Hands-On: Short Action Customs Barrel Vises

[@benwagner4770]

I got the Bravo vise when it first came out. I’m a hobbyist, so I’m not changing barrels very often, and the minor inconvenience was worth saving some money. The Arca base is awesome.

[@Millertime118]

Been using the Bravo vise for some time. It is hard mounted to bench no need for the extra expense of the arca mounting plate. Great vise I highly recommend it. I don’t torque the bolt just use a normal Allen key as tight as I can get it and use a breaker bar to remove the actions not the torque wrench.

[@TBstr8nsty]

Thank you so much. I have learned so much about smiting reloading and products from watching you channel for years now. I've never commented but just know your work is very much appreciated.

[@RMM--uv7uk]

Definitely use a breaker bar to Loosen. Don't use the torque wrench to loosen objects. It throws the calibration off. Very nice set-up.

[@tartredarrow]

Depends on the wrench. I have torque wrenches that will only "click" when you tighten them. So you can use them loosen stuff. I still dont lol, but you can.

[@kc751R]

Yup, that's 101 stuff

[@bruceinoz8002]

@@tartredarrow Especially if you are re barreling old Mil-Surp stuff like Lee Enfields. No 4s are often SERIOUSLY tight, what with rust, 70 years of fossilized oil and outrageous factory fitting torque. With those you also need TAPERED breech-reinforce / barrel blocks. Then, there are M1 / M1A barrels. and P-14 / M17 barrels. Definitely NOT for the faint-hearted or those lacking a really good 1/2" drive LONG "breaker bar". A good pre-soak in Kroil or similar is also a useful hint before leaning on the 6 foot "cheater-bar".. And keep an eye out for "obscure" lock screws and pins; traps for young players!

[@nikolausotto4504]

How would you measure breakaway torque?

[@marcbritten3681]

I'll take "Things my grandpa told me but aren't true for 1000 Alex"

[@machinist7230]

Kraft paper( or brown paper bags if you have it, same material) is an ooolllddd machinist trick for parts that slip in a vise under heavy machining forces 👍 Personally I like the hydraulic vise's like Wilcox, or for those of us with a Hydraulic press, just buying the oak blocks from Brownells, add some rosin and it wont slip for anything

[@markl6769]

+1 on 20t press.

[@5010tomcat]

I bought the Bravo SAC vise to remove a Tikka 3X barrel, The SAC Action tool was not adequate to remove the old barrel. I had to use a Remington 700 Action wrench and inverted one side to have it against the flat side of the action. The SAC Bravo vise did not have enough grip to keep the barrel from spinning, the solution was to put it on a bench press to push the center of the barrel, other than that it worked pretty good with the provided shims. It worked well to install the new barrel with SAC Action tool and SAC vise plus torque wrench.

[@retirednobaddays456]

Why do I need at tool that requires an ARCA base????

[@user-yr1dp7kr8g]

Save some money and get a breaker bar to remove the action. Not to mention the fact that many torque wrenches are designed to fasten and can be damaged by using them to loosen.

[@earlearl8850]

Correct

[@FrankieJames7]

No, after you do that you put the torque wrench back in your coworkers toolbox and say you never touched it

[@nikolausotto4504]

How do you measure breakaway torque?

[@user-yr1dp7kr8g]

@@nikolausotto4504 who cares what break away torque is. Break away torque will be higher than tightening torque if it has been sitting for any period of time.

[@nikolausotto4504]

@@user-yr1dp7kr8g there are a lot of different uses for breakaway torque and that is why torque wrenches are made to go both directions. It also doesn't tighten over time either unless you don't care of your stuff and it corodes

[@fcrum]

After watching the video I'm getting the modular one, I have tuners on all my rifles and this will be much simpler to change barrels, yes, I leave a tuner on each barrel until the barrel "expires"!

[@williamgaines9784]

You could make a barrel support out of a block of wood with a V notch and glue some leather or felt into the notch to avoid marring, then you wouldn't need to hold the free end of the barrel while tightening/loosening the vise.

[@LunaRendezvous]

Why didn't you mount the arca so that the hex heads were facing you?

[@MrBoostin18]

If all your guns had a arca rail on the handguard you could slide the handguard into that arca plate to hold the gun vs a gun vise For cleaning

[@aeroderek]

Cut a V into a 2x4 at the right height to support the other end of the barrel

[@tonydamato4313]

I made vise similar to the bravo with two differences, I used studs instead of bolts and split collar inserts that are machined . 010" larger than the barrel instead of two piece inserts. I then do a single wrap around the barrel with paper from a magazine or whatever I have laying around and torque to 50 ft/lbs. Ive never had a barrel slip.

[@CREGHermosa]

Great video and vises. Get a digital Snap-on torque wrench to easily set torque settings.

[@bertkiefer]

I am trying to make the same plate you made to mount the vice to my table tracks. Could you let me know where I can get the hex screws you used to bolt the arch base to the plate? Do they come with the base and you just put them shorter or did you get your own hex screws. Any help would be appreciated.

[@TonyArion]

Gavin what go no go gauge is used for a 284 Shehane?

[@weswillis2491]

That bravo vise looks nice. I'm interested but I already have an orange vise with area 419 jaws.

[@Whizzo333]

Eee gadz.....no Aeroshell 64 (33) ? 😂

[@CplSkiUSMC]

Not a horrible price. Building bolt action rifles is going to be on par with building ARs. My next bolt gun will be a custom personal build I think... maybe .300 PRC if brass ever becomes available.

[@marks-story]

Like to see it work on Revolver barrels, (S&W 357 6" Barrel )

[@DanielReyes-hz1qk]

I think you're the only other person I've seen who uses the mil-comm stuff! 😂 Used some TW25B grease just about an hour ago now

[@CHenry1951]

Thanks for sharing, they are nice vices, but I'll keep the vise I have...............................

[@Tmgarrison1]

Im sure you know this by now but you can literally hand tighten those Terminus Zues actions and use the set screws to hold tension. I swap two barrels all the time at the range and have had really good luck with the Zues.

[@Ben-uf3dc]

There are 2 different options for the Terminus Zeus. A quick change and a full tenon.

[@BackwardTravisty]

I have a Ruger American Ranch in 300B that I want to switch out the barrel for 300 HAM'R. I can build an AR in my sleep, but I've never switch a barrel in a bolt action. I want to do it myself, but I don't know what I need. Hopefully this video helps me out.

[@kenkadatz629]

Hey great video, you don't need another torque wrench just buy a flex handle for removing the action

[@donfrea]

You custom build that table/work bench? How much would you sale one for and ship to 30034 zip code?

[@762xDevin]

Should be using a breaker bar to remove the action, not a torque wrench. Js. You can definitely fuck up torque wrench by applying more torque than the wrench is set to. Also, tho no one follows this (except for me), the proper way to torque is to slowly hit the click, then hold it for 3 seconds to allow the threads to catch up (which also mitigating over torquing). Not hating bc a lot of people (including myself, sometimes) does the same thing sometimes, just trying to help remove a variable which will theoretically improve accuracy.

[@fredchenze8676]

Definitely a nice setup, but a link would be nice

[@anon_laughing_man]

They literally cannot.

[@archangel20031]

So, double the price of most others out there is budget friendly?

[@buildhuntxplore]

Very cool 👍

[@sms9106]

Where's the discount code for watching your commercial, I am ready to buy.

[@tommyj7087]

Question for you on the grease vs anti-seize on the threads. I used anti-seize. Is that wrong or just different?

[@MF-ml8eh]

To all of those that said not to use the torque to loosen, They have a reverse switch for a reason, I use them to torque left handed fasteners.

[@delwynwheeler8687]

Does the process of torquing and removing a barrel stretch the threads so in time the barrel would be clocked different?

[@kassilewis5511]

Torquing threads to their specified torque (even under) does indeed stretch the threads, that is how threads retain their "tightness".(kinda like a spring ) But steel has a certain elasticity that when loosened the threads return to their original state. It's only when the threads are over torqued they can stretch beyond that elasticity limit and enter what is known as a plastic state and can no longer stretch or retract.( If you have ever tightened the heck out of a bolt to find it loose later down the road that is usually why)

[@laddbirch4356]

I have been using empty toilet paper rolls. They work great. Dry wall tape works great too.

[@brucegillespie654]

Yes it looks and works very well , I can only imagine the cost . In this day and age I want my hard earned money for components. My 4 bolt on a portable plate that I take to ranges and clamp to a bench to switch barrels works just fine

[@swamper2fly]

How and when is the head space set.

[@mikeseigel6566]

HS should be checked just after torquing the receiver onto the barrel

[@dobrzpe]

i don't get the arca-for-tooling love you have. as a rail under a rifle, arca is GREAT... but WHY for mounting to a bench? other than THIS vice, what else on earth would you even use it for??

[@vanguard6937]

How else is he supposed to advertise for SAC?

[@dobrzpe]

@@vanguard6937 no, i get that. "don't hate the player, hate the game", right? i still just don't understand the point of ARCA incorporated this way. why? why did SAC even *choose* to go this route? there's gotta be a point, and i'm missing it!

[@ShortActionCustoms]

@@dobrzpe we machines the ARCA dovetails for modularity between our product lines. For example if you use our final scope level and want to switch to a vise it a quick swap using the ARCA mounting base.

[@dobrzpe]

@@ShortActionCustoms wow you actually responded!! LOL! thanks. so i guess that answers my question - it's to switch between *ONLY* your scope level and these vices. again, don't get me wrong, the arca mounting system is great - just didn't know if there was a whole line of acra-mounted reloading presses, or acra-mounted monitor stands, or arca-mounted gun vises that i was unaware of...

[@keithadkins3682]

I will haft to add to other comments, a torque wrench that is not designed to be used counter clock wise is damaging to to torque wrench tube, I know the head has forward and reverse, but large selection of wrenches are clock wise, and the spring type your using also in storage needs set at 10% of max torque, ie 100lbs=10lbs that wrench needs set at during storage to keep calibration, not judging just passing on experience.

[@h.d.tobybradshaw1464]

It's a vise. A vice is the opposite of a virtue.

[@x-calibearusallc]

Yep

[@airborne350g]

I wonder who threaded those barrels…..😜

[@machinist7230]

Remington used to loctite barrels on.😵

[@larrydesantis9800]

Would have liked to see you mount these vises as intended, as opposed to your "very nice" custom attachment plate. And Arca???? why? Love the beautiful, high end SAC stuff, but I've got to say these are way overkill. Nether are not realistically better than my $60 Viper barrel vise, with barrel wrapped with masking tape, as opposed the the SAC's $275 and $385 price tag respectively.

[@markl6769]

Great review demo, Maybe not loosen w/torque wrench(can damage calibration) and bring torque wrench back to zero in between settings. Thanks for all your content always informative and interesting.

[@ghostdog662]

Keep your specific torque devices away from loosening fasteners

[@GName-q7n]

Why do reviews for products that can't be purchased? Both these presses are out of stock EVERYWHERE and have been for a long time. In fact most of SCA product are OUT OF STOCK. Looks to me like they are going out of business.

[@jumpboots101]

The "full kit" is what? $425 on SAC's website? Most pro shooters I know use the viper of the 21st century. The Viper runs for $60-70. That's a no brainer, unless you just love to spend $$$$.

[@kuronyan3006Ackley]

👍😃

[@tommcqueen3145]

👍

[@JohnThomas-gj2zg]

If I want a nice rifle build done I will let a very gun Smith to do it .....

[@gc641]

Shoots…..that was easy

[@warddanger]

everytime i watch a video of yours, not only do i end up spending money, but i always try hear you say your last name, you always mumble it and it trails off, what is your damn last name?

[@53HOTROD]

Never use a torque wrench to loosen. It will damage the torque wrench. Use regular tools to loosen.

[@marcbritten3681]

How do you torque left handed threads then?

[@PrecisionRifleNetwork]

Very nice. I just bought the “budget” option and then, what pops up in my YT feed? This vid. lol #alsostopfreakingtrackingmegoogle