last year I had a trip to the deer lease with the family and we were shooting .22's at old (expired since like 2001) diet coke cans making them pop and some balloons and other reactive targets. So anyway, the gun that my MITE was on got about a brick put through it and due to dinner being ready and other stuff going on, I forgot to break open the mite after shooting and so it became sealed. I tried various things, like those parts washers that are used for cleaning guns, soaking it in various oils and every time if failed to come apart. So, I resigned myself to just filling it up and sending it to Liberty for a recore eventually and I also purchased a SS Sparrow (thanks to the Major for the great deal on that too!), that I am still waiting the form 4 to be approved for.

In the meantime, I would occasionally shoot with the MITE and so probably put another 250 rounds or so through it (750ish total without taking it apart)

I was watching a Liberty Can video and he suggested the "Bob Marvel Custom Oil". I bought two bottles here and ended up with this oil now called MFR7 oil. So I got the old and took the MITE and stood it on end with the blast baffle pointing up, I filled the blast baffle with the old and stood the can on a paper towel. The next day I could see the oil had penetrated to the bottom and leaked onto the paper towel. I repeated this for a few times a week for a month or so.

I took the can to my Dad's house, because he has a vise on his work bench, and wrapped the can in a paper towel to protect the finish and put it in the vise. I used a set of channel locks on the take down tool for better leverage and it eventually popped. At first the movement was only about a 1/4 inch back and forth but I kept working it and it eventually came undone!!!

It was caked pretty good with carbon and alot of it I was able to tape the core and it fall/flake off, but I could see that the MFR7 oil had soaked into the carbon and softened the carbon enough so I could take the MITE apart. I cleaned the MITE and then realized I forgot pics for ARFCOM, so no pics . It could probably use a nother good cleaning, but I will wait for my soda blaster experiment for that .

BUT I just wanted to give the thumbs up on that oil and say I GOT MY MITE APART!

Did you put anti seize on the threads before you put if back together?

yes, I used the stuff that came with it. I put it on the threads and everywhere on the baffle stack that touches the tube, like I did before it got stuck shut.

Next time put the tool in the view. It let's me grab on the can better. It you can't get a grip try wrapping it.in.rubber bands tightly. The last thing I want to do is put my can in a vise.

Got any info on your soda blaster idea?  I'm looking to do something similar with my AL Sparrow

This. I took my mite apart Sunday after several hundred rounds. Did not want to budge until I put the tool in the vise, locked down hard, put the can on it and could really get some torque on it because I could grab the whole can and got it free using just my hands.

strap wrench would probably be useful too

Anti seize will NOT deal with the real problem here - lead / carbon buildingup on the can walls that will not allow the monocore to turn in side the tube with the factory providede "wrench."  In fact, even with anti-seize you run the risk of wringing the end cap apart from the monocore, or even damaging the monocore.

The real solution to the Mite, or any similar monocore design is to unthread the core after each use, while still warm.  (Don't even need to pull the monocore out of the tube - just unthread. ) This will break up the carbon / lead before it has a chance to harden. If you are shooting a whole brick during a single session, pause to unthread the Mite after every 200 rounds or so, re-thread together, and keep shooting.

Using this method, I don't use anti-seize anymore, and can use the can many times in between cleanings.  My Mite always comes apart very easily, with minimal effort. No vises, or rubber grippers or anything like that needed.

I actually tried the take down tool in the vise with a strap wrench on the can and a few other methods that all failed. That was prior to be soaking it with the MFR7 though too. I was really concerned with the can in the vise and was afraid I would crush it, so I was very careful to not torque down the vise with out trying to turn the take down tool, if the can still spun in the vise, then I would tighten it down a little more. That process took some time to get the vise tight enough to keep the can from spinning in the vise and not crush the can. The take down tool does not really lend itself to applying a lot of torque by hand because it is round and not very big.

I plan on using this can more sparingly, meaning I will shoot it about 150 to 200 times before breaking it open and then continue.