New Thompson Barrel Removal/install tool

[Connor]

First post. 
I recently inherited my grandfathers unfired 16” Civilian semi auto Thompson. Naturally, I wanted to SBR it, so I E-filed a form 1 and got approved in 4 weeks. I then ordered a 10.5” barrel, front sight post, and horizontal hand guard from Apex. I found this forum after doing some research on removing the original Thompson barrels. Although I found some good information on removing old barrels, it didn’t sound like there were too many makers of the jigs and barrel vises. I also read in another post that one of the main guys that made the barrel jigs died. I watched a few of his YouTube videos and decided I would make my own barrel vise due to the availability and cost of existing vises, most in the range of $250.
 

I am posting this for educational purposes in case there are folks out there interested in building their own barrel “wrench”. I am also happy to build one of these wrenches for forum members for $150. 
 

The wrench worked great for removing the 16” finned barrel that was on my Thompson. It was almost too easy. Once it’s broke free, I had to RR lock the wrench a few times but was eventually able to spin it off by hand.
 

One design element I incorporated was maximum barrel surface area contact. The tubing section that makes contact with the ~1.00” barrel section is as long as it can be without hitting the post on the hand guard mount.

 

the construction was with common materials including .995” inner diameter X .062 wall steel tube, 1/4” steel plate. The design was completed in solidworks, laser cut at a local fab shop, and welded at home. I used the remainder of the steel tube to extend the handle. 
 

The premise of the design is to use clamping force to remove the barrel or to tighten a new one. I cut a slit down the 4” section of tube with an angle grinder so there is roughly an .080 gap that can be clamped together. My old and new barrel are roughly .995 in OD but this should also work with barrels that have smaller diameters As the clamping force will force the tube to conform to the barrel. 
 

Please check out these photos and let me know if you have questions on building something similar or if you would like to purchase one of mine. 

Thanks for looking. 

[TennesseeTimmy]

Nice job.

Thanks for posting.  Timmy.

P.S. Welcome to the forum.

Edited November 19, 2023 by TennesseeTimmy

[peter kohler]

very nice    welcome to the fourm

[anticus]

Impressive 

[Jimbola23]

Connor
 

I am very interested in this! How do you go about buying one? Also, how did you get the front sight on/off? Also the compensator on/off. I want to take this sight off and put on a compensator. I have another Thompson that has a 16” barrel that I want to SBR. 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Jimbola23

[Connor]

Hey @Jimbola23, 
the front sight and comp come off with one roll pin. They should come off as one piece when you have the cutts comp. You’ll need a set of punches. 
 

you will also need to match drill a hole on your new barrel through the existing hole on the front sight once the new barrel is installed in order to reinstall the roll pin. 

Thanks for your interest in the wrench. I’ll send you a DM about purchasing. 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Connor

[Jimbola23]

I did take the pin out, but the front sight still won’t budge. Any tips or do you know of a video?

[Rekraps]

Yet another excellent craftsman at work! 

[shadycon]

DON'T FORCE IT! Use a bigger hammer! 🔨 🙄🤐

[Connor]

I am very happy to be shipping these barrel wrenches out this week. Thanks for the support thus far!

Let me know if you are interested in a barrel wrench! One of these was an extra and is for sale. 
 

[H2munitions]

I'd like to purchase one. PM inbound.

[Babyface Nelson]

I too would be interested in purchasing.

[Connor]

7 hours ago, Babyface Nelson said:

I too would be interested in purchasing.

Thanks for your interest as well. Just sent you a DM 

-Connor

[K Squared]

Make that 3 wrenches.

I'd like one as well.

And, what did you do to protect the barrel from scratches?

K Squared

[Connor]

5 hours ago, K Squared said:

Make that 3 wrenches.

I'd like one as well.

And, what did you do to protect the barrel from scratches?

K Squared

Right on. I’ll shoot you a DM. 
 

personally, I didn’t use anything to protect the barrel on my project. The I.D of this wrench is .995. You could use some painters tape which is about 5 mils if you have a barrel that is closer to .985. My barrel ended up being .995 on the money so I didn’t use tape and I didn’t end up with any concerning witness marks. 

[mtvfiremedic]

Did you just spin the new barrel on ? Are there torque specs? I'm interested in a barrel wrench or if anyone in East TN wants to repurpose theirs to share costs - 

[TennesseeTimmy]

From what i have seen on this and other sites, there is no numeric torque spec.  As it was explained, once the barrel snugs up to the receiver, there is virtually no “give”, so torque required to snug it further goes off the scale.  You just have to get it “tight enough”

Im sure Deerslayer or someone knowledgeable will weigh in with a better explanation

Good luck, Timmy

[68coupe]

The vintage M1/M1A1 barrel that I bought many, many moons ago (long before I ever had a Thompson), has a witness mark which aligns with the witness mark on the receiver. It was a real chore to get it torqued to the witness mark. So, "German torque", AKA, "good-n-tight". LOL. I recently purchased a vintage ribbed barrel to replace that one with, I'm gonna have to do it again in the near future. It also has a witness mark on it. They both look struck, rather than cast into the shoulder. Both are NOS, and appear to have never been installed on a firearm, as there is no comp pin drilling. I have to wonder how the witness marks were made. Several ideas pop into my head, but I won't bore y'all with them.

Karl, 68coupe

[Connor]

23 hours ago, mtvfiremedic said:

Did you just spin the new barrel on ? Are there torque specs? I'm interested in a barrel wrench or if anyone in East TN wants to repurpose theirs to share costs - 

As far as I know there is no torque spec for Thompsons. There might have been from the factory… 
Found this quote from reconbob in another barrel install /removal thread here on the forum - “

The square thread of the Thompson can't be torqued very far once the shoulder of the barrel hits the receiver. Once the shoulder hits, maybe you can turn the barrel 1/8" and then it just won't go much farther.

Unlike a V thread where once the shoulder hits you can torque the barrel maybe 1/4" or more.

So when you barrel a Thompson you can turn it on as tight as you can before your barrel wrench starts to slip.

Bob” 

 

[Connor]

I just posted a quick tutorial video on YouTube on using this wrench. I know I am a visual person and it makes way more sense watching the video than it does following the instructions that I send with each wrench. 
 

I know there are other wrenches out there, such as the Doug Richardson wrenches, which I believe have more pieces and they are machined out of a block of tool steel. No doubt those wrenches are more solid. I developed these new wrenches to be a cost effective alternative to Doug’s awesome and proven design. 
 

Some pertinent info:

- This wrench will work with

       - finned or non finned barrels.
       - barrel diameters from .970-1.005. 
       -1927, 1928, M1A1 receivers  

Reach out with questions or comments. 
 

 

[GoodBunnyKustoms]

Hey guys,

Tool looks cool!
 

I wish I saw this earlier last month as I was looking for info how to remove and replace the barrel for my SBR (eForm approval in 3 DAYS!)

I actually ran across a post from 2012 where a guy passed along a way using a wire rope with clear plastic sleeve that is used for a dog runner. The other comments were laced with doubt and concern, but it worked like a charm!

Basically you:

1. secure the receiver in a vise or hydraulic press (as to not damage the receiver or put undue stress around the ejection port). I used a couple pieces of steel and leather scraps to hold the front end of the receiver. Don’t press too hard.

2. Tightly wrap the wire rope around the barrel about 5-6 times as close as you can to the bar for the foregrip and leave an open loop to slide in a breaker bar (I used a crow bar). I had a helper hold one end of the wire rope as I tried to wrap without much slack. 
 

3. Once you’ve got the bar in rotate like turning a tire iron. It’ll take about a full turn to tight up the ropes grip and then shortly after the barrel loosens up easily. No scratches, not a lot of torque just needed to break the loctite.

4. For the new barrel to screw on, it’s basically reverse process. Hand tighten, wrap wire rope other direction and tighten back up.

I also found the US Army Tech Manual for the 1928 made back in 1942. The manual said to place in a vice, wedge a block of wood in the receiver and use a strap wrench.
 

I paid $15 for the wire rope in the pet aisle at Wal Mart!

[Connor]

Hey man, thanks for sharing. 

That is an interesting option. Is the barrel you put back on a finned barrel or un-finned? Only curious because I imagine a smooth Thompson barrel would have less friction with the wire leash than a finned barrel would. 

Im glad it worked for you but I too would have my doubts that it would always work. Not hating on the idea, it’s a cheaper option that might be worth trying. I will say it is nice having a dedicated tool that you know works every time. 

[Hummer998]

Conner, I would like to purchase a barrel wrench.  I am new to this board.  My email is ellismje@bellsouth.net. Please email details of getting one from you. Thanks Mike

[Connor]

Hey Mike. 
Welcome to the forum and thanks for you interest in the wrench. PM inbound. 
 

Edited April 8 by Connor

[Connor]

Another barrel wrench heading out to a forum member today and the raw material is in to finish a batch of wrenches later this week. Please email patriotfabanddesign@yahoo.com if interested! 
-Connor

Edited April 18 by Connor