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How To Remove A Stuck Live Round In A Chamber
-- Robert Coles
This is a solution I found while figuring out how to remove a stuck live round in a chamber (I was able to open the bolt):
Regarding a Browning BAR 30.06 with a stuck live round in the chamber. A recap of when the customer brought the rifle in; after firing a round (factory ammo) he tried to chamber a hand load of unknown specs. ( 30.06 case). The bolt would not close into battery and after repeated slamming of the bolt to try and chamber the round he brought it to me to extract. A call to several long served local gunsmiths proved to be unsuccessful on finding a shop that had any helpful advice, then a call to Browning arms service techs also turned out to be of no help (can’t ship a loaded gun) and they would not sell any detailed strip down manuals (barrel removal, pressed fit, pinned, threaded). Other advice from AGA ( American gunsmith association) referred to killing the primer and powder in a K1 Kerosene bath however that still left me with an uneasy feeling if I tried to “push out the live round”. After talking to Federal Primers about primers and gunpowder reacting to “friction” from trying to drive out the round I decided to look into a chemical solution to dissolve brass or slightly reduce the O.D. of the case, ferric chloride leaves sediment during the etching process needing flushing and I didn’t know what the reaction would be if any seeped into the case mixing with the powder and primer, and it might slightly etch the bore!
Then I remembered what was said about Hoppes eating your brass brush and jags after cleaning out the bore so I filled the barrel half full with #9 Hoppes and with the bolt locked open I placed a rag at the base of the cartridge in the action to soak up any seeping liquid. Note: prior to the #9 Hoppes I had filled the bore half full with Kroil penetrate to attempt to loosen things up, then empting out the bore before filling with Hoppes. One day later after the #9 Hoppes flooding when inspecting the rifle the bolt still would not lock up and with a rag loosely in the action I wacked the buttstock on the floor…..the round popped out of the chamber and had been eaten just enough by the Hoppes to release the grip of being stuck. I was lucky to be able and remove the round this way and have inspected the rifle for safe firing, after a through cleaning of the bore this touchy job will be over.
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