Mossberg 146B Barrel Removal

JWilliams · February 9, 2015, 12:52 PM

Because I searched everywhere for some guidance on this and never found it, I am posting the procedure here for mankind. I had bought this good ol' Mossberg 146B at a gun show a few years back without looking at the bore and guess what, it was corroded badly. The rest of the gun was about 90% which was why I didn't bother, thinking that it had been taken care of. I guess it was stuck in a closet somehere for 40 years.

First of all, I could see that the barrel was pressed in because there were no threads on it where it was visible on the bottom of the receiver. To remove the barrel, the takedown stud has to come off as it serves as a big set screw. Mine was pretty tight and to keep from damaging it, I used a deepwell socket that fit pretty tight in the big hole where the mag tube goes through and then used a speed handle in the socket for leverage. I also soaked this with penetrating oil along with the barrel joint for 24hrs. Of course to get the take down stud off, you have to remove the magazine tube from the barrel (two screws) and the feeder tube which goes through the take down stud and is secured with a small set screw and has a screw head, not an allen. Once the take down stud is off you can plainly see the recess in the barrel bottom where the take down stud acts as a big set screw itself. A bolt guide welded to the inside of the receiver prevents a full size punch from being inserted through the back of the receiver to the breech, but I used a wooden dowel that was big enough to do the job as three wacks with a small ball peen and the barrel dropped out. I'm sure the oil helped,but it was not corroded, nor was it especially hard to knock out. So maybe this will help the next guy. I have a new barrel on the way from Numrich as we speak. I had one of these many years ago and it outshot everything everybody else had at the time. It is getting ready to again.

Dixie Gunsmithing · February 9, 2015, 02:41 PM

These are actually a good rifle. The only weak part is the plastic grip-trigger guard that was bad to crack.

At one time, you could get these through the CMP, and they had a good set of peep sights on them.

A good majority of .22 rifles barrels are pressed in, and held by pins or a set screw of some sort. The only one I can think of that screwed in was the Winchester 52, unless there are some Mauser-type trainer variants, or some from Anshutz.

gunnut69 · February 11, 2015, 02:10 AM

The Winchester 69/69a, 75, and many others are also screwed into place.

February 9, 2015, 12:52 PM	#1
JWilliams Junior Member Join Date: February 7, 2015 Posts: 1	Mossberg 146B Barrel Removal Because I searched everywhere for some guidance on this and never found it, I am posting the procedure here for mankind. I had bought this good ol' Mossberg 146B at a gun show a few years back without looking at the bore and guess what, it was corroded badly. The rest of the gun was about 90% which was why I didn't bother, thinking that it had been taken care of. I guess it was stuck in a closet somehere for 40 years. First of all, I could see that the barrel was pressed in because there were no threads on it where it was visible on the bottom of the receiver. To remove the barrel, the takedown stud has to come off as it serves as a big set screw. Mine was pretty tight and to keep from damaging it, I used a deepwell socket that fit pretty tight in the big hole where the mag tube goes through and then used a speed handle in the socket for leverage. I also soaked this with penetrating oil along with the barrel joint for 24hrs. Of course to get the take down stud off, you have to remove the magazine tube from the barrel (two screws) and the feeder tube which goes through the take down stud and is secured with a small set screw and has a screw head, not an allen. Once the take down stud is off you can plainly see the recess in the barrel bottom where the take down stud acts as a big set screw itself. A bolt guide welded to the inside of the receiver prevents a full size punch from being inserted through the back of the receiver to the breech, but I used a wooden dowel that was big enough to do the job as three wacks with a small ball peen and the barrel dropped out. I'm sure the oil helped,but it was not corroded, nor was it especially hard to knock out. So maybe this will help the next guy. I have a new barrel on the way from Numrich as we speak. I had one of these many years ago and it outshot everything everybody else had at the time. It is getting ready to again.

February 9, 2015, 02:41 PM	#2
Dixie Gunsmithing Moderator Emeritus Join Date: April 27, 2013 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,923	These are actually a good rifle. The only weak part is the plastic grip-trigger guard that was bad to crack. At one time, you could get these through the CMP, and they had a good set of peep sights on them. A good majority of .22 rifles barrels are pressed in, and held by pins or a set screw of some sort. The only one I can think of that screwed in was the Winchester 52, unless there are some Mauser-type trainer variants, or some from Anshutz. Last edited by Dixie Gunsmithing; February 9, 2015 at 02:54 PM.

February 11, 2015, 02:10 AM	#3
gunnut69 Member Join Date: June 23, 2013 Posts: 40	The Winchester 69/69a, 75, and many others are also screwed into place.