Oh... I've done it now! Shotgun choke problem...

GC,
If you have access to an electric or compressed air impact ratchet see if you can cobble together an extention that will fit into the choke tube with a hole crosswise. Then insert the rod you were using through the tube and the extention. The idea is not to force the tube off but to adjust the impact setting low enough for a continuous impact counterclock wise to help loosen the two.
 
Thanks for the input guys, I really appreciate it. The good news is nothing is bulged. I ran it by a machine shop where there is a fellow I know who is an excellent master machinist and pretty darn good hobby gunsmith. He miked and miked and then had some gizmo that he ran in and around the choke and barrel that measured runout and inconsistency. Everything is concentric and there is no bulge. Thank goodness!

I got some advise above that got me thinking, I did apply heat to the wrong part, ect... I explained all this to this guy and I left the barrel with him. He tells me he will give it his best shot and thinks he can seperate the two without damaging either one. The worst case scenario he tells me is that the choke may be damaged upon removal.

I'm supposed to pick it up tomorrow and I'll let ya'll know how it turns out. Looking over the post above I see I'm not the only one to suffer this malady. Let me tell you, I immediately unscrewed all the other chokes out of my other shotguns! I'm feeling a little more hopeful, I was pretty down when I made the original post. I'll keep ya posted...
 
GC,

I think most of us have had similar things happen at one time or another.
Either with shotgun chokes, Dan Wesson barrels, or the like.
One of the methods I've used in the past was to insert the choke/barrel nut wrench in the barrel as if you were going to remove it normally.
I then (depending on the gun) placed the muzzle with the wrench inserted, directly against the side of my bench. With the wrench handle up where I could give it a whack, and holding the gun muzzle tightly against the bench, I'd do just that, and after a sharp tap or two, it'd usually come loose.
With a shotgun length barrel, it was better served to leave the barrel on the gun and have someone else push the muzzle (with wrench in place) against the bench while you tap the end of the wrench.

If I thought that it was going to be "iffy" at best, I'd heat the barrel end below where the bottom of the choke's end sits inside the tube, and with the muzzle pointing up, allow the heat to travel through it's normal path, upwards through the barrel. This will (at first) loosen the barrel's grip on the choke tube, but if continued for any length of time, it'll transfer to the choke tube as well. Apply a goodly amount of heat, and then immediately immerse the muzzle end into a coffee can half full of penetrating oil. Oil high enough in the can to completely cover the choke and threaded area of the barrel. Light penetrating oil only...no regular oils.

The heat will draw the oil up into the threaded area of the choke, and with the other method mentioned, or between the two, hopefully you'll have some luck there.

Working as a mechanic most of my life, I've used this method on everything from ball joints, to stuck screws and guns. Sometimes it takes a couple of shots, but it'll work.

Good luck,
Bob
 
I always use Permatex anti-seize compound on choke tubes. Just a little dab 'l do ya. I also clean tubes and reapply at the end of each season.

The oldest set of tubes I have are on a Marlin 120 circa '77. Never had a problem.
 
Yeah, I second the motion on applying the heat to the outside..you want to expand that part. You might try following the PB Blaster treatment with a shot of CorrosionX..tap tap tap I like too, and one more thing that has gotten me out of more than a couple bad jams is to put steady pressure on it and don't let up..hard pressure, unrelenting, and give it time, like a couple minutes. Things that wouldn't yield to momentary pressure have given it up this way for me. My kid was impressed, being stronger than I, [used to kinda wreck my bad shoulder though].

Hope you get it.

NF
 
Last edited:
GC, hope everything works out for you. It could be worse! You could have a sorry choke stuck in the barrel that don't shoot anything well! I am going to check all my tubes now that you have brought this up.
 
Well, an update is in order. I got my barrel back today and it's good. The threads aren't buggered and there is no damage or bulging. All my chokes screw in smoothly with no tight or loose places. The chrome plated bore of the Benelli is worth the cost, there is no rust in the threads or barrel that either of us can detect. I can't see any external marks where he clamped the barrel up. All's good there, much, much, better than I expected.

The Kick's choke isn't too horribly buggered either. He made some sort of long handled toothed tool to engage the ports, soaked the barrel/choke in Kroil, applied slight heat, and used a slow speed impact tool with a mandrel inside the choke tube to vibrate it as he applied pressure to unscrew it. He said it was tight, tight, then suddenly broke free and turned out as smooth as you please! He put the teeth of his tool into the ports I had been using with my steel rod so there were only a couple of ports affected by the wrenching process. He said that there were a couple of raised burrs which he polished out and some surface scratches which I had made already. The guy cold blued the scratches on the exterior and they aren't too bad looking. The interior is slick and polished nicely. The choke screws into the threads smoothly and seems like it's good to go.

I'm going to take it to the range this weekend and shoot it to make sure it is as it was and still shoots as well as before. I think I got very, very, lucky overall. He charged me $40.00 and I'll tell ya, I didn't mind paying that one bit. That's the cost of being dumb... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Great Im glad to here you got it taken care of. I told ya. Good ole impact or tapping.Sounds like that guys good at his work. Again glad to hear it, I was hoping you would let us know.
Daryl P.
 
I thought I knew how to unstick things. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif Reading this post has been a real education. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif A big thanks to everyone. I am sure that I aint the only one who learnd something. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
Frank
 
I really don't know why the choke was stuck so tight. That's a bit of a mystery to me. There isn't any rust that I can see on the choke or in the threads of the barrel. It's like it was vapor locked or something. I thought for sure it was actually rusted in, but it wasn't that I can tell. There is some discoloration about two threads wide on the choke tube. However, it doesn't look like rust, more like old gummy oil or something like that. I thought it was the white grease I had put on there six years or so ago to prevent this from happening. That perhaps it's just old and lost the white color. I don't know, I do know I'm feeling much better now than I was a week ago. Except...

My luck's still with me. Now I have a DVD stuck in my computer and the tray refuses to come out to eject the DVD. Oh boy... wonder if the gun guy machinest can work on CPU's? Crap... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif
 
Have you tried File Manager? Go to My Computer or Windows Explorer. Right-click the drive letter representing your CD/DVD drive and hit Eject. If that don't work, it's time to break out the pry bars! LOL

Glad it worked out on the Benelli. I'm REALLY looking forward to your hevi-shot range reports.
 
Quote:
My luck's still with me. Now I have a DVD stuck in my computer and the tray refuses to come out to eject the DVD.



Thats good you got the choke out. For the computer, just stick a pin in the little manual eject hole.
 
GC, don't forget the Permatex Anti Sieze lube when you put your new chokes in. I've used this stuff in an industrial setting (2200 degrees F and lots of dirt) and never had it fail to allow an easy disassembly. It's much better than any other lube of this type for this purpose, so it should work quite well for your shotgun. MI VHNTR
 
one other thing you might want to use is balistol lube. it is something that just came out i think. but we use it where I work(machine shop) and it is great for disolving rust. it actually eats it away. normally when a customer somes in with a part that needs to come apart we soak it in that. normally it doesn't take much.
 
GC,
I don't think that you are dumb. That can happen to anyone. I remember Mark Banser telling me a long time ago that they recommended their choke tubes be hand tightened only. No wrench used. It seems to me that it would be good idea to get in the habit of loosening the choke tube just a bit and then tighten again. Doing that every time we went out with the scattergun would probably lessen the chances of choke tube freezing up on there. Just a thought.
 
Back
Top