MAS 49-56, and the Schmidt-Rubin K-31 are made from 1-1/4-inch-square cold-rolled steel (CRS) or leaded-steel bar stock. The alloy is relatively unimportant in most cases, but the better the metal, the better the finished product. I have used CRS, hotrolled steel, Stressproof, "mystery steel," and even aluminum to make various heads or spacers.

Fit can be improved if necessary by coating the receiver with release agent and using Brownells Steel-Bed, Devcon, Liquid Steel, or something similar to fill in any gaps. Assemble the wrench with the epoxy filler in place, and tighten the cap screws just snug enough to keep the wrench assembly from moving. After 24 to 36 hours, the wrench can be tightened more and barrel removal attempted. The particulars on each of the illustrated adapters follow: 1891 Mauser.

When installing a barrel in the 91 Mauser, you must be careful to avoid damaging or breaking the small steel stud inside the receiver. When torqued, the barrel shank must not touch this stud; it’s not made for any kind of longitudinal stress. This stud acts as a stop to prevent extractor breakage and retains the 91’s extractor in the bolt when the extractor flexes out before snapping over the chambered cartridge’s rim.

By the way, the 1891’s extractor is very fragile, and should not be removed from the bolt unless necessary. 1895 Steyr-Mannlicher. I worked over an 1895 Steyr-Mannlicher FN 1949 Adapter Plate carbine recently. I was intrigued at the idea of removing the barrel, machining the shank of a #1 Mk. III SMLE barrel to fit, and reaming the new barrel’s chamber to 7.62x54R.

This would give the owner (me) a very user-friendly carbine in a caliber much cheaper and more available than the 8x56R. (The Mannlicher clips work fine for the 7.62x54R. Before affordable brass was available, I used Boxer-primed 7.62x54R brass to make reloadable 8x56R cases).

However, no combination of receiver wrench pieces I had on hand would remove the stubborn barrel. Therefore, to avoid unsightly damage to my receiver, I decided to make a wrench adapter specifically for the Steyr. Now that I have the adapter, I don’t have time to fiddle with the rifle. I guess it’s better that way; working on my own stuff K-31 Schmidt-Rubin Wrench Head Set doesn’t pay very well. As you can tell by the diagram, there’s not much to this adapter. FN 1949.

Should you get one of these for rebarreling, you’ll need the wrench head and adapter plate shown in the drawings to hold the receiver without damaging it. A note about the adapter: It’s a good idea to make absolutely sure you have all the flat areas on the receiver’s bottom in contact with the wrench adapter. You can use epoxy to help. Coat the receiver with release agent and "bed" the receiver into the wrench, tightening the cap screws just snug enough to prevent movement.

After the epoxy cures, tighten the cap screws tight and go ahead with barrel removal or installation. Schmidt-Rubin K-31. The dimensioned diagram shows the wrench parts I designed to augment the basic Brownells receiver wrench base to remove and reinstall K-31 Schmidt-Rubin rifle barrels. I don’t know if they will fit on other makes of wrench bases. If your wrench base has a different bolt-to-bolt center distance than the Brownells wrench, just change the hole location to match your wrench base.

The 1-1/2-inch hole can be drilled, bored on the mill or the lathe, cut with a good-quality hole saw, or milled out using a rotary table. The method is unimportant; you just need the two 1-1/4-inch blocks with the hole cut in the right place. The spacer is discarded after the 1-1/2-inch hole is finished. Carcano. The Carcano’s receiver ring is just about the same size as the Remington 700, so the Brownells 700 wrench-head set is modified a bit for the Carcano’s recoil lug/front guard screw boss.

The fit can be improved if desired by coating the receiver bottom and front guard screw with release agent and using epoxy to fill the new lug pocket for a perfect fit on the odd Carcano lug.

Carcano Wrench Head Place the front guard screw through the hole in the wrench head, and use apiece of duct tape to keep it in place temporarily. Fill the lug pocket about two-thirds full of epoxy and run the guard screw into its corresponding hole in the lug, taking care to keep your filler out of the guard screw hole and off the screw threads as much as possible. Assemble the rest of the wrench and tighten the cap screws just snug enough to keep the wrench assembly or receiver from moving.

After the epoxy cures, the wrench heads can be removed and any excess epoxy cleaned up. A note about the adapter: It’s still 100-percent usable on Remington 700 rifles. MAS 1936. The French MAS 1936 rifle has been imported in some numbers recently, some in the original 7.5×54 MAS and some converted to 7.62×51 NATO. I’ve had both come through my shop, and have observed several others that could use some chamber work or barrel requalifica tion (set back one turn and chamber re-reamed).

However, the MAS 36’s MAS 1936 Wrench Head receiver is oddly shaped, making it difficult to grab well enough to allow barrel removal without damage to the receiver.

The wrench head shown here will allow MAS 1936 receivers to be firmly clamped on the receiver ring, permitting marand scar-free barrel removal and installation. sioned diagram shown here will allow you to fabricate a wrench head that will allow proper slip-free gripping of the MAS’s receiver ring, MAS 1949 & 49-56 Wrench Head The only material you need for this wrench head is a 5-inch chunk of 1-1/4-inchsquare coldrolled steel or leaded-steel bar stock.

Saw off 1/2 inch to make the filler, and fashion the wrench head as described in the drawing. MAS 1949/49- 56. The dimen

Mosin-Nagant Adapter placing the torque stress on an area more resistant to damage than trying to turn the receiver by its flat sides. The only material you need for this wrench is a 4-1/2-inch long chunk of 1-1/4-inch-square steel bar stock, and apiece of 1-inch round bar stock just over 1/4-inch thick. This head fits under the barrel, with the round part inserted into the round hole in the receiver. The wrench base is used against the flat top of the receiver, with the recoil-lug relief over the gas-spigot boss.

You may need to modify your wrench’s recoil-lug relief to clear the boss enough to properly butt the wrench up to the receiver. Mosin-Nagant. The Model 1891 Mosin-Nagant rifle is one of the world’s longest-serving military rifle designs—many were still in use as late as Viet Nam. It was developed into various carbines and evolved into the M91-30, but they all have essentially the same action.

I’ve even seen what appears to be M91-30 rifles and M39 carbines in the Afghanistan conflict’s video footage, and M44 and M39 carbines in Iraq. Interestingly enough, its cartridge (the 7.62x54R) is also still in service in some parts of the world as a general-purpose machine-gun (GPMG) cartridge. This makes the 7.62x54R the world’s oldest serving military cartridge. None of this is accidental; both the Mosin-Nagant rifles and the 7.62x54R cartridge are well-designed, well-engineered, well-made, and they work.

What’s the old saw: If it ain’t broke…? Barrels in these rifles range from hand-tight to torqued-by-Hercules. The drawing shows an adapter plate to use between the bottom of the receiver and the Brownells wrench base. Use a shimmed small-ring Mauser wrench head on top for round-receivered actions or a "universal" head with a V-notch on the hexagonal receivers. I don’t know if it will fit on other makes of wrench bases.

The only material you need for this receiver-wrench adapter is a 4-1/2-inch piece of 1-1/4- x 1/2-inch bar stock. Savage 99 and Other Flat-Sided Receivers. There’s not a lot to say about Savage Model 99 Adapter this one that’s not in the drawing. It’s useful on pretty much any flat-sided receiver, including lever-actions, shotguns, etc. Be certain you use the bolt/bolt carrier or some other internal supports inside the receiver to prevent crushing. SKS.

The SKS has been imported into this country for a couple of decades now, and there are huge numbers in use and in closets. You may have one come in for a barrel change, as some of the imports didn’t have chrome bores and/or the owners shot corro sively-primed ammo without proper cleaning. The barrels on the pressedand-pinned models are difficult to change without special tooling to hold the receiver and press the barrel out, then hold the barrel and press the receiver back into place.

I don’t recommend using the BFH (big…ah, um,…hammer) method instead of an arbor or hydraulic press. The models with screwed-in barrels are no more difficult than any other rifle, however, with the proper receiver wrench. The drawings are modifications to the Brownells small-ring Mauser

SKS Receiver Wrench Heads wrench head to make a set of SKS wrench heads for the basic Brownells receiver wrench base. I don’t know if they will fit on other makes of wrench bases. Note: The "top" wrench head is still suitable for use on small-ring Mausers. Break any sharp edges on the milled areas to prevent scratching the SRM receiver.. The SMLE is still a fairly common sight these days, and changing barrels is an occasional request that should be easily accomplished.

However, I have not had tremendous success using the Brown-ells adapter with these, as the open slot tends to allow the wrench to tip or cant, risking marring or damage to the receiver. To solve this problem, I made a filler for the slot and turned it into a hole. Now the wrench can’t tip and tight SMLE Adapter U. S. Krag Adapter barrels come out without worry of damage. The only material you need for this adapter is a 4-1/2-inch piece of 1-1/4- x 1/2-inch bar stock.

If you already have a Brownells SMLE adapter plate, just weld a plug across the slot as shown to eliminate that scary wrench wobble. US Krag-Jorgensen. Original military-configuration Krags now command in excess of $1000 for a nice specimen. Looking around at a recent gun show here in Central Texas, I was stunned at the prices of Krags and (continued on page 22)

Springfields in far poorer shape than mine. (I hastened home and revised my 1896 rifle’s estimated value!) Of course, values vary by location and older firearms in really good condition such as Krags and Springfields Binder Ad (p/u from page 18, AGM-March 05) are more available and generally less expensive in the Northeast. They were generally cleaned up and hung on the wall as "grandpa’s rifle" and left as such. On the other hand, guns in the Southwest were tools, used regularly (and sometimes abused regularly).

Generally, Krags tend to have poorer bores than even the older trap-door Springfields because of the nature of the early smokeless powders and the early non-mercuric priming. Should you get a Krag for rebarreling, you’re going to have fun trying to turn that odd receiver. The drawing shows an adapter to augment the basic Brownells receiver wrench base. Because of the Krag receiver’s odd shape, its adapter requires a minimum 3/4-inch-thick bar.

These barrels are not usually very tight, but if one has rusted some, it can be a real bear. My Krag adapter is aluminum, but you can make yours out of whatever you have on hand. Should you not have a milling machine or are otherwise unable to fabricate these adapters, I would be happy to make them for you at a reasonable cost. I will also assist with any questions you have concerning their fabrication and/or use. You can email me at ■