Hey guys,
I've a Rem700 that was put together by GA Precision.  I've made a deal to sell the gun, but the buyer isn't taking it with the AAC mount.  I'm assuming GA Precision installed it using Rocksett, since that is what AAC provides with the mount.

I've read that it's 'water soluable', but I've soaked this thing for a day, and it's still not breaking loose.  Right now, I've got it sitting in a water bath in the ultrasonic cleaner, with the heat turned on.  Since the rifle has been Ceracoated, I don't want to use a real barrel vise on it, as I'm sure it'll hurt the finish, but I do have an internal holding fixture that fits the rails and lugs of the Remington action.  But, I don't want to unscrew the barrel before the mount unscrews from the action.

Any other good ideas?

I thought it was boiling water...?

This worked great for me.


Also just dry if you hit the muzzle device with a torch for a bit to can probably wrench it off. It's not that strong

I thought boiling water was for loctite.  When I started my soak last night, I started it with boiling water, but I only let that soak for 10 minutes before trying to remove the brake.  When that didn't work, I went with the overnight soak.

I've clamped cerakote in vises before without hurting it with leather pads.

I use the Brownells barrel vise most of the time.  I use rosin, and if it's really a sticky situation, I'll use a wrap of newspaper.  I doubt leather would work good in there.  I've never tried on a ceracoted barrel before, and I'm almost afraid that the pressure on the finish would crack it.  I might have to give it a go, though.

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/general-gunsmith-tools/vises-accessories/barrel-vises/barrel-vise-prod41623.aspx

Honestly.  Whomever decided it was a good idea to use Rocksett on muzzle devices should be drawn and quartered.


Edit:  If you immerse the muzzle device in liquid nitrogen, the Rocksett will loose all of its adhesive strength.  I'm not trying to be moronic.  LN will work very well.

The liquid nitrogen is an interesting idea, but its not something easy for me to get.

Any other ideas?

I understand.  I had a friend with access to it.

The soaking work you have done should have effectively broken the adhesive bond.  On the assumption that you are fighting both the adhesive and quite a bit of torque, you might want to try dry ice.  It is only about -109 F, but still might give you some advantage in dealing with the torque.  (If you try it, please use some insulated gloves.)  I would guess you will still need a barrel vise.  I'm not sure it will work, but if I were you, I'd give it a try.

Have you asked GA Precision for any ideas?

Ive found that impact will break rocksett free.  Heat is not going to cut it unless you heat it to ludicrous temps.  I would secure the barrel in a vise with something to protect the finish.  Then put whatever wrench on the mount.  Smack the wrench with something. It usually breaks the rocksett free.

Yeah, smack the wrench with a rubber mallet, etc. That always works for me.

Dry Ice? Not quite as cold as LN2 but maybe enough to ease up the Rocksett?

I deal with this almost daily, boiling water for about 20 minutes, good fitting wrench and a whack with a deadblow on the wrench.
Works every time

I just removed an AAC mount with a 15” breaker bar and very little pressure. Rocksett isn’t hard to break loose at all.

Not hot enough.
Loctite comes in a number of grades, some requiring around 600 F.
Bearing staking grades, head bolt staking grades, etc.
Being a compound it does not have a single melting point.

The more common ones are around 400 F.
That is not generally considered a staking grade.

Even the lowest temp Loctite is way over 212F.

Rocksett is also way over 212F, it's also way over loctite. That's why it's used for silencer mounts.
However, Rocksett is water soluble. So, it will start to break down in contact with water. The hot water just helps it get in there to do its job.

That said, I've never had to use water for anything, just a proper application of torque and a proper barrel vise.

I've always whacked the muzzle device with a rubber mallet and they come right off. I don't use more than two drops of rocksett though.

I used a torch on a muzzle device once to get the rocksett loose.

I have broken quite a few muzzle devices free, a heat gun will usually get them hot enough to weaken the bond without any finish damage, where as a torch will sometimes change the color, regardless of sprayed on, parkerized or blued.

 Plenty of good tips here already, but yes, and impact shock is sometimes needed to break the bond. Clamp it in a vice with some padding, Use a chunk of hard wood as a cushion and smack it a few times with a nylon hammer, heat it up good then smack it again and then put your wrench on it. Make sure your wrench fits snug and smack the handle of that with a heavy rubber mallet or small chunk of 2x4, and it should pop right loose.

  I usually tape everything up first with 3M blue masking tape, and generally have zero or very minimal marking on anything really stuck I’ve broken loose. And you don’t need to beat the muzzle to death obviously, just a bit of a smack to cause a shock/vibration.

Good luck!

Oh P.S.- had an old ACR with god knows what holding a QD suppressor mount/brake on, that thing would NOT move. Ended up using the smallest and thinnest cut off wheels on the old Dremel to cut a groove over the threads, down as close to the threads as I felt brave enough, and extended it out the front to a port in the brake, and tapped a large tapered punch in that hole, which fortunately cracked the groove open and I was able to spin it off with the punch. It creaked all the way off even with PB blaster on it, but the threads were fine and in spec when all was done. Happy customer!