Stuck Bore Snake

[guns54]

Broke a wooden dowel off while slugging a barrel. Very frustrating and difficult to remove. Got a small stash of brass rods over the years, but luckily haven't needed them.

Are you talking about the cleaning rods,If so i tryed they, What kind of bress rods are you talking about, And would you sell me one that i could use on the mini-14. I have a lot of bress cleaning rods but would not work.Cant find them any where here. Guns54@comcast.net best when to get to me. Chris in ohio. 43953

[imashooter2]

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.

Google brass round bar or go to a local machine shop and ask where they would get small lot brass round bar. C360 1/2 hard will be fine.

[guns54]

Google brass round bar or go to a local machine shop and ask where they would get small lot brass round bar. C360 1/2 hard will be fine.

Hi.I will see if i can find one,We dont have a machine shop, Ill keep looking,Thank you very much sir, Have a safe night. Guns54

[cephas]

Brass rods can be found online where gunsmith supplies are sold, like Brownells. I have seen them in Home Depot and Lowes but have no idea of their quality. Did get a couple at Tractor Supply. The gunsmith suppliers can provide a rod specific to caliber otherwise measurements may be necessary.

[Guns & Glass]

Do not overly complicate something that's so simple.

THINK of how & what a BS is made of, and how it works.

Bore snakes get stuck for mainly 4 reasons:
1. Wrong size.
2. Stopped pull thru when getting tight...then tried to push backward.
3. Damaged bristles. Bent, rolled over, matted twisted wires.
4. Wrong size patch!

The webbing (patch also) collects copper, lead, fluids. Pulling a dirty BS doesn't compress as much so it's harder to pull thru the bore. Clean it in sudsy soapy water using a quality detergent like Dawn, and rinse well.

Brass wires need to stay in the shape/profile like they were made. Must be able to flex rearward, and compress a little. WHEN damaged (out of shape) they can't compress, and flex like normal so that increases resistance.

When most BS get stuck, it's any combination of the above 4 situations.

A stuck BS has compacted webbing, and more often than not damaged bristles. Wrong size patch makes it like a compacted wad all exerting outward pressure on the inside of the bore.

Sooooooo, if the webbing/patch is softened (even melted) via heat....the outward pressure is reduced allowing the BS to be pulled thru.

NEVER reverse pull-push a BS!!!!!

Use wooden/plastic dowels/rods for a lot of things. Reduce splitting dowels/rods by;
Use proper dowel diameter fit the job,
Grind/file a small radius on the both the end edges,
Strike squarely,

KISS! NASA just put the Rover on Mars. That's rocket science. This isn't.

[bripro]

Here's what I did by accident but it worked great. Take a metal or brass rod and heat up the end. I used a propane torch but any good flame should work the same. Once it's nice in hot put it into the barrel from the chamber end and make good contact with the snake. You should hear a sizzle as the snake melts and bonds itself to the rod. Wait a minute or 2 as it cools then pull it out backwards enough to get the knot out. It's the same concept as the fishing hook on a dowel but it seems to work. This seems to happen more than you could ever imagine. Good luck

[guns54]

Hi. My son got it out last night, He used a very small fish hook with fishing line on it, After a well he got hold of the snake and it can right out, I was trying every thing i could think of no go. Man iam i glad its out. i was at it for over 5 days for sure, some times 1/2 a day.I think some one posted about trying the fish hook. ever one have a safe night. P.S. I for got to say,Iput a lot of oil in the bore very day, so that may have helped it to come out easy when useing the hook.

[carbine-13]

I can top all of these "stuck bore snake" stories. I short sporting clays last Friday and had to clean two shot guns. My first mistake was cleaning them when I was tired, which caused stupidity to set in. The bore snake was difficult to pull through the first gun's barrels, and I should have stopped then. Letting stupidity win out, I started the bore snake on the second gun's barrel and it was so difficult to pull through that the cord broke. Now I got even stupider. I oiled the snake and tried hammering it out with a 5/8" wooden dowel. Then, I really dialed up the stupid and tried hammering it out in BOTH directions! (I know, I know . . .) Now the bore snake was really stuck!

Here's how I got it out without damaging my barrel. This being a 12 gauge shotgun, I bought a 5/8" wooden dowel, a 5/8" Forstner bit, and a 19/64" drill bit. I already had a long (16") 3/8" spade bit. I cut four pieces of dowel, each 3" long. Using the Forstner bit, I drilled a 5/8" hole in a large block of wood. By putting the dowel pieces in the large block of wood, using my drill press, I was able to drill 19/64" holes through the center of the dowels. I then put these dowels over the shank of the 3/8" spade bit and put the bit into my cordless screwdriver. The dowels kept the bit centered in the bore.

Using my cordless drill to spin the bit slowly, I gently attacked the snake from the muzzle end. The bit tore up the snake and I removed small pieces each time. Most of the time, the pieces of the snake were wrapped around the screw point of the bit. After about 20 such attacks, I could feel the jammed end of the snake tear apart. The I inserted a dowel in the breech end and was able to push the dead bore snake out of the barrel.

Whew! Lesson(s) learned!

[Marcus99]

Anytime I get something stuck in my barrel I just fire a live round down it!

(Just kidding; never do that!)