Dealing With A Stuck Chambered Round

As hunting season begins here in Michigan I can count on receiving several calls dealing with dirty, jamming, mistreated guns from the previous season that should have been repaired right after last season. One particular call that was a bit touchy as it dealt with a stuck live round in the chamber! After a conversation with the customer on the condition of the rifle I now had it on the work bench and started to examine methods of safe extraction.

This article will cover a method I found to be very effective and safe to use by chemically removing the live round. The customer’s rifle in question was a Browning BAR .30-06 semiautomatic. After firing around of factory ammo he tried to chamber a hand load of unknown specs. The rifle would not fully chamber the cartridge and after repeated slamming of the bolt to try and force the round he brought it to me to extract.

The bolt would close enough for the extractor to grab the case rim, however, force applied to the charging handle to extract the round would just pop the extractor back over the case rim leaving a stuck cartridge. I was able to lock the bolt open and inspect the case head through the action. Phone calls to several long-serving local gunsmiths proved to be unsuccessful on finding a shop that had any helpful advice. A call to Browning’s service techs also turned out to be of no help.

Obviously, I couldn’t ship a loaded gun to them and the company would not sell any manual on detail strip- The author found that a combination of Kroil Penetrating Oil and Hoppe’s No. 9 made the job much safer to complete without incident. ping or factory specs—such as barrel removal, what parts are pressed fit, pinned, threaded, etc.—since I am not an authorized Browning repair shop.

Advice for my dilemma from fellow gunsmiths suggested killing the primer and powder in a K-1 Kerosene bath, however, that still would leave me with an uneasy feeling when I tried to push out the live round. The thought of placing a drive rod down the bore and setting the bullet deep into the mostly-chambered cartridge gave me grave thoughts of what might happen if the round went off. Yes, we all have seen photos of banana pealed barrels from accidentally plugged bores.

After talking to a Federal Cartridge Company tech about primers and gunpowder reacting to friction from trying to drive out the round I learned they do not test primers for reverse pressure on them as would result from pushing the bullet into the case. The Federal tech went the extra mile and researched possible reactions of tapping on the bullet with a fully charged case of gunpowder and alive primer. These Federal employees are great guys to offer such extensive help in my touchy situation and I am greatly ap-

Just enough of the brass was removed by Hoppe’s and loosened with Kroil to pop out. preciative of all the help and advice on primers and powder sensitive issues they gave me. Despite the help, no one ever said that it’s safe to pound on the bullet to drive out around from the chamber. This type of action is not encouraged by any means and should be avoided if at all possible. I decided to look into a chemical solution to dissolve brass or slightly reduce the outside diameter of the case.

My first thought was to use ferric chloride, however, it leaves sediment during the etching process, which needs flushing, and I didn’t know what the reaction would be if any seeped into the case mixing with the powder and primer. Also, this might slightly etch the bore. Not a good choice so I needed to think of a commonly available brass etchant chemical that is barrel-steel friendly. Then I remembered what has been said about Hoppe’s eating your brass brush and jags after cleaning out the bore.

To prepare for this method Ifi rst filled the bore half full with Kroil Penetrating Oil in an attempt to loosen things up. After a good soak, I emptied the bore of Kroil and filled the barrel half full with Hoppe’s No. 9, leaving the bolt locked open and placing a rag at the base of the cartridge in the action to soak up any seeping liquid. One day after the Hoppe’s flooding I inspected the rifle. The bolt still would not lock up.

With the rag still loosely in the action I wacked the buttstock on the floor and the round just popped out of the chamber! It had been eaten just enough by the Hoppe’s to release the grip of being stuck. I felt much safer in removing the stuck round this way. After a thorough inspection for safe firing and good cleaning of the bore this touchy job was over. Conclusion/Recommendations I cannot say that I am eager to receive another stuck live round job any time to soon.

With the lack of information and tooling to break down the rifle and attempt alternate methods of extraction, this use of Hoppe’s No. 9 and Kroil worked wonders for me. All precautions were taken to prevent the bolt from slamming shut on the stuck live round during the above mentioned work. As brought to my attention by several gunsmiths of the trade, while working with this type of job I kept the customer informed in advance of the potential steep cost prior to the job.

If the chemical process had not worked I would have been faced with the option of tooling up to remove the barrel for extracting the cartridge. Obtaining an action wrench would have been the trick here since I couldn’t find a supplier for them and an overly-expensive tool to have lying about as I don’t often receive Browning BAR rifles that need rebarreling. As with any job, closely examine the risks at hand and process necessary to remedy the problem.

If you’re not up to the job the wise choice is to refer the customer to a shop that is able to deal with it. No dollar amount is worth taking life or limb risks! Think smart and work safe. AG American Gunsmithing Association