[HI-MILER]

I own a Tokarev SVT-40 rifle, that I've barely fired. Unfortunately, the bottom of a round broke off upon firing and the rest of the casing's stuck in the barrel. Took it to a gunsmith, he handed it back to me. Nobody wants to try to work on it. They say it's "too much work, and an extractor won't do the job". I have the feeling that a new barrel woudl be the quickest way out of this....
Being an 'antique", should I opt for a new barrel (prob. lots of $$), or part the gun out? it's only had 10 or 20 rounds through it (2 clips)....
Thoughts??

[lathedog]

I'm surprised a gunsmith would not be able to remedy this quickly. If I understand you correctly, you had a case head separation and the neck portion of a fired case is stuck in the chamber.

Get a broken shell extractor for $20 and remove the stuck case yourself. I recall seeing several places selling a 7.62x54 broken shell extractor in shotgun news recently. Check MidwayUSA and Brownells. Other places may have them too, like Cheaper then Dirt and other wholesalers. Try a google search.

Rebarreling would be a whole world of hurt to your wallet. I cannot imagine where to get a spare SVT-40 barrel, except to have one custom made.

Experiencing a broken shell casing is not too common today as factory ammo in the US is pretty darned good in quality, but it is a simple enought task. Most good books on general gunsmithing show alternative methods to do this if you do not have the special tool.

[rcmodel]

Very often you can easily get a broken case out with nothing more then a cleaning rod & oversize bore-brush.

Insert the rod down the barrel, screw the brush on, then pull it partway into the chamber. The over-size brush bristles will fold back slightly in order to go in the smaller bore.

Now, tap the rod back out, and very often, the brush will catch the case mouth enough to pop it right out.

Regardless, you do not need a new barrel.
Sounds more like you just need a new gunsmith!

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/rcmodel/KTOG/1224.gif
rcmodel

[Cosmoline]

Broken shell extractor, and I like rcmodel's suggestion. Either way this should not be anything too serious. Just don't use anything that could damage the chamber.

[Jim K]

A regular .30-'06 broken shell remover will work fine. The extractor won't grasp it, but once it engages the case mouth you can tap it and the case out with a cleaning rod. Then turn the gas regulator down a notch and see if that will stop the broken case problem.

FWIW, I suspect your "gunsmith" didn't even know what it was. Most modern gunsmiths only want to work on custom rifles and high ticket shotguns.

Jim