barrel bushing too tight to remove from slide?

Hi Folks,

Before I take a dowel and a mallet to this thing, I will seek your wisdom.

I bought a used RRA from a list member (shoots great, very happy).  The barrel to bushing fit is pretty tight, but I can
eventually get the barrel to move forward in the bushing while field stripping, with just hand strength.

It definitely needs a barrel wrench to turn the bushing and a fair amount of elbow grease.  Once the "bump" on the
barrel bushing is aligned in the cutaway of the slide, it still shows no signs of wanting to be removed (by hand).
Is there a good method of persuading the bushing to leave the slide?  I understand that a tight fit is a big factor in
accuracy, so I don't intend to do this too often (1x or 2x a year?). 

The gun is pretty filthy and I'd just like to get the grime out between the barrel and slide... I was saddled with alibis
at last weekend's match.   Hence part of my process is to clean the gun in these cases... mentally I feel like I did
something to make the problem go away and therefore I don't start shooting the gun next time expecting it to jam.

Thanks,
Doug

Use barrel like a slide hammer and pop the bushing out.
Jon

Thanks Jon.  I sort of tried that, but not too enthusiastically, shall we say? 

This is my first gun with a such a tight fit and thus I'm just being overly cautious that I'm not too aggressive with it.

Doug

I slide the barrel as far out as it will go. Basically stopped by bushing. Then holding slide in the left hand I place my thumb on the chamber and continue pushing while moving bushing back and forth with a plastic bushing tool. have to do it every time on my Gold Cup.

Len

I'm with Jon. Use the barrel as a slide hammer. Start off with repeated light taps and intensify if needed. The tightest bushing I've seen was on a fellow shooters RRA, I think it was too tight, it was an act of Congress getting it back in.

Check that gun for a sprung barrel, rra seems to think that’s the correct way to fit a bushing. Spring in barrel = vertical stringing

PM from the seller sent.

I'm the only one to pry the bushing out with the bushing wrench, using the dust cover as the fulcrum?

After removing the recoil spring & guide, I hold the slide/barrel upside down and move the barrel forward so that it contacts the rear of the bushing.  Gripping the exposed barrel with my left hand and applying pressure to the muzzle end of the slide with my left thumb, I tap on the rear of the lower lugs/feet repeatedly with an aluminum bushing wrench.

3 taps from the barrel usually pushes the EGW bushing 1/2 way out on my RO9.  I then twist the bushing back and forth while hand-pulling on the bushing until it is free of the slide.  I have no barrel spring.

Doug Tiedt wrote:Hi Folks,

Before I take a dowel and a mallet to this thing, I will seek your wisdom.

I bought a used RRA from a list member (shoots great, very happy).  The barrel to bushing fit is pretty tight, but I can
eventually get the barrel to move forward in the bushing while field stripping, with just hand strength.

It definitely needs a barrel wrench to turn the bushing and a fair amount of elbow grease.  Once the "bump" on the
barrel bushing is aligned in the cutaway of the slide, it still shows no signs of wanting to be removed (by hand).
Is there a good method of persuading the bushing to leave the slide?  I understand that a tight fit is a big factor in
accuracy, so I don't intend to do this too often (1x or 2x a year?). 

The gun is pretty filthy and I'd just like to get the grime out between the barrel and slide... I was saddled with alibis
at last weekend's match.   Hence part of my process is to clean the gun in these cases... mentally I feel like I did
something to make the problem go away and therefore I don't start shooting the gun next time expecting it to jam.

Thanks,
Doug

this video help me a Lot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2j2b21OGmU

I had this problem years ago, trying to remove a "hard fit" barrel bushing from a Les Baer Premiere II.  There is a great video on this on YouTube - if I remember right, just search for "remove hard fit barrel bushing les baer".  I'll try to find the video again, and post it here.

I eventually bought this "grip wrench", which has a part added on which can go "behind" the bushing for removal, or above the bushing for re-installation.  Works beautifully, even for me!

john bickar wrote:I'm the only one to pry the bushing out with the bushing wrench, using the dust cover as the fulcrum?

That's what i always thought the back end of the bushing wrench was for

I’ve been tapping out the bushing with the barrel on my PII for the last  20,000 rounds.