Anybody know how much trouble it is for a good smith to remove a CZ barrel?
 

Unless I'm misunderstanding, I've read here that these factory barrels can be next to impossible to remove. It would be nice if I bought a new CZ 22Hornet donor rifle and the unfired barrel could be resold for me to recoup some of my cost. (guessing an unfired CZ 22Hornet factory barrel should be worth $90 ...?)

If I'm having a new custom barrel installed by a smith, then it has to be removed anyway. Can it be removed in mint condition for good resale, (as have my new Remington 700 barrels) is the question.

Any smith worth his salt should be able to remove that barrel without buggering it up...…

Aaron

A good gunsmith can take them off, just as well as one put them on. Bill K :)

Why not just buy the action?

Thanks guys for your input. Perhaps the complaints I read on this forum about how stuck the CZ barrels normally are factory installed onto the receiver and needed to be cut off was commentary by shade tree smiths or home based enthusiasts who have attempted it themselves and they don't do it professionally for a living. ;)


Because it's easier to buy a CZ 527 Hornet already made with a beautiful wood stock. Bedding and perhaps minimal inletting for a slightly larger barrel is the max stock modification and finishing I care to do. I am currently working on a Rem 700 221 Fireball, and the CZ Hornet is my next project which gives me time to casually shop for a nice CZ specimen. I'm very fussy about choosing a nice color & grain on my wood rifles, so am glad I have time to look around. Thanks. :)

As I recall from posts from several years ago, it is helpful to carefully use some heat to remove/break-down the adhesive on the threads. Note that I have not done it, as both of my 527's shoot really well from the factory.

In m experience they are VERY tight. I watched a local smith remove one for me and I cringed at the force applied through a cheater into the vice bolted to a steel post mounted in the concrete floor. I think the trick is not messing up the receiver; the barrel is much easier to replace. Without special tools, I think the way to do it is cut off the barrel with a stub exposed, then mill a slot in the stub to relieve the tension, collapse it and unscrew it.

Remington seems to put glue on the threads. The CZ had no glue.

Thank you flyrod! Your reply is an example of the kind of difficulty that I was referring to. I guess I'll ask the smith about this when I go looking for one.

I really do not think your request is too far out of line of pulling the existing barrel off(oem or not) unscathed. Technique/materials is key.

I too have grown up reading about Mauser actions/barreled being separated with great duress, one hears of heat; adhesives, machining sacrificial pieces(barrel shoulders). In context, most these Mausers have not seen the light of day for 80 years, rust/corrosion creeps up one might say. Odd how power equates to different people, some think 80ft/lbs is a terrible amount, others don't.............instruments can help that. Static torque and impact torque are two different things.

Most of the Remington 700's in the last couple of decades feature an adhesive for some reason, most adhesives break down at 250-300F. I personally disdain at more heat than that; too easy to let the heat get away from you.

In talking with a couple of current guys, they frown with Browning and some other Asian actions(Howa was mentioned as tight in this limited conversation fwiw). Guess one never knows until you fit the stuff up and lean on it a little. Some Kroil or likewise seems always to help.

Oddly enough, barrel torque used to kinda be like torque on a flywheel; stout, but I think that is changing to less. I was counseled early on that about 80-90lb was about right with a nominal 1" 16 thread, anti-seized shank. I still keep that relative number for hunting rifles but less for target/varmint rifles fwiw.

I am not sure but not too sure of a governing faction managing what a Gunsmith is here in the US or not. Several schools in Pa and Colo; but know little about them other than some of the old smiths that are now instructors there.

Some of the things I would like to know about the guy doing barrel work: Most guys come with close trusted references, so some is overkill.

Has he done one of these before? not just "a" barrel, but this type of action/barrel?

Hopefully that the CZ has some length of straight taper to clamp onto strongly. Some like Remington 700 std taper is fully tapered and tough to hold without specific barrel blocks. Obviously the straight taper block is easier to make up than the angled one.............both are boring bar/and or reamer, but one has to get the angle or slope.............right for a close fitment.

In the old days, folks would use babbit, kinda like an alloy lead; well; but not seen it for a while myself. Lead shim are an asset, but all in all, really down to it a closely fitted barrel (aluminum or steel based)bushing is it.

With that said on some really complex barrel exterors, the aluminum or steel bushing can be cut oversize, and then cast inside with a Brownell's type epoxy, steel bed comes to mind with the usual cautions on what is glued...where.

If all the guy has is a "V" vise and a rear entry wrench...........might wanna think about moving on. The better supported the barrel and action is...........the better the result for a lot of view points. There are guys that can handle a rear entry port action wrench........correctly......but usually are super experienced and stout boys themselves. Most will only use a rear port wrench on a lightly torqued action/barrel.

ha a cz527 22h rebarelled to 17 hh no bother at all bigges problem my smith faced was milling a grove for the extrator as his vice was a bit broken but gun is way more capable than i am