By Jim
The Remington model 8 and 81 series semi auto rifles have been obsolete for a long time, but there’s still a number of them out in the hunting fields today. While there are a few gunsmiths around who can still service these old guns, a part I often see overlooked is the disassembly and maintenance of the barrel and barrel jacket which houses the recoil springs. The gun itself is a recoil operated semi automatic and this part of the gun is often overlooked.
We’ll start by unscrewing the threaded muzzle cap. Caution is advised doing this because the recoil spring in the barrel jacket is quite long and you could shoot parts off into space during disassembly.
Once these parts are removed, the barrel slides out from the rear of the jacket tube.
Here is a break down of the internal parts of the recoil assembly.
You’ll want to lay out the parts and clean them before reinstalling. A light coating of waterproof grease is advised on the buffer spring…. It’s the heavy wound coil spring that goes back inside the jacket tube first.
This is how the parts are reinstalled back on the barrel inside the gun. You want to install the buffer spring first, then the spacer, then the recoil spring in the jacket before slipping the barrel back into the rear of the tube.
Each spacer and toothed ring are barrel specific to the diameter of each caliber barrel. The large end faces forward towards the muzzle so the recoil spring nests inside.
This is the order the internal parts go back inside the jacket.
The splined spacer goes on the barrel with the teeth facing towards the muzzle cap. Note there is a spline on the inside of the ring that fits a slot on the barrel itself to keep everything in alignment.
The outer threaded ring goes over the splined spacer and screws into the threaded end of the barrel jacket.
The muzzle nut is screwed down until the muzzle of the barrel protrudes slightly past the nut, and the threaded ring is screwed into the barrel jacket until it’s tight.
The caliber is stamped into the barrel extension by the breech. Please note that the internal parts of the recoil assembly to include the recoil spring is specific to the caliber of the barrel. The diameters are all different on the outside of the barrels. The spacers and springs are not a one size fits all if you need to order replacement parts you need to specify what caliber your rifle is.
The barrel is reassembled to the receiver and test fired for function.
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