I'm attempting to remove a cut barrel from a Metford II action and I'm not having much luck. I have a proper custom action wrench and I visited a gunsmith with a hydraulic press barrel vise. I prepared with a Kroil soak and was stored in an unheated garage to mimic the freezer method. Unfortunately we are having a warm up and the action was approximately 10c/50f by the time we were ready. We successfully pulled a barrel without any of this prep work from an RTI Lee Speed with the equipment. Heat was applied to the receiver ring before wrenching. We were not able to get it to budge, and the barrel would spin in the press before the action turned. I would like to preserve the barrel because I know a martini builder who wants to buy the 18" stub. I will cut relief cuts and flats for wrench grasping if I need to, but was planning on selling the take off to recover some costs.
As an alternative, I was inspired by the tale of the sword in the stone, and was wondering if it was plausible to set the barrel in concrete to make a vice that grabs almost 100% of the outside surface, forms around the rear sight base and the chamber knox. The barrel could be wrapped in tape for protection, muzzle plugged, and upon removing the action, the concrete hammered away.
If it's tight to the point that I need to cut the barrel or cast a vice, how likely is the receiver to crack or otherwise be rendered unusable by removing the barrel, and what would someone who knows what they are doing do?