My M1 Carbine has a separated case stuck in the chamber. There's about 1/2" of the end of the case stuck up inside the chamber and I need some advice. First,
I attempted to push it out with a 35 cal bore brush from the muzzle, and then a doubled up patch on a jag.

A brass seal pick with a hook on the end won't move it either.

I'm afraid it's been pushed forward into the throat in front of the chamber because at first my nephew, who was shooting it at the time, tried pounding the operating rod lever with the palm of his hand to chamber the next round.
There were a few rounds tried after that in the thought that it was bad ammo.

So, who has a procedure to remove the broken case piece from the chamber? I thought about a Lewis Lead Remover type thing, where I could push it in till it was inside the case piece, and then expand it by screwing the rod/mandrel tighter, but I haven't seen one in smaller than 38 caliber.

I'd really hate to resort to hack surgery to get this out, anyone have a good way to do it?

Insert a tight fitting patch in the bore and position it just ahead of the mouth of the case. Heat and pour some cerrosafe into the chamber just like you were making a chamber case. Carefully insert a cleaning rod from the muzzle end, duh, and Walla!

Cerrosafe is unavailable around here, I know I can get it from Brownells, but do you think pure lead would work in this case?
When Cerrosafe cools, it shrinks a little ? And then expands about the same amount later? I seem to remember reading something along those lines. (of course that bit of wisdom could have been from a "Keyboard Gunsmith" too for all I know)
I know pure lead shrinks a little more than wheel weights as it cools, and it might be easier to push out than a plug made from wheel weights.

quote:

Originally posted by Westpac:
Insert a tight fitting patch in the bore and position it just ahead of the mouth of the case. Heat and pour some cerrosafe into the chamber just like you were making a chamber case. Carefully insert a cleaning rod from the muzzle end, duh, and Walla!

cerrosafe melts ALOT cooler than lead... and I wouldn't want to be pouring lead into the chamber, as its hot enough to burn wood/patches/fingers/etc

Just use a new brush. Stick it into the case and pull. Works 99% of the time.

1.Take your cleaning rod and run it down the barrel to the chamber opening.

2.Take a bore brush that's tight in a 30 cal. barrel and screw it onto the cleaning rod.

3.Pull the bore brush into the the throat area of the barrel then push it back to the chamber opening.

Doing this should move the case mouth out of the chamber.

Hello,
Pegleg has the right idea. I always carried a flexible pistol cleaning rod,short, with me to matches and either a 357/45 cal. brush attached and sooner or later you will separate a case and with the tool described above, ram the brush into the chamber, twist a bit, pull and it always came out for me. Only happened once or twice every few years, but unless you can remove it, your day is over at the matches. In my situation, trying to extend the life of the brass more than I should have, but always find out why the situation occurs. Good luck.

A no-fail method is to put a wad of paper towel in the broken case and carefully pour in 3/8" or so of epoxy. When it hardens in the case drive it out with a rod.

Look at gunsmithing tools. They make one called a broken case extractor.

Thanks for the responses, I went through my buddy's Brownells Gunsmith Kinks and have a few more ideas to try.

I stuck the barreled action in the freezer and tried a really tight patch on a jag...nope.

The brush idea didn't work, I bent an offset in a cheap aluminum pistol cleaning rod so I could get a straight pull, and ruined three brushes, a 41, 44, and a 45 cal. I then tried from the muzzle, screwing a brush on at the breech, pulling it in then trying to push it out. Nothing! This case is really stuck in there hard!

I am thinking I'll just order some Cerrosafe from Brownells and get it over with. I wanted to shoot the gun this week, but I guess I'd better wait till I have the stuff to do it right.

Mark

Probably the safest way to get it out if into the throat is to use a piece of drill rod as close to bore diamater as possible - I believe for a .30 cal. its a .297 diameter. The only cost 4 or 5 bucks if I recall correctly. You can drop the rod down the bore and most like knock the case out with little chance of damaging anything. It is also handy to use with the cerrosafe - don't risk screwing up a cleaning rod or getting it stuck when you knock the case out - remember its is stuck pretty tight.

I think Brownells sell drill rod; order a piece when you get the Cerrosafe. It is a cheap handy tool to have around for special occasions!

Buy an ECHO broken shell extractor from Brownells

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.as...OKEN+SHELL+EXTRACTOR

I had the same thing happen to me on my FAL and it worked great.

edited to add: I see that this product has been dropped by Brownells. However, I did find a similar product on Midways website:

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?s...id=791210&t=11082005

-- ale

Take an eye of newt, toe of frog... Just get the cerrosafe and be done with it. The stuff handles ALL case sizes, won't damage the finest bore, and works pretty damned quick.

quote:

Originally posted by Westpac:
Take an eye of newt, toe of frog... Just get the cerrosafe and be done with it. The stuff handles ALL case sizes, won't damage the finest bore, and works pretty damned quick.

As I posted earlier, I'm ordering Cerrosafe today, it should get here in a few days.

I can't believe how tight this is in there. My nephew must have really been hammering on the operating handle on the first jam, and then the half dozen or so attempts to chamber more cartridges.

Ahh well, it's a lesson for him, he's a good kid, a gun crazy intelligent 14 year old that has attached himself to his Uncle Mark, much to the dismay of his liberal parents.

Thanks for the advice.

While you are waiting for the Cerrosafe, try this. A small piece of dry ice placed in the stuck case. The brass; this is a brass case I hope not a Wolf Steel one, will shrink at a faster rate than the barrel steel and you may be able to pull/drive it out. Cheap trick that has worked for me.

Thaine

Take a piece of wood dowel just small enough to fit(snuggly) inside broken case. drill a small hole in the wood piece. slide it inside the broken case. insert an aluminum or brass wood screw inside the hole. it will expand the wood. Soak the stuck case with Kroil. Then tap the wood plug/screw and broken case out with cleaning rod.
Long shot