Stuck Bore Snake

[39flathead]

I know,But i still need help.

Hammer the wooden dowel down the bore after soaking the snake in oil for a couple days if need be, don't try pushing it by hand.

It doesn't matter if it bunches up, it will still compress and drive out.


I see this often enough and have never not been able to get one out.

The worst are when a guy tries pulling the wrong caliber through.
A 30 through a 22 gets quite stuck.


Throw them away when you start to see any kind of fraying.

[cephas]

Note what flathead said about driving the dowel down after soaking. Don't let dowel in barrel while soaking or it may swell some and cling to the barrel. Don't ask me how I know!

[ItchyTick]

I got it out! Thanks everyone for all your suggestions, most notably Mr. Guns and Glass. I tied the end of the snake to a tree in my backyard and gave it a tug. After it popped out, I cut it just to make sure I never make the mistake of using it again.

Much appreciated guys. Now I can breathe again.

Wow, good thing you didn't have to take it to the gynecologist.

Could have been embarrasing.

[imashooter2]

Driving wood into the barrel has the potential of making a bad situation much, much worse. Buy a properly sized brass or aluminum rod for the task or bite the bullet and take it to a smith that will already have same.

[39flathead]

Driving wood into the barrel has the potential of making a bad situation much, much worse. Buy a properly sized brass or aluminum rod for the task or bite the bullet and take it to a smith that will already have same.

Hmm, strange I know a smith pretty well, and he uses a hardwood dowel...

Just how do you suppose wood is going to be worse than soft brass or aluminum?

With such a small bore diameter, a brass rod will bend like a wet dog turd when you start whacking it with a hammer and aluminum gets embedded with all kinds of debris.



But hey, what would I know.

[Guns & Glass]

Think about how the Bore Snake:
1. Is fabricated.
2, What it's made from.
3, What happens to the BS when it get stuck.

So, if the previous methods have not worked, then it's time to attack #2 using what's known about #1 & #3.

Barrel is ordance grade steel that can withstand the heat of extremely hot gasses & the high pressures/friction of a 'closed' tube with a bullet being forcefully pushed thru it.

Invert barrel securely, insert wooden dowel that's close to the bore diameter reducing flex. Using something like a barbeque grill flame lighter(high flame), or a pencil torch (low setting), position flame/heat so it travels up into the barrel, Should go w/out saying that it should be done on the stuck end.

Allow heat (aka have patience) to soften/melt the BS woven material which will relax the pressure of the wire strands.

Tap on dowel...stuck BS will move so continue to tap.Iif BS stops moving ...reheat & repeat.

After BS is out, if BS has small sections that look like the melted woven material has pull away some is still in the barrel stuck on the lands/edges.

Clean barrel using a solvent for shotgun barrels that also works on 'plastics' to remove any traces.

If the melted material has twisted ridges, then most of the remaining melted material will be in the grove, and after a few rounds are shot thru it will be gone.

Personally like BS, but for rifled barrels use one smaller size that recommended, wrap a quality patch that just covers the wire strands when wrapped around it.

If barrel is extremely loaded I use a foaming solvent, plug & wait letting the cleaning agent do it's job. Sometims I'll repeat the process.
Discovered when I use wrong tools, parts, etc., for some crazy reason even wrong techniques I cause more trouble than I care to admit. Won't add in being impaitient so I'll leave that to imagination

[imashooter2]

Hmm, strange I know a smith pretty well, and he uses a hardwood dowel...

Just how do you suppose wood is going to be worse than soft brass or aluminum?

With such a small bore diameter, a brass rod will bend like a wet dog turd when you start whacking it with a hammer and aluminum gets embedded with all kinds of debris.



But hey, what would I know.

When wood dowels break they usually do so on a long angle and the two pieces can and often do get hopelessly wedged in the bore. When that happens, the gunsmith will have to drill the wood out slowly using a spade bit made from brass. Hardwood dowels can be used to lightly push objects from the bore / chamber. A soft ball for slugging or a lightly stuck case for instance. But driving wood into the bore to remove a tight non moving obstruction is a fool's errand.

Get a brass or aluminum rod that closely matches bore diameter. They can be obtained in far more diameters than wooden dowels, will bend less and won't get stuck in the bore like broken wood.

Now you know.

[39flathead]

When wood dowels break they usually do so on a long angle and the two pieces can and often do get hopelessly wedged in the bore. When that happens, the gunsmith will have to drill the wood out slowly using a spade bit made from brass. Hardwood dowels can be used to lightly push objects from the bore / chamber. A soft ball for slugging or a lightly stuck case for instance. But driving wood into the bore to remove a tight non moving obstruction is a fool's errand.

Get a brass or aluminum rod that closely matches bore diameter. They can be obtained in far more diameters than wooden dowels, will bend less and won't get stuck in the bore like broken wood.

Now you know.

Obviously you don't know sarcasm when you read it.

I have removed at least a dozen stuck snakes from customer guns over the years, all with hardwood dowels.
Never had one split like you described yet.

Guess I'm just a lucky fool.

Appreciate your advice.

[MARINE DIVISION TWO]

Remove it the same way you would with a stuck lead ball ! Attached a smaller screw to the push rod,gently go in 1-2 turns to screw into the snake and pull out,it will do the job with patience !

[guns54]

When wood dowels break they usually do so on a long angle and the two pieces can and often do get hopelessly wedged in the bore. When that happens, the gunsmith will have to drill the wood out slowly using a spade bit made from brass. Hardwood dowels can be used to lightly push objects from the bore / chamber. A soft ball for slugging or a lightly stuck case for instance. But driving wood into the bore to remove a tight non moving obstruction is a fool's errand.

Get a brass or aluminum rod that closely matches bore diameter. They can be obtained in far more diameters than wooden dowels, will bend less and won't get stuck in the bore like broken wood.

Now you know.

Hi. I just called ruger and they said to use the brass rod, Now i have to find a brass rod, I have tryed every thing but that, If i cant get it out, Iam sending it to ruger, I did not see that not. Its a mini-183.Got it when they frist came out. My grandson used the bore snake last,I ask him how he cleaned his shotgun with it, He didnt say much. Ha Ha.