AR15 stuck cleaning rod

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breakingcontact

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This isn't my rifle, no really it isn't!

A friend of mine was given an upper with a cleaning rod stuck in the barrel. It had a cleaning patch on it (must have been too large) and the fellow was attempting to stuff it down the barrel from the breech. So the cleaning rod is sticking into the chamber area about 3 inches with threads exposed.

My initial question isn't how to get it out, but which way should it come out? Should he drive it farther down the barrel and send it out the muzzle or try to pull it or push it so it comes out the breech?

Also, what's proper, to push cleaning rods down the barrel or to pull them?
 
Pour enough oil down the barrel to soak the patch from both ends, let it sit to make sure it's soaked, then give a go at it.
 
As a last resort you could bun out the patch with a propane torch. Just scrub well afterwards with a bore brush. Really though just tapping it with a hammer should get it out. If it went in that far it can go all the way through.
 
Solid brass rod, upper receiver held in a vise block, solid whacks with a hammer.

As a last resort, pulling the barrel from the upper may make the rod easier to get at if it is just protruding a few inches into the upper, as I understand that it is.
 
If it really is a patch then it shouldn't matter which way. If it's a brass brush, then it must continue in the same direction.
There are various chemicals that can dissolve a patch without harming the barrel. Even a brass brush can be dissolved.
Hammering a rod thru will almost certainly damage the barrel.
 
Do you know for sure if its a patch on a jag, or loop style end or a bronze brush. Do you know what size it is . It appears that we are all assuming its a 224 patch holder or brush. It may well be something that is the wrong size.
I would say it has to cone back out, not continue through. If the threaded end part of the jag/or brush is to large, that is what could be stuck in the neck of the chamber or throat and I wouldn't want to continue down the barrel with it.
I would suggest that using drill bits, measure the bore. Then get a brass rod of the desired size and length. On one end of the rod use a drill a concave in it. Your doing this because if its a jag there will be a point that will fit into the concave and help center and hold the rod in the barrel. In the case that its a brush it should do the same thing but with a little more difficulty. The bronze bristles should crush allowing it to back out. Soak it up good with cleaning solvent and knock it out.
It sounds like you have access to the threads on what ever you have in there, If you could get a rod screwed on and then devise some sort of a pulling device to assist you when you when you try to knock it out. It would be a big advantage.
 
I answered your post on another forum but was unsure about which end of the rod is accessible. When you said "about 3" w/threads", does that mean the handle end or the patch end?
If you can access the handle end clamp the Vise-Grips on and pull the rod out. If the patch end is sticking out, support the receiver(be careful since that's aluminum and can be deformed/broken by improper clamping or support) and drive the rod back w/o belling or bending the end. Then use the Vise-Grips on the other end. A GOOD pair of Vise-Grips is your friend in this endeavor. Tightly clamped to the rod, a hammer can be applied to the Vise-Grips and/or the rod can be twisted to get some slack(don't twist it off).
Also, if the patch end is sticking out and the rod is stuck, most likely the rod punched through the patch and it's wedged around the rod somewhere within the bore. Using more oil make cause the patch material to swell even more. If the handle end is now jammed into the receiver, you'll have to drive the rod back far enough to Dremel the handle end off and then pull the rod out the muzzle. As long as you have something to get hold of at one end or the other, don't try using something to drive the rod out. That is almost sure to damage the bore because anything small enough to enter a 22 bore will deform when hammered.
 
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I'll third the oil comments, Had this happen to me before... Just dump some GUN oil down the barrel and it'll soak the patch. Should come right out.
 
Mobuck said:
I answered your post on another forum but was unsure about which end of the rod is accessible. When you said "about 3" w/threads", does that mean the handle end or the patch end?
Click to expand...

The handle end is accessible but not really. About 3-4 inches are sticking out into the chamber area. The patch is stuck in the barrel.

Taking the barrel off the upper receiver would probably be necessary to get a good grip on the rod.

I too like the idea of pulling instead of driving it out.
 
You can easily push it out back into the breech area by simply running a wooden dowel down the barrel from the crown side. Or if you have a pull through cable type deal then just run it down the opposite way. You would be surprised how easily they will usually come out but will be tough as hell trying to push from the other direction. As far as if it is a brush, why does it have to continue the same way? Most barrels are ridiculously hardened steel. I don't see how a brush swapping directions is going to harm anything. Bronze is much softer than steel. Some might argue that it will cause cross hatching on your rifling but I seriously doubt it and even if it did it would be worked out with a few rounds down the barrel anyways.
 
a brush swapping directions wont harm it but it will flip some of the bristles around and make it way harder to pull or push out.


soak it with oil and push it out with a brass rod. easiest and best way to do it
 
If it's only 3" into the barrel from the breech, then, For GAWD's SAKE, drive it back out the breech from the muzzle end!!
 
Squibb round with bullet stuck in barrel, Squibb rod. Over length cartridge stuck in barrel/chamber, Squibb rod. Patch & cleaning rod stuck in barrel, Squibb rod.
 
simply running a wooden dowel down the barrel
Click to expand...

Absolutely do not follow this advice. Using a wood dowel in a barrel is asking for trouble. When the dowel breaks, the two pieces can become wedged inside the barrel, and you will find yourself trying to solve two problems instead of one.

There was a thread on this forum not long ago, where a shooter received a barrel from a friend with a stuck cleaning rod inside. When the manufacturer was contacted, they offered to try to remove the rod for free. The OP got impatient and tried to fix it himself with one bad idea after the next. He ended up jamming things up inside the barrel so badly that the manufacturer took back their offer to help.

If you can't tap the cleaning rod back out through the breech using a solid brass rod, or remove the barrel and pull the cleaning rod out, using chemicals to desolve the patch might be your only option.
 
I've noticed several of you suggested dissolving the patch. What chemical would you use for this?
 
A small amount of Zippo fluid and a match, done outdoors. Set it across a safe surface like a BBQ grill or a long piece of aluminum foil. Still don't understand the aversion to a brass rod which is what everyone and their brother uses.
 
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