Well, you never stop learning & having expereinces if you shoot enough.....

Cleaned the trusty .375H&H Winchester Model 70.

The ususal drill for me:

1. Bore Foam, the prescribed 1/2 hour soak and then wiped the bore with several CLP soaked patches on a jag, cleaned the foam outa all the nooks & cranies.

2. Brushed the bore 25 stokes with a CLP soaked bore brush.

3. Wiped the accumilated gunk out of the bore with another patch on a jag.

4. An initially CLP soaked VFG felt wad and then 4-5 felt wads until clean.

Then thought I'd just make sure - grabbed the .375 Caliber Bore Snake, snaked the brass tip through the action and out the muzzle, stepped on the Brass Tip and pulled upwards smoothly ensuring (as has happened before) the synthetic snake material didn't catch on the ejector. The brass brush portion and about another 6" came out the muzzle and then it acted like it WAS hung up on the ejector but NO it had gone all the way into the barrel.

Now the D**m thing is stuck in the bore - solid. Can't move it, neither backwards nor forwards? Tried tying off the end and pulling until I thought it would break in two but nothing, absolutely nothing has moved so far.

Anyone out there ever have a similar expereince and if so, what are the remedies for getting it out of the bore?

Needless to say I'd appreciate anything constructive to fix this , Er, Ugh issue, asap.

Well Gerry! If only it was a Blaser I could advise you to do this:
http://www.testfakta.se/Article.aspx?a=16350

But as it is a Winchester I don't have a clue!
Hope someone comes up with a better solution.

B.Martins

Have you considered pouring some fine lubricant, from the muzzle end, and soak the bore snake?
That might help it to move.

B.Martins

B.,

Yup, I've got a bottle of Croil.

Perhaops that would react with some of the synthetic - Ugh!

do you have an air compressor and an sir gun with a brass tip?

pull the bolt, apply air from muzzle end and see what happens.. i haven't tried this, but I THINK it would work

The system I like for stuck bullets is to pour in heavy lubricant, and pound the lubricant with a tight fitting rod tip. The hydraulic force will push the obstruction out without wedging it in place any harder.


I was shooting the bull in a gunsmith's shop when a really old gunsmith came in to shoot the bull and told me about that technique. I have never seen it in a book, but it works.

If this were my tarbaby, here's what I would do-

Remove from stock and remove bolt and bottom metal.

support muzzle down, and pour in some industrial strength ammonia, let sit for 15 minutes. Pour out ammonia, and tie a piece of 1/2" or so rope to a tree or other large object. Now tie the boresnake to the rope, and pull on the barreled action.

If it can reach the bristles, the ammonia will dissolve them enough to loosen the grip. My dad stuck a too large brush into a muzzle loader once, and this worked to get it out but the brush was much more exposed obviously.

How about laying the rifle next to your computer. Then, if the Bore Snake gets hungry, maybe it will come out after your mouse.

Contact Hoppe's (the Boresnake manufacturer) and ask what they suggest. There's even a contact number in Europe.

http://www.hoppes.com/au_customer_service.html

Be careful if you decide to try the ammonia, it can badly etch your barrel.

Hello,
As I am sure you are aware, reversing the bristles/brush in the bore is not the way to go, so, it needs to go on out the way it was started, breech to muzzle. Cut off the bulk of the bore snake, leaving whatever in the barrel, place strong wooden dowel 3/8"-.375" into breech, long enough that you can tap with hammer from behind action and force the brush and whatever "snake" material left out the muzzle. Won't hurt a thing and will come out. If you can not find a wooden dowel, strong brass rod, aluminum, soft metal will serve the same purpose. If you wish to pour some lubricant, CLP, oil, etc. down the bore with muzzle pointing downward for a while to permit the flow of oil to engulf the brush portion do so and then apply the "force." It will come out, trust me. You can not hurt the bore with this operation unless you try to reverse the stuck brush or use a rod of harder material than the barrel/bore. Look forward to hearing of your results. Good Luck.

quote:

Originally posted by Gator1:
How about laying the rifle next to your computer. Then, if the Bore Snake gets hungry, maybe it will come out after your mouse.

That is pretty creative. And funny. Not helpful, of course, but pretty damned funny.

I have no suggestions Gerry, and can't for the life of me picture or much less figure out what happened.

Let us know when you git 'er done, please.

I've used the oil method on Chevy pilot bushings. Actually used grease. filled the pilot bushing with gear grease and pounded the pilot shaft into the bushing. Slickest thing since sliced bread.

[quote]The brass brush portion and about another 6" came out the muzzle and then it acted like it WAS hung up on the ejector but NO it had gone all the way into the barrel.[/quote

So, it can't be the brass brush? right?

Ah yes, the boresnake. Many people don't know the correct way to use one.

Take the new boresnake out of the package and lay it out full length on your table. Inspect the hard brass ends for any defects and the outer covering for any trapped particles or contamination. Gently flex the boresnake over its complete length to make sure it is completely unkinked.

Now, grasp it firmly from the back of the bristle section with your thumb and forefinger and hang it vertically with the cord hanging to the right.

Now drop it straight in the trashcan and close the lid. You will never have any problems with it after that.

Load it up and BLOW it out of there!!

quote:

Originally posted by Gerry:
...what are the remedies for getting it out of the bore?

Needless to say I'd appreciate anything constructive to fix this , Er, Ugh issue, asap.

Hey Gerry, I "detest" the entire Bore Snake concept. Just another PT Barnum joke on folks to make their Billfolds lighter. Since Frank outlined the "proper" way to use them, there is no need to repeat it.
---

If someone brought this mess to me(cause it would never happen to one of my rifles), once I got the Tears of Laughter wiped away... (it is really difficult to wham this in with your eyes all blurry) ... I'd probably tie the one end off to something solid(like the Hitch Ball on the truck), place a Cleaning Rod with a Jag on it in the Breech end with some serious pressure on it and have someone grab the rifle and move it toward me - trying not to slip in all the Tears on the floor.

Soaking it in Kroil or Liquid Wrench "might" just help - a lot - or it might cause the (totally worthless) Bore Snake to expand and become tighter - surely not.
-----

I'd guess gasoline down the Bore and a match is unacceptable.
-----

Met a guy at the Range one time who had a broken latch on one of the Boxes he set on his Bench. As he was undoing it, I thought it looked familiar. Sure enough a Bore Snake. I asked him about it and he said that he had found that it was the "ONLY" good use he had gotten out of it.
-----

Best of luck to you.

I'm not sure of this but will offer it as an idea.....
assuming the bristles are brass it would seem that if the muzzle was plugged and the bore poured with a copper solvent, the copper bristles would weaken enormously or eventually disappear.....

quote:

stepped on the Brass Tip and pulled upwards smoothly ensuring (as has happened before)

As I read it the brass tip is out. If there is nothing other than cloth left in the barrel and it isn't hung on the extractor then guess I would go with the larger hammer approach. Pull until it comes out whole or in pieces.

So, what you need is something that would soften or disolve the bore snake, since it sounds as though there is a kink/knot that is hung up in the barrel.

I think the back part of the snake is made out of nylon? I don't know for sure, but Etyl Alchol will soften up nylon. Bleach (Clorox) will eventually disolve nylon, but I don't know how long that would take.

Gaslonis and a match night not be that bad of an idea.

quote:

Originally posted by Gerry:
The brass brush portion and about another 6" came out the muzzle and then it acted like it WAS hung up on the ejector but NO it had gone all the way into the barrel.

O.K. , it says that the brush portion is out , so that means that the cloth material has wadded up inside. If you try to ram it through with a dowel or other type of rod , my guess is that your success will be zero. That material is pretty darn tough and you would only make it pack tighter. So , why not take a patch puller for a black powder rifle and insert it from the breech end and pull that sucker out?

quote:

Originally posted by 416LJT:
... So , why not take a patch puller for a black powder rifle and insert it from the breech end and pull that sucker out?

That is what I did once when it happened to me.
I had put an oiled patch around the bristles of the snake and it lodged tight.

I had to take the barrel off and work from the breech end with "patch-puller" technology.

I now use bore snakes only to wipe excess oil out of a bore before shooting if I am in the field and don't have a rod, jag and patches in my pocket. A rare occurence.

They are a joke as far as cleaning: worthless

Of course I have to wash my bag of bore snakes in the washing machine after a few wipes.

I had something similar to me.

I used the air compressor with a small nozzle tip..it came right out.

I realize though in your situation the trick is fitting the nozzle snuggly to the chamber.
There are some right-angle nozzles out there, but I don't know where you'd find one.
Maybe a good machinists shop?

Good luck. Please let us know what transpires.

Garrett

I've never worked with a bore snake; however, if it is like nylon climbing rope, you may solve you problem by "pulling" it taut thereby reducing the diameter of the rope. Sounds like when the one end got into the barrel, it could contract and "grew" inside the barrel. Kudude

Gasoline alone might not be a bad idea. Try it on a piece of the bore snake outside of the barrel - gas will dissolve some plastics, or at least soften them up (pour some in a styrofoam cup if you don't believe me).

quote:

Sounds like when the one end got into the barrel, it could contract and "grew" inside the barrel.

You might have an excellent point. If the outside layer got stuck and the inside is being pulled into it then it will expand and wedge itself tighter. The patch puller from the back end would make sense in that case.

Well Guys.....

I'd like to say "Thank You" to all those who contributed (some more and some less....don't misunderstand me - humor is always a good thing) their collective ideas to assist in resolving this dilema; a BROAD spectrum of brain-storming so-to-speak. Anyway, it's been fixed.



I learned along time ago many heads are better than one.

Some asked for an update and here it is.......

Looked at your suggestions and took my prized Boomer to Wolfgang, my trusted German Buchsenmacher. 40 years of professional expereince is a GOOD thing......

We tried soaking the offending "Snake" in Croil, tried different sized rods, heavier hammers, from the breach end, from the muzzle end, compressed air, attached the string end to another girder and pulled singly & together until we REALLY managed to wedge that offending portion of the "Snake" that was stuck firmly in the barrel into one solid mass of synthetic bore obstruction. WOW!

Anyway, German ingenuity at it's finest. Wolfgang tied the Snake off, pulled it as taught as possible and cut it off. Now there's about 7" of offending Snake left in the barrel. He used the handle portion of an old 3 piece .22 caliber cleaning rod, sharpened the metal rod end into a needle like point, heated it up with a torch until it was warm/hot enough to melt the inner synthetic portion of the snake, and pushed it into the barrel melting it, reduced the inner diameter and therefore the pressure and simply tapped the remains out with a wooden dowel rod - not bad huh?

Oh, Yeah, half-way into this he sent me home, stated he didn't want me peering over his shoulder......I mean what the heck? I'd only puffed about half a pack of smokes (they were mine, not HIS) and drank a pot of coffee. Whew!

Anyway, another(!) good bore scrubbing, there appears to be no melted residue, goo or other ill effects remaining in the bore - a range session this weekend will offer the ultimate determination.

Thanks Guys.

Glad it worked ! I've done a few things to peoples guns that I was very glad they weren't there - they would really have freaked out !!

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
Glad it worked ! I've done a few things to peoples guns that I was very glad they weren't there - they would really have freaked out !!

I suspect every mechanic and smith has as well!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Gerry:
...German ingenuity at it's finest. ...

Excellent!!!

I sure appreciate you letting us know. The old "Hot Rod Trick" is something that needs to be added to the Bore Snake Owner's Manual.

Best of luck to you.

Thanks for the good words Guys!

Couldn't wait for the weekend, took my Boomer to the range this morning and everything's according to Hoyle; back to plunking 300 gr. Hornady Round Noses down range into itty-bitty three shot clusters with consistancy - so I'm a Happy Camper again. Apparently no lasting effects due to the stuck Snake.

Yo Hot Core - Yeah, the Hot Rod/Hot Core Trick worked just fine!

quote:

Originally posted by Gerry:
...back to plunking 300 gr. Hornady Round Noses down range into itty-bitty three shot clusters with consistancy - so I'm a Happy Camper again. ...

Hey Gerry, Man-O-Man, I'm sure glad it worked out that way for you.

I was just looking at your original post again and still can't figure out "Why" the (totally worthless) Bore Snake got hung in the first place. Any clue from the remainder you all got out?

I don't see how the Bristles could in any way reverse themselves with you just pulling that joker in one direction.

Is it possible that perhaps the Outer Cloth "tore loose" and the rope was still pulling on the Core, thus creating the plug between the Core and Outer covering? Of course, Nylon is some tough stuff and that doesn't sound logical either.

Best of luck on your Hunts!

Yo Hot Core.....

Thanks for the response.

Gotta admit I'm a bit of a Cleaning Slut when it comes to my rifles (don't worry; they are are all USED but not ABUSED).....the shotguns get a work-out pretty much every weekend and always get a Bore Snake thru the tubes; especially the chamber because of the sweat deposited on plastic shotgun shells and the resulting potential chamber issues and a good wipe with a oily rag.

We hunt with rifles here in Germany (Europe) almost year 'round and I don't need a rifle that requires a fouling shot or two to get it back to where it's supposed to put a bullet, IMO means = Good First shot from a Cold Barrel; so I leave them like I last shot'em which from my expereince is; on target. Also because I grab whatever pleases me at the moment from the (copious selection) outa the Gun Safe and go hunting (Man.....are we spoiled in this Day & Age!).

Every year or so (unless it's before a trip to RSA, another major country/regional/global outing or the heavy-barreled target .222 Remington) I do a major scrub. The .375 was due, simple as that.

I'm as perplexed as to what actually occured as all the responses I received (thanks Guys!). Since the Brass Brush portion was already outa the muzzle leaving about 7-8" of "Snake" remaining in the bore the only cause I can figure is that it either folded/looped itself over the end as I pulled it into the chamber area and then wedged itself tighter while tugging; or as you summized; an issue with the Outer/Inner core of the "Snake" outa sync; therefore creating a solid bore obstruction.

We never had a clue to the real cause as Wolfgang melted the inner portion of the "Snake" into a wad of molten synthetic material.

Dunno; and quite frankly - don't care - happy to be back to where I started. You'll throw rocks at me - didn't toss all the Bore Snakes away either and still have 1/2 of a .375 "Snake"!

Beat me with a Stick!

quote:

Originally posted by Gerry:
...You'll throw rocks at me - didn't toss all the Bore Snakes away either and still have 1/2 of a .375 "Snake"!

Beat me with a Stick!

Hey Gerry, Yes we do live in the best of times for an excellent variety of firearms.

1/2 a Snake! When you get the next one stuck, at least you know how to get it out.

Best of luck to you.