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Stuck casing in barrel, now what?

MwTech Inc

Titanium
Joined
Feb 6, 2005
Location
Fishersville VA
Long story short pulled out my grandfathers old Stevens 322-a Hornet.
There is part of the casing still in the barrel, the rim is gone along with about 1/8 of the case, rest of it is in there.

Has been in there since the late 60's. Dad always said there was something wrong with the gun but never knew what.
So, what are my options?

Am a capable machinist, have good skills and patience.
 
After a thorough inspection to confirm that there's nothing in there but brass...

Re-ream the chamber.

It sounds as though it experienced a case head separation the last time it was fired. The ejector pulled out the rim and the bottom of the casing, leaving the rest in place. An attempt to chamber another round would have failed, possibly jamming the case carcass in place, but likely not pushing it up into the barrel.

- Leigh
 
Plug the barrel and put some penetrating oil in the chamber. Next day I would make a cast of the chamber & case with Cerrosafe. Wait about 10 minutes and knock the whole thing out with a cleaning rod. Cerrosafe has a low enough melting point if you should have any kind of problems it can be melted out with hot water which won't be hot enough to hurt anything. Good Luck Kenny
 
i spent the last 1/2 hour cleaning and recleaning the barrel.
One can see a very, very , tiny step where the front edge of the casing stops, past the neck. The rest of the barrel shines like a mirror.

Ok will look up the Cerrosafe stuff, and try first.

thanks
 
If you can get access to it, I'd try and get something small and sharp between the case and the chamber wall. You should be able to collapse the side so that the casing outer diameter will be reduced enough that it can be pulled out.
 
I would try a bore brush that fit the chamber nice and tight first then progress to the more involved solutions.

Insert the brush in the chamber and pull it out, If youre lucky the case will be on the brush
 
thread it

I have had this happen to me upon occasion. I like the cerrocafe Idea by the way and it might be the way to go depending on case thickness. I have had great success in using extractors such as the military uses. Made a smaller one for 223 cases. I have also had success in tapping in a thread and screwing in a bolt and pulling out cases that way. Gotta measure first to make sure tap is thinner then chamber. Cerrosafe is easy to use, that is a great idea the more i think about it. Might want to rough up the case walls first though.
 
Aviator Dave

Thought about that but was worried i would accidentally scratch/nick the chamber wall.

I wouldn't worry about that. All of my HK rifles have 16 grooves purposely cut into the chambers. I did have a case separation once, but not in my MP5 or one of the other rifles. There was just enough material sticking out past the chamber that I just tapped it in with an awl, which gave me enough of a gap that I could push the tip of the awl in that gap. Then I just gradually kept prying it in towards the center. Once I made enough progress, it just fell out.

I had another rifle once, actually it was a friend's that he had trouble with that was impossible to get a tool in behind the chamber. I soldered a brass plug into the back of the chamber and just tapped it out from the front. I've never used that Cerrosafe stuff, it it will bond to brass good enough it may work in the same way.

What rifle is this? If you can get enough access, depending on the case ID vs. the chamber ID, you may be able to use a properly sized tap that will screw into the case but not touch the chamber. Then again, tap it out from the front.
 
OK I took the gun apart. The receiver is threaded to accept the barrel, however there is a small pin parallel with the barrel, i assume to prevent turning of the barrel.
Not being able to seperate the two makes the rear of the chamber approx 5.5 " from the rear of the receiver. Also the first inch behind the chamber is surrounded in one form or another.

Now the brass plug might be a way.

Already tried the brush thing, made the casing shine :)

I'm going in to the shop tomorrow, I'll report any progress.
Thanks for the help so far.
 
fire up lathe...

http://www.ch4d.com/catalog/?p=84

The front expanding collet part is expanded into proper (and not over) diameter by the tapered end. collet is free to slide a bit front to back.
Make the rear hook edge as sharp as possible with a HSS tool . Taper front side of hook for easy insertion into rear of case.

Diameter of outside of hook is .244 (diameter of fired case mouth in my rifle). Back from hook make a ~ .200 dia undercut area for case neck to clear.

Split in half partway lengthwise with a hacksaw so hookedge can compress into neck position, a small shouldered (to keep from over expanding) tapered plug can be put in mouth to hit wth cleaning rod to expand and drive case out.

Don't worry about fancy extractor groove one piece unit... simple works fine.

Headspace is probably on the long side and it is a slightly springy action..

Don't full length resize and keep loads moderate. the Hornet is no powerhouse... old timer with fairly thin brass...
 
Success!!

Made an extractor out of stainless by machining the small size to slide in the neck to hold it straight , the other end a sharp "flare" , slit it into 4 sections dropped into chamber. Made a shallow tapered tang to expand the extractor. A few good taps using a 3/16 brass rod down the barrel and the old casing slid out.

To my amazement there was no corrosion, rust, nothing in the chamber or on the casing.
Still went ahead and used a larger caliber brush to clean the case area. Cleaned up with Hopps.
New shell easily slides into chamber.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Will shoot this gun tomorrow after not being fired since a least 1969, the year my grandfather passed away.
 
Broken Case Extractor.

Had the problem with my sorry Ruger 77/22hornet. Brownells only sells limited calibers of broken shell extractors.

If you have access to a 22hornet chamber reamer, soak the chamber in Kroil or other top of the line penetrating oil. Make sure it doesn't get into the stock.

Use the chamber reamer gently to catch and remove the broken shell.

I take my 22 Hornet reamer with me now when shooting prairie dogs.

Old Doug,
 
Made an extractor out of stainless by machining the small size to slide in the neck to hold it straight , the other end a sharp "flare" , slit it into 4 sections dropped into chamber. Made a shallow tapered tang to expand the extractor. A few good taps using a 3/16 brass rod down the barrel and the old casing slid out.

To my amazement there was no corrosion, rust, nothing in the chamber or on the casing.
Still went ahead and used a larger caliber brush to clean the case area. Cleaned up with Hopps.
New shell easily slides into chamber.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Will shoot this gun tomorrow after not being fired since a least 1969, the year my grandfather passed away.

Cool! Glad you got it out. That will make a very cool family heirloom. My grandfather died 3 years ago and left me several old unfired rifles that I am keeping in unfired condition. They're not especially valuable from a money standpoint, but are from an emotional standpoint. He also left me a few that he and I had shot together over the years. It brings back some great memories every time I get to shoot them.

Putthing something that has been out of use for long time back in use is always a thrill as well. Like breathing life back into an old car or airplane that has been sitting in some farmer's barn for 50 years.
 
I make them every so often

Been at least 2 weeks since last guy came in with a ruptured case...

I can make one in about 20 minutes on the lathe, a LOT safer than running a Chambering reamer in, quicker and less messy than Cerro Safe.

I look at it as a logical thing, start with cheapest quickest method (bore brush) and work up (Cartridge extractor) taps make me nervous that it will go thru one side of brass into chamber (but can rough up case enough for Cerro Safe to get a grip on.....) Next would be Cerro Safe, and LAST a chambering reamer.....

In regards to Ruger in Hornet... I say again...

Headspace is probably on the long side and it is a slightly springy action..

Don't full length resize and keep loads moderate. the Hornet is no powerhouse... old timer with fairly thin brass...
 
I have had good success with simply soaking the chamber with an ammonia type bore cleaner. The ammonia attacks the brass and not the steel of the barrel or chamber and after a day or so of soaking, the cases come right out with a tight fitting or oversize bore brush.
 








 
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