So you have a stuck Boresnake...

[sm]

Freezer.

Yep just stick the gun in a chest freezer.
We have done this forever with stuck squibs, shotgun wads and the like. Don't matter what kind of gun, or if the barrel comes of easy or not. Even works On stuck casings in revolver charge holes.

Now I do not own a Boresnake, I have never used one.* Just never made sense
to me to pull back through dirt, debris and whatever else I just pulled out, back into something. I have nothing against them, just one of my druthers is all.

Re: Stuck Boresnakes. I kept hearing of this happening a few years ago, figure it would happen sooner or later, so I got a busted centerfire rifle barrel, and the remains of a boresnake a dog had gotten ahold of and * stuck one on purpose inside a barrel. This was a handgun snake, and I got it stuck in that barrel, I mean I took metal rods on both ends and made sure it was stuck.

I broke a wooden dowel trying to get it out. It would not come out with a old cleaning rod either. Good. Toss into freezer and let sit.

In the meantime I bought some more wooden dowels, this is what I prefer to use to get something out of a barrel first. Second thing is brass, which has been "polished" meaning no rough edges on end, or along its length. I do not do "pointed" ends as they can cause whatever is stuck, to get bigger in diameter, to expand, and grip tighter.

I am going to treat this busted barrel just like it was nice one. Snake is stuck about in the middle. I put the barrel in a padded vice. I carefully insert wooden dowel (which I also used a light grit sandpaper to smooth) and using a red marker, marked where snake is stuck.

Small rawhide mallet I tap...tap, tap. I am making headway, as I can tell from red mark. I mark in black Sharpie, my progress. When I quit making progress with the amount of tapping. I removed barrel from vice, treated it like a nice barrel, wiped it down, put in a Sack-Up cloth , wrapped in plastic, and tossed back into freezer. I let it sit for another day.

Snake punched out the next day, just easy tapping. Just like I would a nice barrel. Go slow, be patient, do not get in a hurry and let the "obstruction" tell you what it wants, and how much it will tolerate being messed with.

Took me 4 days to get a squib load out of a revolver once, lead bullet, I did not harm that barrel or gun itself in any way. I just went slow and easy.

Tip : always bring the work to you - don't not go the work.
Meaning, get whatever it is your are working on , set up properly, and where you are not only comfortable, able to steady yourself, also ergo to what you are doing.
Less mistakes this way.

CRSam , myself, and others have shared this "freezer tip" on TFL before. It was nice to read it many years ago again here on TFL, and find out how many of us had been using it all these years.
In reading some of Sam's Old post recently - well - heck seemed like a good time to pass it forward again with the Boresnake problems...

Freezers:
"Meat keeping and Unsticking Steve" - CRSam

Thanks Sam,

Your friend Steve

[ENC]

No Bore?Mongoose

Seriously though thanks for the great tip. I miss Sam