feed nipple removal ?

[Silvester17847]

I've got an old Nelson clone bore drop body, not sure which maker - NOT the Tracer with the under barrel cocking rod, NOT a Phantom.

I want to remove the feed nipple and close the opening without destroying the rest of the body.
I THINK the nipple is force fit into a square bottom hole, possibly with some sort of epoxy...

Thinking the nipple was surface mount, I tried using a heat gun to break the bond - no luck.
Realizing that the nipple is sunk into the body and probably a force fit, I tried heating the body on either side of the nipple to maybe get the nipple to slip out - no luck.

The body is aluminum, my buddy thinks it is a cast piece, my guess is extruded pipe - not sure it really matters.

If I lock the feed nipple in a bench vice (not crushing it!) and I use a propane plumbing torch to heat the body around the nipple will it ruin the body?
I know the anodizing will be ganked, but that isn't a big deal - I don't want to weaken the integrity of the body because I want to convert it to mag feed from below and thread it to receive Tippmann barrels.

What are my alternatives?

[Grendel]

I assume you are talking about the Right Feed Neck that you attach an elbow to for your hopper/stick feeds.

If you do not care about damage to the actual tube material for feed neck I have had good luck drilling a hole through the feed neck to insert a cross bolt then place the body in a vice with non-marking wood bocks that have a channel for your body, then use some ratchet strapping to thread around the bolt and attach somewhere frim.. Use the ratchet to place some firm pull on the feed neck and then apply heat with a head gun. A gentle tap with a non marring hammer to help break the bond. As you heat it increase the tension a little on the strap and pretty soon it will pop out.

[Silvester17847]

Grendel, that is genius!!

My bench vise needs a major rebuild, but I can cut a couple of pieces of 2x4 and bore thru holes for the marker and crank the vise down on the wood with no fear.
Attach the ratchet strap to a beam above the vice.

A couple very small holes in the feed neck shouldn't ruin it for future potential reuse and won't interfere with using it as a template for the replacement.

The heat guns I tried last night were cordless Milwalkies my buddy has in his shop where we do SCA rattan combat practice, but I have a corded model in the barn workshop.

Thank you!!

[netsurferdude2]

Are you sure that the feed neck isn't thread in the body? I ran into this issue when removing the feedneck from a Vector.

[Silvester17847]

Are you sure that the feed neck isn't thread in the body? I ran into this issue when removing the feedneck from a Vector.

It appears to shoulder over the body all the way around the joint. That portion could be a sleeve, but that would mean the feedneck was put in place before the breech was bored as the internal seam is almost invisible - I guess both options might need this to happen...

I'm not sure about much with this particular body other than it is a Nelson clone and not a PMI Traccer.
When I got it some 15 years ago the barrel was short or damaged and I cut it off to use the body for a M203 project that never came to fruition.

[Silvester17847]

I found time to tackle this over this past weekend, it was threaded in.

[Mr. Hick]

any chance you could post up a couple pictures?

[Silvester17847]