Help! Headless Casing Stuck In Chamber!

[The Mighty Beagle]

So there I was shooting my SW99 and 'poof'. I look down into my chamber and my reload's case has blown apart at the rim. Ok I'm thinking ... the gun is still in one piece, just looks like a stuck casing to poke out with my cleaning rod ...

And then the rear of the casing falls off.

Great, now I've got a headless casing stuck in my chamber, and the gun won't come apart now. All I can do is lock the slide back, which gives no room to work in really.

Any thoughts?

 

[VictorLouis]

Maybe you can get inside it with one of these?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=610

Like for opening C-clips, the 'jaws' expand outward when you squeeze the handle allowing you to grip the case from the inside. Perhaps, you may be able to get the teeth in front of the case to pull back on the case mouth?

Either way, probably a good applicaion of WD-40 between the case wall and the chamber would likely be a good idea.

 

[lycanthrope]

Try a WOODEN dowel rod down the barrel (be careful around that crown) if you can't get some pliers in there.

 

[1911Tuner]

Stuck case

Get a large lag screw...tapered with sharp, self tapping threads...that's
about the right size. Take the barrel out and lightly thread the screw into the case walls. Not too tight, or you'll cut through the soft brass and into the chamber...just enough to get a bite. Clamp the head of the screw in a vise and pull on the barrel. The case should turn loose. That there's
whatcha call a field expedient ruptured case extractor.

Luck to ya!

Tuner

 

[Jim K]

If a headless case extractor is not available, one way is to use an appropriate size tap. Remove the barrel, insert the tap into the case, give it just enough of a turn to bite into the brass, then use a cleaning rod to push it out from the front, bringing the case with it.

Jim

 

[mete]

After the penetrant like WD40 putting it in the freezer might help due to the difference in thermal expansion between brass and steel.

 

[Big_R]

The above are good suggestions, so here's the "if all else fails" trick.

Take it to a smith who does chamber casts. Have him plug the back of the case and fill it with creosafe. Once it hardens, it can be drive out. I don't think this will be necessary since you have a straight walled case but you never know. This is more useful in extracting rifle cases.

Ryan

 

[SDC]

If you have a cleaning rod and a .45-calibre bronze brush, one trick that has worked in the past is to push the rod down from the muzzle, thread on the brush from the chamber end, then pull the brush into the headless case; this leaves the bristles on the brush pointing back and gripping (sort of) the inside of the case, so you can give it a tap. That should loosen it up enough that it'll come out for you. HTH.

 

[Rottweiler]

Big R beat me to it. I've done this one a couple times. Works great and doesn't damage anything

 

[another okie]

I had a jacketed .45 stuck halfway down the barrel (my reloading error as a newbie). When I drove the bullet out it left some of the jacket behind, which I could not get out. I finally went to a gunsmith and he used some stuff that I guess is what Big R is referring to, though the gunsmith didn't know the name of it. (It was the owner's helper, not the big guy.)

The stuff was a gray bar, looking sort of like solder, and he melted some of it down the barrel. It then cooled and formed a plug, which he drove out from the muzzle, bringing the jacket with it. It worked fine and did not damage the barrel. I had never seen that before. I would have assumed you needed to drive it out from the chamber in the direction bullets normally travel, but live and learn!

 

[BEARMAN]

You could try a tight bronze bristle brush on a cleaning rod, push part way down barrel, then spray the chamber with CO2 FROM A CO2 FIRE EXTINGUISHER or any other CO2 source , then push the rod and cartridge out. The idea being that the CO2 freezes the barrel and the steel barrel expands more than the brass, this was suggested to remove stuck brass in reloading dies. It sounds like you have more problems, if a headless case, stuck in the chamber prevents you from disassembling your gun. GOOD LUCK.