15-22 barrel nut tool

[ChattanoogaPhil]

I made a barrel nut tool from schedule 40 PVC only to find it's outer diameter is too big. My hand guard inner diameter gets smaller as it gets closer to the nut.

Now I'm wondering why I need to disassemble it...

I used Sched 40. I thought the same thing when I first tried it. The tabs I cut into the PVC didn't perfectly line up with the barrel nut groves and it felt like the PVC pipe was too big and binding. My solution was to grind off two tabs (lazy). Fit like a champ then and was plenty strong to remove the barrel nut. Once I got the barrel nut out, it was easier to cut 4 tabs to fit.

 

[Roper1628]

Senior moment

Well, the real problem was me. I was using 1" PVC, Doh!

So I headed back to Loews and picked up some 3/4" instead. While I was at it I picked up a slip on tee also. At home I took a 3/4" forstner bit and drilled a neat hole in the tee to allow the barrel to go through. The tee allows plenty of options to apply as much torque as is required to loosen the barrel nut.

I cut the whole assembly to allow about 5" of barrel to protrude through the tee, plenty to chuck up in a bench vise.

I'll try to take some photo's Sunday morning and get them posted...

 

[tacticool22]

A bench vise on your barrel? Ouch. Pictures please.

 

[Roper1628]

No worries

Never fear, my "bench vice" is aluminum with plastic jaw inserts. Just enough tension to hold the barrel securely while the nut is loosened.

What would you hold onto while loosening the nut?

 

[tacticool22]

Never fear, my "bench vice" is aluminum with plastic jaw inserts. Just enough tension to hold the barrel securely while the nut is loosened.

What would you hold onto while loosening the nut?

Soft aluminum jaw inserts for rifle and pistol barrels. I was worried plastic would slip.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

What is the 'best' = (cheap and won't scratch barrel), jaws/covers/whatever to put on a regular bench vice to hold the 15-22 barrel? I'll probably never use it on anything else.

 

[Roper1628]

Modified tool photos

Here are some photos showing how I modified the PVC tool. It really was easy to make (once I got the right diameter tubing).

You could add short pieces to the tee to give it even more leverage for torquing.

 

[tacticool22]

There are some barrel jaws on eBay that look pretty good.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

There are some barrel jaws on eBay that look pretty good.

I bet there are. I guess I'll try search parameters on Ebay "barrel jaws that look pretty good".

 

[BMW Racer]

I just built a tool from Sched 40 PVC and while it would slide down over the barrel just fine, it wouldn't slip down far enough so that the "teeth" would find the slots in the nut. I pushed down with slight pressure and turned it clockwise, and it started threading onto the barrel threads.

Has anyone had this same problem?

I then wrapped a large marker pen with 150 grit sandpaper and sanded the id of the PVC tool, just enough so that it would slide down onto the nut slots. It didn't take much sanding so I didn't remove much material.

I then tried to break the nut loose, by hand, but couldn't budge it. I'm no body builder but I'm 6' and 190 lbs and fit. Evidently, mine got torqued very well at the factory.

I grabbed the PVC with a pair of pliers, near the end of gun rail, and with downward pressure to keep the teeth seated, I started turning the pvc. It popped and released...but it was the teeth shearing off the end of the pvc, not the nut coming loose.

I guess my only option (if I want to do it myself) is to make another tool from metal pipe and will just have to be very careful to not scratch anything.

 

[BMW Racer]

Metal pipe tool worked perfectly this afternoon. I put blue painter's tape on the muzzle, and about 4" toward the rail.

The barrel nut was very tight so I'll weld a socket into the end of the pipe so I can put a torque wrench on it when it's re-assembled.

 

[27 Beck]

Metal pipe tool worked perfectly this afternoon. I put blue painter's tape on the muzzle, and about 4" toward the rail.

The barrel nut was very tight so I'll weld a socket into the end of the pipe so I can put a torque wrench on it when it's re-assembled.

So what kind of metal pipe did you use?

 

[rip3000gt]

I just built a tool from Sched 40 PVC and while it would slide down over the barrel just fine, it wouldn't slip down far enough so that the "teeth" would find the slots in the nut. I pushed down with slight pressure and turned it clockwise, and it started threading onto the barrel threads.

Has anyone had this same problem?

I then wrapped a large marker pen with 150 grit sandpaper and sanded the id of the PVC tool, just enough so that it would slide down onto the nut slots. It didn't take much sanding so I didn't remove much material.

I then tried to break the nut loose, by hand, but couldn't budge it. I'm no body builder but I'm 6' and 190 lbs and fit. Evidently, mine got torqued very well at the factory.

I grabbed the PVC with a pair of pliers, near the end of gun rail, and with downward pressure to keep the teeth seated, I started turning the pvc. It popped and released...but it was the teeth shearing off the end of the pvc, not the nut coming loose.

I guess my only option (if I want to do it myself) is to make another tool from metal pipe and will just have to be very careful to not scratch anything.

I had the same thing happen to me, but I didn't muscle it to the point of breaking the plastic teeth off.

Where is a good place to hold onto the upper/barrel when trying to loosen a tight nut?

 

[BMW Racer]

So what kind of metal pipe did you use?

Just simple 3/4" id iron pipe they had lying around the shop. I used the tape suggestion in this thread to mark the end of the pipe, and we cut the pipe using a chop saw.

We just eye-balled the tape position on the end and the result worked great. The teeth lined-up perfectly with the notches in the barrel nut.

I then covered the barrel muzzle with painter's tape and gently slid the pipe over the barrel.

I know this probably isn't the preferred method but I then held the upper receiver/rail on a folded thick blanket on a desk and my pal twisted the pipe with a set of channel locks. It took a bit of torque but it popped loose fairly easily.

It's going to the gunsmith for threading tomorrow morning (for the flash hider) and I'll ask him if there's a better way to put it back together.

 

[reelman]

I just built a tool from Sched 40 PVC and while it would slide down over the barrel just fine, it wouldn't slip down far enough so that the "teeth" would find the slots in the nut. I pushed down with slight pressure and turned it clockwise, and it started threading onto the barrel threads.

Has anyone had this same problem?

I then wrapped a large marker pen with 150 grit sandpaper and sanded the id of the PVC tool, just enough so that it would slide down onto the nut slots. It didn't take much sanding so I didn't remove much material.

I then tried to break the nut loose, by hand, but couldn't budge it. I'm no body builder but I'm 6' and 190 lbs and fit. Evidently, mine got torqued very well at the factory.

I grabbed the PVC with a pair of pliers, near the end of gun rail, and with downward pressure to keep the teeth seated, I started turning the pvc. It popped and released...but it was the teeth shearing off the end of the pvc, not the nut coming loose.

I guess my only option (if I want to do it myself) is to make another tool from metal pipe and will just have to be very careful to not scratch anything.

I made a wrench out of PVC also and could not get the nut loose. I have broke all 4 of the tabs on 3 of the wrenches I've made and I didn't think I was turning very hard at all.

 

[tacticool22]

Looks like you got one of those tight Tuesday rifles. All the problems are probably from a Friday or Monday rifle. Ya probably gotta get one of those fancy factory wrench jobbies.

 

[27 Beck]

Metal pipe tool worked perfectly this afternoon. I put blue painter's tape on the muzzle, and about 4" toward the rail.

The barrel nut was very tight so I'll weld a socket into the end of the pipe so I can put a torque wrench on it when it's re-assembled.

Would this tool work? It is used on bikes. Your screen name says you like bikes

BlueSkyCycling.com - Park Tools FR-8C BMX Freewheel Removal Tool


Edit. My bad, BMW cars. Doh.

 

[AR15barrels]

Oh come on......it doesn't matter how hard you push on that button.

Everyone knows you have to turn that other control to half way between the 2 & 3....THEN you push the button!

What if I push the button a bunch of times, REALLY fast?
What is the moon is not in the correct phase with venus?

 

[rip3000gt]

I think Smith used an impact wrench to put my nut on

Where are you guys holding onto the barrel/gun when you try to loosen the nut? I'm a big guy and I can't get this nut to break loose and I'm worried that with too much force on the gun I'm going to break the plastic.

 

[Thomas_H]

The proper way to do it is with the end of the barrel clamped in a vice (preferably in a barrel block).