Gave the drawings I found another good looking over and inspected where the receiver and barrel mate again. It doesn't look like the barrel can turn at all until it is most of the way out of the receiver. There is a "tab" extending off the back of the chamber (rear part of the barrel) where the bolt locks. It fits in a groove in the top inside of the receiver with no play.

My buddy that owns the shotgun went camping last week, came back to town for a while, and then headed back to the woods. He may be back Tues - but I ain't betting on it. We worked on the shotgun a little; made no headway. He thinks we ought to go by "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I can't think of a good argument (other than I'm curious to see what the problem is). I'm going to keep spraying and banging until he gets back.

Too bad you can't pull the stock off and soak it in either WD40 or PB Blaster....:icon14:

Would immersing it do any more good than frequent sprays downs? The stock is off and the forearm is out of the way (can't get it all the way off until barrel comes off) and the only parts left in the receiver are the ejector and safety (all metal), so soaking the receiver is an option if it will work any better. Will have to find some bulk (non-aerosol) penetrating oil, but that shouldn't be too difficult.

At this point, it might. You would need a bucket deep enough to get the receiver/barrel joint submerged. You could then tap on it at your leisure, instead of trying to remember when it was last sprayed. If I had the spare time, I'd bring you the gallon of liquid WD 40 that I have.... I figure you are about a 5 hour drive from me...
:eekdance:

I guess I don't have anything to lose by trying it. If it works on the barrel, it may work on the threaded magazine, too.

The receiver is 8.125" long, so I will need at least 8.25" of oil. A Q&D measurement says a cut off bleach bottle may work but won't have much head room. Need to find a container that is smaller in diameter. A 12" welding rod can would probably work very well.

I tried heating it up with a hair dryer and then spraying the barrel with a can of compressed "air" turned upside down - still stuck. :(

Not many good highways between here and there. Or anywhere else. But lots of nice winding roads if one is in a sports car. :)

Update on Mossberg 500: Got some SeaFoam Deep Creep and sprayed everything down. The guy that owns the gun doesn't want to go to trouble/expense of immersing whole receiver in penetrating oil. Going to spray with Deep Creep for a few days and then fire a few rounds through the gun. If that doesn't unstick the barrel, he'll just live with it. Anyway, all the other parts have been cleaned/oiled and are ready for reassembly.

Finally! After much moaning, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, the barrel and receiver have been separated. :happydance: As I suspected, quite a bit of oxidation but no major pitting. I spent a few minutes scratching on the oxides with plastic gun picks and it looks like it will clean up well.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

The Mossberg 500 is back together and ready for test firing! :)

The bluing on the barrel is damaged by rust in several places. :( Any suggestions for repairing (or re-bluing)? More worried about rust prevention than looks. Hot dip and fuming processes are probably outside of my abilities/resources. Doesn't have to be bluing - just something to prevent rust.

DuraCoat might be an option. Little more complex to apply than regular spray paint but very much an easier DIY option when compared to re-bluing. DuraCoat sells DIY kits and there are plenty of tutorials videos on how to apply it. They also sell a coating called DuraBlue that is a spray on coating that replicates blueing.

https://www.duracoatfirearmfinishes.com

Interesting. Thanks for the lead.

Edit: They also offer DuraDize™ which is supposed to look like anodizing (for the receiver). Not sure my buddy will want to spend $100 to refinish his shotgun ($50 for the DuraCoat and $50 for the DuraDize). I may buy the stuff just to see how well it works. If I pay, I may have to order it in pink. :)

Almost forgot about Birchwood Casey Perma Blue. Definitely a little more involved than DuraCoat but it is much cheaper and is currently on sale on Amazon. :tup:

https://www.amazon.com/Birchwood-Casey-13801-Liquid-Blue

While doing some research, I ran across B-C's Super Blue. According to what I've read, it can be used to do touchups, is very easy to apply, is readily available (Walmart, etc), and cheap (about $10). Unless I run across something that sounds better, I think this is the way we will go.

The DuraCoat would probably a superior coating but the price is awfully high for an inexpensive "utility" gun (no collector/sentimental value).

Damn I just realized this was stickied. I cant believe it's been 10yrs since I first posted this and it's still going

Older pic. But it's my buddies 50 Beowulf https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8c5e5c673a.jpg

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk

Springfield/Savage 187H (.22 semi-auto) Review
 

It's a POS, IMNSHO. The firing pin is easy to break. Some of the screws are very difficult to get to with a screwdriver. And it's not an easy re-assembly job (I'm not sure one person could do it).

My buddy that has the Mossberg 500 we recently rebuilt inherited a Springfield/Savage 187H from his father several years ago. At that time it would not fire. Took it apart and found that the firing pin was broken. Replacement pin (used) was easy enough to acquire but, while researching, found out that this is a common problem with the 187H, especially if dry fired. Ended up buggering some of the screw heads because of the position they were in (bought a set of gunsmithing screwdrivers afterwards to try and avoid that problem in the future).
Skip forward a few years and, after sitting in the back of a closet, the 187H was quite dirty and starting to rust. Being the OCD bastard that I am, I volunteered to strip it back down and give it a good cleaning/oiling. Big mistake. We have finally got it back together and test-fired but it took several tries and a lot of cussing. Bought some silicone impregnated socks for future storage of the Mossberg 500, the 187H, and another gun that we cleaned up.

I keep all my guns in a gun safe with a Golden Rod turned on all the time. This keep moisture away. Before I put a gun away in the safe. I make sure it's oiled up. If you don't have a safe. Oil up every part of the gun and use the silicone socks to completely cover them. If you have gun cases. Put them in there after putting socks on them. :tup: About every 6 months. I will check and reoil them. I do it with the changing of the clocks.