Stuck Case in Armalite AR

[308win]

I bought one thousand rounds of Wolf 62gr on line. I went to sight in my AR with this ammunition yesterday and had a lot of issues that I have never had with reloads - mags jamming, failure to feed, failure to go into battery, and the last straw, a jammed fired case. The bolt seems to be seating fully but the case won't extract. The extractor appears to be fine - no chips, cracks, etc. that I can see. Anyone had this problem with Wolf 62gr?

More importantly, what is the best way to get the stuck round out? I haven't tried anything yet and my first thought is to take an aluminum cleaning rod, wrap it with one layer of slick electrical tape and try to drive the stuck round out. All suggestions appreciated.

 

[Gary G23]

I think you should have started with one box of Wolf instead of a whole case. Sell whats left to someone that has a rifle it will work in.

Yep the cleaning rod is the way to get it out.

 

[Onmilo]

Drizzle a little penetratng oil like Kroil around the case and let the upper receiver sit muzzle down for a few hours.

Try a solid non-jointed rod and for Pete's sake don't wrap anything around the rod!
You stick that rod in the bore you WILL need the services of a gunsmith.

Insert the rod until it bottoms on the case head and give the rod a few mild whacks with a rubber or plastic mallet.
Not too hard, you don't want to punch the bottom out of the case head.
The case should pop out. If it doesn't take the upper to a gunsmith familiar with this little issue.

 

[Tin Gizel]

Was trying to use Wolf 55gr? at a recent class. 3rd or 4th mag got a stuck case. Got laughed at, and made fun of, took a cleaning rod and pushed out the stuck case. Shot brass the rest of the day with no probs. Then cleaned the chamber really good that night to get all the polymer stuff out.

My rifle will shoot Wolf fine so long as I don't let it get hot at all. Don't have enough left to 'sell' it off, so I'll just shoot up the rest slowly when I have a cleaning rod laying around.

When it counts, I only use brass now.

 

[Onmilo]

Tin Gizel you learned a valuable secret to steel case problem.
When the barrel and chamber are still hot and expanded, you can usually pop the case out of the chamber with a cleaning rod and if need be, a squirt of bore solvent, CLP, whatever you have around the chamber area.

If the case is left in place and the barrel allowed to cool and contract, this is where things can get interesting and sometimes expensive.

I have been forced to remove the barrels on a few rifles, chuck the barrel in a barrel vice and use an easy out and a t-handle to remove the stuck steel cases from the chambers.

 

[308win]

Tin Gizel
What did you clean the chamber with? I am thinking chamber brush and some kind of fairly aggressive solvent like brake cleaner. These are steel cases so how aggressive can one get with pounding on the rod? Any chance of a case head separation?

 

[308win]

Onmilo

I had only fired either 4 or 5 rounds over about a five minute period so the chamber should have had minimal expansion. Any suggestions about what to use to clean the chamber?

Wouldn't it be better to use the penetrating oil from the muzzle end and let the upper sit muzzle up as the case is tapered?

 

[strat81]

308win,
Gun Scrubber or brake cleaner along with a bronze brush should clean out any goop that may have accumulated. Most solvents aren't strong enough to remove the melted plastic/polymer/goop. I say Gun Scrubber or brake cleaner because shotgun guys often use those to remove the melted plastic from shells. Follow up with your favorite cleaner (CLP?) and you're fine. Some folks say it's not the polymer shell coating that's the problem, it's the bullet and primer sealants that can cause it.

If you use a dowel or cleaning rod and knock the case head off, buy a broken shell extractor from Midway.
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=250034&t=11082005
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=878187&t=11082005

Before I'd tap a case out with a rod or dowel, I'd spray some Kroil, RemOil, or CLP down the muzzle, enough to reach the breech.

Good luck.

 

[Onmilo]

I don't personally care for gun scrubber or brake cleaner.
Way too aggressive and unneccesary.

I personally use M-Pro 7 Bore cleaner and a nylon chamber brush.
This combination is more than adequate to get the chamber clean but a bronze/stainless mil-spec chamber brush will do just as well if that is all you have.

Tap don't pound.
If you try pounding you will only succeed in punching the rod through the bottom of the case.
Fun and cussing will ensue.

Thing is, I go from the bottom up because I don't like Kroil, or any penetrating oil sitting in the bore itself for any length of time.
I feel this can cause etching of the steel and we don't want this in a barrel bore.

 

[Baron Holbach4]

Anyone had this problem with Wolf 62gr?

Can you determine if the Wolf ammo you are using contains the lacquer-coated or polymer-coated steel cases? Here is a link that might shed some light on your Wolf ammo:

http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.guns/2005-08/msg01331.html

And this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_Ammunition#Lacquer_coating

 

[308win]

It is the newer polymer coating. The sealant around the primer is red. Like I said, 4 or 5 rounds in five or more minutes. The bore and chamber are chromed (according to the manual). I will give it a shot of ClenzOil tonite and try to drive the case out tomorrow evening.

What I don't understand is why the magazines would bind. These are the CMP magazines and I have never had problems with reloads. The cases feel 'slick' but not oily from the polymer. I am going to measure the loaded ammunition and see if it is in spec for .223.

 

[Onmilo]

I have been shooting a lot of steel case stuff here lately since it is about the cheapest practice ammo going.
I haven't had a major stuck case issue personally but I shoot a lot more Barnaul ammo than I do Wolf, thanks to Glenn Zanders down in Baldwin.

In every stuck case rifle I have dealt with save one, the ammunition was Wolf.
One was a Barnaul Silver Bear if I remember correctly that also involved a case head failure.

I personally don't think the Wolf sticking problem is with the coating or the sealant.
I think cases get through and get loaded and past inspection that are grossly out of dimensional tolerence, but what the hell do I know!?