I have a case stuck in a single shot barrel.

I have put the barrel in the freezer, fill the barrel with break free oil. Tried pull the case out with little wire hooks, filled the case up with paper and tried pushing it out with a rod.

I would like to hear any suggestions even if they are what I have tried before.

Its a 35 Whelen minus the back 3/8" of case in a NEF Handi-Rifle barrel.

Brown ells sells the tool to do that; best to get that. There is also a GI stuck case remover; you would have to make a new collet for the 35 case neck. It pulls on the end of the neck. Or case it with Cerrosafe and punch it out from the muzzle. Or, and I do not recommend this for anyone, use a tap and thread it into the brass; punch it out from the muzzle. Must be careful with this method.

try running a cleaning rod thru the barrel and screw on a stainless brush and fits the case really tight - pull the brush up into the case ;until it is seated firmly and then push it back out. usually the case will coume out stuch on the brush. this usually works

Just run a 45 or 50 caliber bronze brush in the case and pull backwards is always the first step..It works 99% of the time..the brushes flow back as you push it in the case and really grab when you pull back on them..

They have a tool that mechinics use for brake liners and I can't think of the name of it but it will pull any bullet out of any gun and not damage the chamber, its a gizmo that you run in the case and then start turning it on a screw gizzie that swells the sides..I had one but never used it but one time and its disappeared like everything else does as one ages!!

Be careful with hooks, I would not use them as they tend to scratch the chamber..Ive seen chambers ruined by such action.

Put a wad of steel wool about 3 inches down the barrel from the chamber. Pour the chamber full of molten lead and drive it out from the muzzle sometimes works.

Another method in addition to all the other ones is drop an old bullet into the case, then fill the case with epoxy and stick a lag bolt into it, when hardened lever it out from the back with a screwdriver or drive it out with a rod from the front but be aware if you use a rod it should be a close fit and made a bit stronger than a cleaning rod. With yours I'd put a tiny piece of cellophane tape to keep any epoxy from sticking to the chamber not covered by the broken shell.

I also removed a broken shell from a mini 14 this way but used a roll of solder and just melted it above the port with a propane torch and dribbled it in like candle wax and it stuck well enough to drive the case out, but that was done in the field using stuff we found in the trunk.

The separated case is not the problem, it is just a symptom. Make sure you aren't sizing the brass too much, creating too much room for the case to stretch. Either that or you are springing the frame,
I assumed you had already tried the bore brush method. That usually works;the cases aren't usually very tight.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Just run a 45 or 50 caliber bronze brush in the case and pull backwards is always the first step..It works 99% of the time..the brushes flow back as you push it in the case and really grab when you pull back on them..

This works every time and it is the most simple.

This 500NE case was hell to get out of the FL sizing die(I was trying out my bees wax lube for the first time).I drilled and tapped but the tap broke and got stuck flush with the priming hole.I could not drill it out.A much larger tap did the trick but I could not find a bolt to match the threads.I did find a rod from which bolts are cut and used that along with a nut and socket.
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#1). Take a spray lube, WD40 of equiv, soak the case and then tap with block of wood or mallet. Sometimes, this and gravity will drop the piece out.
#2). If the freezer is available. (Or dry ice!) If cold enough the parts separate and brass will fall out.
#3). Yes, the brush method is very good. Shoving the big brush in points the bristles back and when you pull, great grip.
#4). Casting. The epoxy thing is newer. The use of cerrosafe which melts in boiling water is ancient. Lead and other metals will also "grip" the brass and you can come down the barrel to drive the plug out of insert a handle like and eye bolt before the metal hardens...
#5). Last and most expensive, have a skilled machinist remove the metal with lathe or other tool. Cutting it out works, but chances are he will try one of the above first. Luck.

A word of caution. Putting anything steel into the chamber is best left with someone who promises to buy you a new barrel or gun if they fawk it up. The $100 you pay some one is far cheaper than the cost of a new gun. That said, there are many things you can try first that don't involve sharp, steel objects. I have seen literally hundreds of chambers ruined over my 35 years of professional gunsmithing.
Also, when gunsmith talk of using taps, they are not just using garden variety taps. The taps have been reground to match the internal body taper of the cartridge so there is no chance that they will cut crooked and break through the case walls. The tap is also much smaller dimensionally than the OD of the cartridge case. So as long as it is driven in straight in the machine, there is no possible way for the tap to break through the sides of the case. Gunsmiths don't like to buy new guns or barrels for their customers, so they tend to make these dangerous practices about as idiot and Darwin proof as possible. The case is not freed by pushing on the tap. It is actually freed by the turning force and once free it is simply pulled out by hand.


case extraction tap by Rod Henrickson, on Flickr

I have use EZ Outs on several occasions. Worked with no damage to the chamber. YRMV.

I have this problem completely solved. I have never personally had a separated case.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
I have this problem completely solved. I have never personally had a separated case.

Not quite. That handi still has the all too common handi problem of excessive headspace for the 35 Whelen..
wish I had a dollar for every rifle brought in with that problem.

I have managed to ruin a couple more brushes but the case is still married to the chamber.
This chamber seems very rough to a visual inspection. I bet that's part of the problem also. If I ever do get the case out I'll have to get the chamber checked.
I plan on trying cerrosafe next but it will probably have to wait until hunting season is over. Starts next Saturday woot woot.

ez out
or
Bobby's idea, with many variations.. then tap it out once the epoxy sets - you figure out how to avoid getting it in the wrong places...


run a tap in it, then a rod down the barrel and tap it out

If it is stuck like mine was believe me you will not get it out by using any of the methods mentioned above except mine.You will never be able to hit it out or turn it out.You will only get it out by pulling it out with a bolt and nut.

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
If it is stuck like mine was believe me you will not get it out by using any of the methods mentioned above except mine.You will never be able to hit it out or turn it out.You will only get it out by pulling it out with a bolt and nut.

There is nothing to tap to except the case walls itself.

If the Handi rifles have excessive headspace then you should fire form your brass to eliminate it.

Heat up the case red hot with a propane torch.

Then after it cools repeat some of the above methods of removal

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
If the Handi rifles have excessive headspace then you should fire form your brass to eliminate it.

Actually the Handi Rifles don't have excessive headspace. Like a lot of semi autos, they have no ability to cam and crush the cartridges into the chamber. By their very design they are made with the chambers about .003 to .005 inch to deep so that the wide variety of different ammunition from all of the different manufacturers will actually chamber reliably.

So it's actually shitty headspace, by design. Which makes it the correct headspace, which should actually be wrong !

quote:

Originally posted by RMiller:

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
If it is stuck like mine was believe me you will not get it out by using any of the methods mentioned above except mine.You will never be able to hit it out or turn it out.You will only get it out by pulling it out with a bolt and nut.

There is nothing to tap to except the case walls itself.

That is what it looks like from the picture.I think he has no choice then to do exactly that.

I have pulled a couple out using taps but I was real careful to match the tap to the case and avoid cutting threw it.

Two methods that I haven't used are mentioned in Dunlap's book. Turn a round file into the case until it jams. I guess this is sort of like using a tap. Or, he recommends filing a groove into the stuck case being careful to not go all the way through. You then force a small screwdriver that has been rounded and polished along one side of the groove. Splitting the case. Be careful and good luck.

I have always used a tap....you ain't cutting threads, it just has to bite, the brass has always come out easily, just slides out....

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I did get the case out.

I pushed a 125 grain .358 lead pistol bullet into the case from the chamber end. I tapped on the bullet with the bolt to try to place the bullet into the case neck. It turns out I actually pushed the bullet right through the case and into the rifling.

Then I filled the case with Gorilla glue epoxy and set a bolt with a nut and washers into the epoxy.

The idea was that I could let the epoxy dry and then just tighten the nut which would in turn back the case out.

The epoxy was still flexible so it all came out with the case.

Nice work. Another way to skin a cat.

Good work there. Go shoot it and see if it ejects okay.

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