Krag barrel installation

[Jason60chev]

Hello Krag Friends,

Just HOW and with what tool/Receiver wrench does one install a Krag barrel which still has the front sight base and blade installed?

Have seen two wrenches....one at Numrich, which doesn't look like it will fit over the front sight. Have queried them

and

One on Ebay, which does not have a protrusion for the notch on the underside of the receiver.

Thanks for your input.

[FredC]

I lent a custom receiver "clamp" and barrel clamp to the "Galvinator" and his barrel was very tight compared to mine. You can see my clamp and barrel tools in this thread: http://www.kragcollectorsassociation.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1450216996
Because his barrel was so much tighter and he did not strip the receiver of the gate/Magazine door the driving pin caused undue pressure and broke off the lug the door mounts on. He has since repaired the receiver and using another clamp reinstalled his barrel. He sent me photos, but I may not have the story completely straight. He is intending to post the details soon so watch for his reply. I will email the galvinator and make him aware of your question.


If you see something on Ebay it could be first class and well thought out or something that you will regret buying or trying to use.
If you want to post a link to the tools in question we can offer comments.

Jason,
Galvinator emailed back and will have time to post later this week. As a teaser I will include one of his photos. His is split also so it will go over any obstacles on the barrel.
His is made from a split shaft collar, costs less than $15.00, I think his was shimmed and bored to the correct size then the wrenching flats were added and a tapped hole for the "drive" screw.

[blfrankjr]

The Krag receiver wrench from Numrich will clear the military front sight base, not sure about the aftermarket or other non-Krag front sights used on Sporters. If you had a real tall sight blade you may have to remove the blade but you would anyway to get the upper band on.
The lug does all the work. The hole for the receiver ring is slightly oversize which allows a layer of tape around the ring to protect the finish. The shortcoming is there is no good way to attach a breaker bar in the shallow slot provided. I believe most use a large wrench on the body of the receiver wrench to do the job.
I don't have the wrench on Ebay with the aluminum inserts but I do have the vise he sells and it works very well. The aluminum collar for the barrel vise will not fit over the front sight base once the barrel has been installed though. Split the aluminum collar into two pieces before you clamp the barrel and it works fine.

[FredC]

We are still waiting for Galvinators's reply, but I would not put a wrench no matter how large on the Krag receiver. Some of the sections are very hard as well as thin. Having a split clamp to clear things you do not want to pull off and clamp directly on the front of the receiver is the right way of doing things.
The driving pin on mine set against a thick portion of the receiver when loosening and tightening. If I understood galvinator correctly his receiver broke because the driving pin pushed against the gate which he did not pull off and I did.
To use a wrench on the receiver could result in personal injury also. Fragments of those glass hard thin portions could fly. I had a tap explode just bringing tension on it, had not gotten enough torque to actually turn it. A piece hit me in the face quite hard.

[Doco Overboard]

I made one like this, works like a champ and I've used it a number of times with no problems.

[FredC]

I made one like this, works like a champ and I've used it a number of times with no problems.

Doco, one word of caution on your fixture. That lug you welded on make sure it bears mostly near the round part of the receiver. If the lug were to bear further away from the round part of the receiver, I could see it breaking the receiver especially if you get one as tight as Galvinator's.. I think he had to use a 4 foot cheater on his. Tightening force should be considerably less and the lug bears on the stronger portion of the receiver.
If after welding check with spot bluing, if it in needs correction a few swipes with a file should work.

[Doco Overboard]

Thanks for having a look at the picture I posted and following up with additional recommendations. Breaking out the side of a receiver would be a catastrophe and potentially dangerous with a sudden release of energy and I should have included the fact that this would work in a pinch or at least in a situation that would not require additional means of substantial leverage.

The tool that I made is probably not the best to select to use for all circumstances but up to this point I have not encountered a condition that would require the application of a cheater for the extra leverage. The original intent of the lug was to try and distribute leverage in a way that it is partially distributed inside and at an angle to the radius of the receiver.
In other words if the receiver was visualized standing strait up on the tang, some but not all of the leverage would be at 4 and seven o'clock. or at least enough to avoid the risk of damage. Maybe the pictures do not accurately depict the contact but it does occur to some extent.
I would imagine a picture of an arsenal tool that was originally used would be available but I could not locate anything to get a better idea to put something together that would at least work.