Bore Snake Stuck in the Barrel

[comn-cents]

There are pistol one's that are shorter maybe that's it.


Be smarter than a bore snake!

[Casimer]

You could always take it to a gunsmith. One of the guys that I use locally has tools that he's made specifically for this purpose. It's a pretty common problem.

[darkgael]

The problem is that the bore snake got pulled too far into the barrel........
The reason it is stuck is because the hand loop at the end of the snake got pulled too far into the barrel.

That did not clarify. These two sentences don't work for me. It's the "too far" part in both sentences. If the bore snake is designed to be pulled completely through the barrel from one end to the other, how could it be pulled in too far and get stuck because of that?
Sometimes, as noted earlier, a bore snake will require considerable effort to pull through.
Pete

[Dingoboyx]

As the snake is nylon, can the barrel be removed from the stock and the barrel be put in an oven and bought to a temperature that will shrink the nylon? Would this hurt the temper of the barrel?

I guess also it depends if the brush part of the snake is in there too? I think heat might help tho? Nylon tends to shrink (and go more plastic (harder, perhaps less friction) when heated....

[Alleykat]

Just wish I could find that 23-yr-old that I broke up with about 17 yrs ago! She could blow the B.S. out from the muzzle end!

[comn-cents]

lol that's funny stuff.

[Unclenick]

Skyslash,

Yes, that description did make more sense for me. Where I am mystified, since those tools are meant to pull all the way through a bore, is how it could both be the right size for a .223 barrel and not fit through all the way? I'm guessing you figured that loop was to pull the thing back through the other way, but it is just meant to let you hang the thing up to dry. At the very least, the brush would have to clear the muzzle before you could do that to avoid jamming the brush or marking the bore. Brushes are not meant to be reversed in a bore or they will either jam or mark the bore. Despite the bronze being softer than steel, a borescope will reveal marks from "pinning" brush bristles that way.

I was wondering if the chamber somehow cut the Nylon so it bunched up back there or something? Did the brush portion clear the muzzle?

[oldone]

Oil, compressed air & O2 just don't mix well. Just remember how a diesel works.

[Alleykat]

Cut the barrel off where you can get a good grip on that snake!

[F. Guffey]

I make my own version of a bore snake, by design there is no way it can get stuck.

Someone 30 + or - a few miles southeast of east of you got a 303 British type (Santa Fe Jungle) rifle with a wood dowel stuck in the barrel, or he got the dowel stuck in the barrel, I told him I would help him but he had to promise he would not attempt removing by pounding, he had to try, I did not know if the dowel was solid or two separate dowels, he pounded on one end, the other end did not move, I turned a brass rod down to .308 and gave it to him with a short drill bit with instructions to drill a short distance, remove saw dust, pound and repeat the process until he could measure progress or failure. and then drill again, I never heard from him after that, my plan was to install a screw on the end of the brass rod, screw into the dowel then use a slide and stop to make a slide hammer (pull to stretch) instead of driving (pound and upset). If the screw had removed wood when pulled I had planed to pound and drill again. I do not know what the bore snake company will recommend, but without them I would make a guide that would resemble a case head for a center (guide) and a stop on a drill that would prevent the drill from getting into the neck of the chamber.


As Darkgael said, gain access to the barrel, a case head with part of the body would work as a guide if you enlarge the flash hole for the drill, drill bit stops are available from home depot and Lowes.


F. Guffey

[F. Guffey]

.308 down to .300

sorry about that,

F. Guffey

[honkylips]

Oil, compressed air & O2 just don't mix well. Just remember how a diesel works.

Diesels work with about 20:1 compression, resulting in approximately 1000 degrees Farenheit combustion chamber temperatures. Not applicable here.

[MagnumWill]

Chamber a round in it!

Post a pic, mebbe we can think of something creative.

[bamafan4life]

i might be wrong but are bore snakes made out of cotton or nylon thread? if all else fails u might be able to burn it out! but if it nylon it would probly melt causing the barrel to need to be cleaned real good! but i would not take my advice on this one. cause im not completly sure.

[Tex S]

You might also be able to find a set of long-nosed hemostats (the very thin locking clamps that doctors use in surgery) that might be able to grab the end.

Doctors use them in surgery? Is that what those things are really for?

Sorry guys... I couldn't resist.

[SkySlash]

Here's the story of how I did this.

I usually always clean this particular rifle, a very high end custom-built AR-15, very meticulously and with great care using a bore guide, a brush, and other assorted specialty cleaning tools. For whatever idiotic dumb**** reason I can't recall, I decided to run a bore snake through it to see how well it would clean. I used a .223 Bore Snake, and tried to pull the snake through the barrel completely. No dice. The Bore Snake has a hand loop on the end which was designed to stop at the breech, and then be pulled back out using the hand loop. I, unfortunately, forgot this bit of detail. I normally only use a bore snake on my cheap .22's, and in those, it is not possible for the hand loop to get pulled into the barrel. Unfortunately for me, the .223 has a larger case and the chamber is large enough for the handle to get caught in.

I pulled it into the chamber, and then stared at it confused when it wouldn't pull any further. About that time, I realize what had occurred, and decided to try and get the hand loop back out of the chamber to pull the snake out. At the time, I had no tools to accomplish this, and I failed horribly. I decided to try and pull the snake from the muzzle end, to no avail. I had about 2 feet of snake hanging out the muzzle, so I tied it around a post, and pulled as hard as I could. Too my dismay, and shock, the bore snake broke off inside the barrel rather than pulling through, and all that accomplished was pulling the snake further into the barrel.

I asked a friend for advice, and did what he suggested. He suggested I soak the snake in penetrating oil by pouring it into the chamber until it began dripping out the other end. This took about 4 days of soaking to accomplish. Once that was complete, I did Step 2 of his plan which was to tap the snake with a rod from the muzzle end until it came out the chamber end. Stupidly, I got these instructions reversed in my head and I tapped from the chamber end instead. I managed over the course of hours, to get the snake to move about 6" further into the barrel. Once I couldn't get it to move any further, I decided to revisit the friends instructions, and realized I had been tapping from the wrong end. I then proceeded to tap the snake from the other end, and it moved about 6" into the barrel, but hasn't moved any closer to the chamber end. I now have about 5" of snake, compacted and stuck halfway into the 16" barrel from both ends.

At this point, I went to the gun show, bought hemostats, jags, specialty tools, and talked to every gunsmith at the show for suggestions. Every single one of them suggested doing exactly what my friend suggested, but did the face when I told them what I had done so far to try and remove the snake. At that point, to a man, they all said take it to a gun smith.

So that's when I posted this thread, out of frustration, but in looking at a lot of the options, I'm stuck. Chemically removing the nylon is a poor idea, so no dice there as it can harm the metal. I have thought about burning it out, but I haven't thought of a way to heat the barrel, without risking affecting the finish on it. At this point, I have found a reputable gunsmith, and I'm taking it to him this afternoon for a quote.

Hopefully he can fix it, if not, I'm out a barrel I can't replace because they aren't made any longer. All because I tried to take a lazy mans shortcut with a damn boresnake. Let this be a lesson to some of you out there, don't take shortcuts, and damn sure don't do it with your most prized weapon...

-SS

[SkySlash]

Just dropped it off at the gunsmith. He said $35 and it'd be ready in a week. He doesn't think it'll be too difficult to remove, but if it is he'll double the price.

I expect to pay double, but $70 is still far cheaper than I figured it would be.

Should have just done this to start with...I've spent 3x that on tools trying to fix it myself.

-SS

[skydiver3346]

Exactly what he said makes the most sense. I might make one extra suggestion. On the brass rod, attach a .22 caliber brass cleaning jag to help push the Bore Snake out (no damage to the end of your brass rod this way). Gently start tapping the rod and increase pressure on the tapping until it comes out. Best of luck......

[hogdogs]

Call me crazy but I can't justify paying anyone to do any service other than surgery (for minor stuff like stitches or staples I do myself unless on left hand/arm then I make mrs.hogdogs help me)... Small diameter long (4 inch or better) brass screw and a dent puller...
Or any other of numerous tricks up my sleeve...
Brent

[impalacustom]

You do realize everytime you reverse the direction of that boresnake your ruining the bore because the brass bristles are "biting" into the barrel. Bore snakes are meant to be pulled completely through, loop end and all. Never ever stop a brass brush and reverse the direction, even on a cleaning rod. Go all the way through.

[darkgael]

Sky: When it is ready and you go to pick it up, please ask the smith how he got the snake out. We'd (probably) all like to know. I would for sure.
Pete

[SDC]

You do realize everytime you reverse the direction of that boresnake your ruining the bore because the brass bristles are "biting" into the barrel.

You're definitely going to have to work HARDER, because you're trying to reverse the direction of the brush (ie. bending the bristles back against themselves), but "ruining the bore" is ludicrous; for that to happen, the bronze wires making up the brush would have to be harder than the steel barrel, which simply isn't going to happen, any more than if you had a piece of marshmallow stuck in the barrel.

[impalacustom]

SDC, run a borescope up a barrel someone reversed a brush on and look at the "pits" the brush left. You definition of a ruined barrel might be different than mine. Sure the gun will still shoot, but it sure isn't something I'd recommend doing. I'd whoop some ass if someone did that to my Bartlein.

[SDC]

Once again, you're not going to make a "pit" in a barrel with a brush made of a softer material than the barrel is made of, any more than you're going to drill a hole in a receiver with a drill made out of a green bean. You may end up smearing lubricant or left-over jacket material around (making it APPEAR to be a pit), but that's a far, far cry from either "pitting" or "ruining" a barrel.

[SweetKnuckles]

The greenbean drill gave a funny image.


Sky, please keep us updated.

.bookmarked.