Removing a Broken Case from Chamber

[triggerhound]

I had a case split today while shooting reloads from my M1A. The bottom quarter of the case was extracted, but the rest of the case is snugly stuck in the chamber. Does this require a professional gun smith to remove or can this be done myself? Thanks!

[Adam B]

get a 45 cal brass brush and shove it up through the neck and pull it out

[triggerhound]

Thanks Adam. So with the M1A I can't do that because the receiver blocks me from doing that at the breach end... I supposed I could insert the cleaning rod from the muzzle end and attach the brush in the receiver area... then pull it into the chamber and try to push it back out... would that work? I'm assuming that the friction from the brass brush will grab it and pull it out?

[Adam B]

crap, I forgot about that sorry, usually a brush will push/pull it out. I have had a few case head separations and this method has always worked for me

Edited April 13, 2013 by Adam B

[triggerhound]

Thank you! I'll give that a try.

[wgj3]

Tried it yet? Just curious. Much easier than other method I mentioned in your other thread.

[wgj3]

Tried it yet? Just curious. Much easier than other method I mentioned in your other thread.

[outerlimits]

Throw the barrel in a freezer for a couple hours...brass will fall right out.

[triggerhound]

The 45 cal brush/rod method worked perfectly. It worked so well actually I was a little disappointed I didn't have to work a little harder at it! Thank you for the advice. I'm super happy that's taken care of.

Here's a picture of the case after both pieces were recovered:

[triggerhound]

Here is another shot of the primer with clear signs of over pressure

[Dan Sierpina]

Here is another shot of the primer with clear signs of over pressure

Ummm...that is on the warm side!

[GigG]

Wow, you might want to use a little less power.

[retarmyaviator]

GI 7.62 NATO broken shell extractors are easy to find and not expensive, good tool to have around.

[Koppi]

+1 on the broken shell extractor, I keep one in my AR kit just is case.

[triggerhound]

I found a few of them on Brownell's site. Seem pretty good and fairly priced. Thanks for all the advice!

[triggerhound]

Wow, you might want to use a little less power.

This was actually the lowest load on the spectrum. This was caused by the bullet being pushed back into the case mouth.

[Lisa C]

Used Remington teflon oil (thinnest) at a match once and worked quickly