NEED HELP Broken case stuck in chamber

[bobfortier]

Hi all

I am reloading for the 303, and I am prepared for broken case due to expansion, and I made myself a small hook. However, one brass broke this afternoon and I cannot make it move, even with the hook. I cannot hook the neck properly, and I tried with an oversize brush, I tough the "hair" of the brush would grab, nothing.

Any tricks ? IM a bit desperate at the moment.....

 

[mg4201]

Hi all

I am reloading for the 303, and I am prepared for broken case due to expansion, and I made myself a small hook. However, one brass broke this afternoon and I cannot make it move, even with the hook. I cannot hook the neck properly, and I tried with an oversize brush, I tough the "hair" of the brush would grab, nothing.

Any tricks ? IM a bit desperate at the moment.....

do a search on this site with broken case as the keywords do not forget to to change the time frame to 36 months or you will get nothing. there was a few good threads with great advice but I can't remember what it was. best of luck

 

[y2k]

I remember reading once about freezing the rifle. Brass with contract a different amount that the Orion barrel will.

 

[bobfortier]

Thanks to all, but I found somewhere on the net that using a tap (to make thread in steel) might work. I took out the M10 x 1 and I inserted it into the case, tapped gently so it could grab, and I inserted the cleaning rod and out it went !!

needless to say, the tap will follow me in the gun case next time I go to the range

 

[cantom]

Thanks to all, but I found somewhere on the net that using a tap (to make thread in steel) might work. I took out the M10 x 1 and I inserted it into the case, tapped gently so it could grab, and I inserted the cleaning rod and out it went !!

needless to say, the tap will follow me in the gun case next time I go to the range

Glad you got the bugger out!

Love it when a plan comes together...

 

[sniperelite]

Good stuff. I keep a 10mm tap in my range bag full time for this very reason.

 

[John Sukey]

Get a broken shell extractor. Someone should have a milsurp one for sale.

 

[buffdog]

Taps

Thanks to all, but I found somewhere on the net that using a tap (to make thread in steel) might work. I took out the M10 x 1 and I inserted it into the case, tapped gently so it could grab, and I inserted the cleaning rod and out it went !!

needless to say, the tap will follow me in the gun case next time I go to the range

This is not a really good idea. While it worked this time, there is a good chance of cutting right through the case and putting a groove in the chamber of the barrel. The same with trying to pry a broken case out of the chamber with a sharp object like a knife blade or screwdriver.

BUY A BROKEN SHELL EXTRACTOR! It should only cost you $20 or so, and there is little chance of ruining a rifle.

What also works, (MOST of the time,) is to place an unfired round into the chamber push the bolt forward, until it is as far as it will go without a lot of pressure. A couple of light taps more on the bolt handle will provide enough friction to jam it inside the fired front broken off portion, and pulling the bolt handle back will extract both pieces. Needless to say, this is best done outdoors or on the range.
.

.

 

[SKScanuck]

Ditto on the broke case extractor.

Got 3 myself, 303, 7.62x54R and 30:06. Oddly enough, I loaned them to a buddy of mine and he gave then back all in the same bag, ( I had them separate). Anyhooo... I use what ever one fits best and have pulled 308 and all of the above out. Made me wonder if they are made exactly for one case or just generic, (like a bullet puller).

Anyhow, get yourself one.

 

[smellie]

Troopies in the field didn't carry broken case extractors; they used BUFFDOG's trick and it worked about 98% of the time. They just fed a round from the mag into the chamber; that way the extractor had a good hold on it. The other 2% of the time they took the rifle to the Armourer and he used a broken-shell extractor.

Tap is NOT a good idea: too easy to go forward and screw up the throat Taps are REALLY hard things!

If you want to cure the actual PROBLEM,try keeping your brass trimmed. The reason you had to go so far forward is that your case was too long: the case-mouth actually was up in the leade when you pulled the trigger. This caused pressure to spike, stretching the case enough to snap it off and leaving you with 3/4 of the shell in the chamber.

Also, ALWAYS lube the insides of case-necks on .303 brass when resizing. I have found that some brands of dies cause 3 times the case-stretch as you get from actually firing the things. You can actually start with once-fired brass and snap 'em off on the scond reload! Lubing the insides of the case-necks will minimise this particular bit of nastiness.

BEST BET:
(1) use Ed's O-rings on first firing.
(2) lube the insides of your case necks.
(3) segregate your brass by rifle.
(4) FL size as little as possible.
(5) neck-size only as far as it is possible.
(6) keep your pressures low.
Your rifle barrel will last longer and it is actually LESS work. Do it right and your rifle will actually shoot better, too.

My test load for the .303 is a Sierra 180 Pro-Hunter flatbase ahead of 37 to 38 grains of 4895, seating to the OAL of a Mark VII Ball round. It gives low pressures, runs at 2250 ft/sec in the SMLE, 2335 in a good 1910 Ross and it shoots half an inch or better if you do it right. Another good .303 load is 40 grains of 4064 with the Hornady 150 flatbase Spire Point seated so the entire cannelure shows. Again, not a lot of pressure but it is wickedly accurate. It is also about as hot as I would want to go. This is my P-'14 load; it shoots single-ragged-hole groups at 145, off the bags, of course.

But your actual PROBLEM was an over-length case.

Hope this helps.
.

 

[mg4201]

Troopies in the field didn't carry broken case extractors; they used BUFFDOG's trick and it worked about 98% of the time. They just fed a round from the mag into the chamber; that way the extractor had a good hold on it. The other 2% of the time they took the rifle to the Armourer and he used a broken-shell extractor.

Tap is NOT a good idea: too easy to go forward and screw up the throat Taps are REALLY hard things!

If you want to cure the actual PROBLEM,try keeping your brass trimmed. The reason you had to go so far forward is that your case was too long: the case-mouth actually was up in the leade when you pulled the trigger. This caused pressure to spike, stretching the case enough to snap it off and leaving you with 3/4 of the shell in the chamber.

Also, ALWAYS lube the insides of case-necks on .303 brass when resizing. I have found that some brands of dies cause 3 times the case-stretch as you get from actually firing the things. You can actually start with once-fired brass and snap 'em off on the scond reload! Lubing the insides of the case-necks will minimise this particular bit of nastiness.

BEST BET:
(1) use Ed's O-rings on first firing.
(2) lube the insides of your case necks.
(3) segregate your brass by rifle.
(4) FL size as little as possible.
(5) neck-size only as far as it is possible.
(6) keep your pressures low.
Your rifle barrel will last longer and it is actually LESS work. Do it right and your rifle will actually shoot better, too.

My test load for the .303 is a Sierra 180 Pro-Hunter flatbase ahead of 37 to 38 grains of 4895, seating to the OAL of a Mark VII Ball round. It gives low pressures, runs at 2250 ft/sec in the SMLE, 2335 in a good 1910 Ross and it shoots half an inch or better if you do it right. Another good .303 load is 40 grains of 4064 with the Hornady 150 flatbase Spire Point seated so the entire cannelure shows. Again, not a lot of pressure but it is wickedly accurate. It is also about as hot as I would want to go. This is my P-'14 load; it shoots single-ragged-hole groups at 145, off the bags, of course.

But your actual PROBLEM was an over-length case.

Hope this helps.
.

that is a twilight zone type coincidence my mosin likes the same bullet over the same charge of the same powder 4895. weird.

 

[bigedp51]

smellie
ALWAYS lube the insides of case-necks on .303 brass when resizing.

Dear smellie

I'm not as old as you are at 60 but you can teach an "OLD" dog new tricks.

You do not need to lube the necks on your cases if you use a Lee Collet die and a even better reason is your cases will have much less runout or have much better accuracy. (the mandrel floats and can't push/pull the neck off center)

A .303 case forming and trim die can be used as a shoulder bump die to just push the shoulder back when needed.

(NOTE: the fired case was inserted with just my fingers and in the bottom photo the case shoulder is touching the shoulder of the die)

smellie
BEST BET:
(1) use Ed's O-rings on first firing.

Its not Eds O-ring trick, this information was taught to me by a Canadian after a riot at a Hockey game. (TerryinVictoria in the old Jouster Enfield forum)

IMPORTANT NOTE: lube the locking lugs when using the o-ring to fireform your cases to help prevent wear on the locking lugs. (there will be more force on the bolt face and bolt lugs than normal)

And last but not least, I NEVER have case head separations because I check each case after firing for thinning in the web.

"Stuck case remover? We ain't got no stuck case remover. We don't need no stuck case remover! I don't have to show you no stinkin' stuck case remover!"


The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948
Humphrey Bogart: "If you're the police where are your badges?"
Mexican bandit: "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you no stinkin' badges!"
Blazing Saddles 1974
"Badges? We don't need no stinking badges."

If you follow Holmes on homes and have a stuck case just get a hammer and "rip it out"

 

[Dwag]

smellie's got good advice there.

 

[Ganderite]

I usually find a bronze brush will bite the case neck tight enough to pull it out.

I once had a broblem in a 35 Rem. I coated an empty case neck with epoxy and jammed it as hard as I could into the broken case and let it harden. The extractor then pulled the two cases out.

 

[buffdog]

A handy little tool you can make

To quote BIGEDP51 - - "And last but not least, I NEVER have case head separations because I check each case after firing for thinning in the web."

The biggest cause of failure and case seperations in the .303 British is full length resizing of the brass case. We have to realize that these cases were designed for military use, to be fired once, and discarded. Oversized chambers are the norm, as the generous dimensions allow dirty and cruddy ammo to be jammed in and fired, under poor field conditions.

The biggest problem with case seperations is that you can not see them when they start to develop a crack inside the case.

Here is a tool you can make for checking cartridge cases. Costs about 25 cents!

Take a piece of small, stiff, wire, about .040 thou thick, (less than 1/16 inch or 1.5 mm) in diameter, about 4 inches long, ( 100 mm) and sharpen one end into a point. Then back about 1/4 inch ( 6 mm ) from the point, put a 90 degree bend into it, making it sort of an L shape.

Take about a 4 inch length of 1/2 inch dowel, and drill a 1/16 inch or slightly larger hole in it, about 3/4 inch long. ( A big enough hole that the long end of the wire you made will go in snugly.) You might now like to round the ends of the dowel, a sharp knife and a bit of sandpaper will do this easily. Put a bit of Epoxy glue into the hole, and insert the long end of the wire into the hole. Let the epoxy cure. Then sand or cut a flat on the side of the handle THE SAME SIDE OF the 90 degree bend, so that the flat is on the top of the handle, and the bend is pointing down. This will help you know where the point of the tool is inside the case, as you can hold the tool with your thumb on the flat, and the case in your other hand.

TO USE: On your fired cases, before any reloading step is started, take your feeler tool that you made, and insert the small projection into the mouth of the case. Push it in, until you can feel it bottom out, then with the point touching the inside of the case, slowly pull the feeler tool back to you, about 1 1/2 inches. Rotate the case about 1/4 or 1/3 turn and do this again. And at least a third time at a different place.

If your cases are starting to crack, the sharp point of the tool will go into the crack, and you can feel it "catch" or stop if the crack is a large one.

DO NOT TRY TO GET ONE MORE LOADING OUT OF A CRACKED CASE. IT WILL SEPERATE, AND YOU WILL HAVE A BROKEN CASE IN YOUR CHAMBER.
.

 

[buffdog]

lOADS

that is a twilight zone type coincidence my mosin likes the same bullet over the same charge of the same powder 4895. weird.

C.E. Harris, an experimenter and adviser to the "American Rifleman", was an advocate of cast bullet loads. He developed what he called "THE LOAD."

This was for using a cast bullet in a rifle of Military calibre, and worked well in most of them, from the 6.5 mm to the 8 mm, including the .303, 30-06, 7.62x54 Russian, 8x57 and 7x57 Mauser, and many others.

THE LOAD is 13 grains of Red Dot, with a service weight or a bit heavier cast bullet. In the .303, it usually gives 1600-1700 fps, and is accurate enough for 200 yard target shooting, but the sights have to be raised accordingly. I have used this in the .303 for 100 and 200 yard targets, with 180, 205, and 215 grain cast bullets, and it tends to be about as accurate as Mark 7 Ball at these ranges.

A very light recoil, easy on a barrel, and over 500 loads per pound of powder.
.