Chapo Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 So The other day I received my new Mech Tech CCU in 9mm for my Springfield XDM. Shot a few rounds then all of a sudden the rounds wouldn’t chamber. I did everything under the sun to fix the issue. Nothing. Came home and stripped it and to my disbelief I see what looks like the top 1/4 of a 9mm brass stuck in the barrel. I mean it’s in there right. Tried heat but nothing. I’m afraid to keep tinkering with it and scratch the barrel. I’m sure there are tools to remove this but any feed back would be appreciated. Here’s an image of the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Yet another victim of stepped brass. Search the forums and you will learn all about this crap. Look at this thread for possible solutions to your current problem: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Do a search for stepped brass and take note of all the headstamps mentioned. This is the result of a stepped case literally coming apart at the seam. Weed them out and don't shoot them anymore. I think a common removal tool is a .40 wire brush Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltdmstr Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Dental pick works well for removal. I load 9mm on a 1050 and glance at every round as it enters the sizing stage. If it's stepped, it comes off the press and goes into the scrap bucket. I also check head stamps after I put rounds in ammo boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RePete Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 I must admit that I have loaded a boatload of stepped brass (9mm) and never had a problem, but, based on the above incident, I will now shop and cull them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzt Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Drop some Kroil Oil around the stuck case and wait a while. Then take it out with a bronze cleaning brush. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerritm Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Looks just like mine, but it was not stepped brass. It was xtreme brass, but not stepped. I tried all of these suggestions, none worked including Kroil, heat & freezing brushes, wood dowel, etc. Finally went to the hardware store and got a fluted 4 sided easy out screw extractor set. Gently tapped the closest one in size into the brass case. Didn't remove the case, but did put a couple of slight cuts in the brass. I took & sharpened an ice pick type tool to a really fine point and used that to split the case at the cut in 2 places and folded the brass case in until I could grab it with a forcep. Checked the chamber for any scratches & was good to go. Shot a match the next day and all good. I have a hooked dental pick that I have in my range bag that has worked before, but this case was so thin and due to dirt/heat was almost welded to the sides of the chamber. gerritm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echotango Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, gerritm said: Looks just like mine, but it was not stepped brass. It was xtreme brass, but not stepped. I tried all of these suggestions, none worked including Kroil, heat & freezing brushes, wood dowel, etc. Finally went to the hardware store and got a fluted 4 sided easy out screw extractor set. Gently tapped the closest one in size into the brass case. Didn't remove the case, but did put a couple of slight cuts in the brass. I took & sharpened an ice pick type tool to a really fine point and used that to split the case at the cut in 2 places and folded the brass case in until I could grab it with a forcep. Checked the chamber for any scratches & was good to go. Shot a match the next day and all good. I have a hooked dental pick that I have in my range bag that has worked before, but this case was so thin and due to dirt/heat was almost welded to the sides of the chamber. gerritm A buddy has the exact same issue with xtreme cases. He even separated them from his regular batch and test fired them separately and his gun would lock up. They would not extract. He had to pound them out. Edited July 17, 2020 by echotango Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stick Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Stepped brass is a pain in the butt to remove. I've found that picks and dental tools work the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chapo Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 My case part is really Stuck to the barrel like crazy Glue like it has conformed to the barrel. I’ve done the heat, inserting 223 brass, dental pick, 45 and 40 cal brushes you name it. Has anyone tried inserting a 223 case with a bit of crazy glue, pounding it in place and after it dries try to remove it? I figure in worst case scenario a little spill will be removed by firing a few shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken6PPC Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 If you already have some Cerrosafe, that would make it easy to remove. If you don't, it isn't crazy expensive... https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1007021082?pid=462291 Cerrosafe is a low temperature melting material used to take a chamber cast. Plug the barrel with a cleaning patch just ahead of the chamber, and then fill it with molten Cerrosafe. (Don't overfill it.) After the chamber cast cools, knock it out from the muzzle side using a squib rod (a cleaning rod will work if you don't have a squib rod), and the broken case will come out with it. Be sure to knock it out soon after it cools, or the Cerrosafe will expand larger than the actual diameter. If you have to, you can heat it up to melt it out as well.... Keep the Cerrosafe, because it can be used over and over! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_B Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 A chamber reamer will get it out also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kneelingatlas Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 Pull a BoreSnake through from the muzzle, thank me later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ming the Merciless Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 4 hours ago, Ken6PPC said: If you already have some Cerrosafe, that would make it easy to remove. If you don't, it isn't crazy expensive... https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1007021082?pid=462291 Cerrosafe is a low temperature melting material used to take a chamber cast. Plug the barrel with a cleaning patch just ahead of the chamber, and then fill it with molten Cerrosafe. (Don't overfill it.) After the chamber cast cools, knock it out from the muzzle side using a squib rod (a cleaning rod will work if you don't have a squib rod), and the broken case will come out with it. Be sure to knock it out soon after it cools, or the Cerrosafe will expand larger than the actual diameter. If you have to, you can heat it up to melt it out as well.... Keep the Cerrosafe, because it can be used over and over! Cerrosafe will work to remove case separations. Your description is partially correct. Cerrosafe shrinks while cooling for the first 30 minutes so it will be smaller than the separated case and will not remove the stuck case. After ONE hour of cooling, Cerrosafe will be exactly the same size as your chamber/stuck case and you can drive the stuck case and Cerrosafe out with a squib rod. Between 1 hour and 200 hours the Cerrosafe will gradually expand until it is .0025" larger. So if it doesn't pull the case out after one hour, re-cast and wait several hours and retry. But before you do all that do as Kneeling Atlas recommends and pull a new .40 cal Bore Snake through from the muzzle end. Plus your barrel will be extra clean and shiny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken6PPC Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 13 hours ago, Chapo said: My case part is really Stuck to the barrel like crazy Glue like it has conformed to the barrel. I’ve done the heat, inserting 223 brass, dental pick, 45 and 40 cal brushes you name it. Has anyone tried inserting a 223 case with a bit of crazy glue, pounding it in place and after it dries try to remove it? I figure in worst case scenario a little spill will be removed by firing a few shots. Well, the OP says he has already gone through all the "normal" steps to remove that stuck case section, so I thought "drastic" was the next step... Cerrosafe works well in these situations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngeyes Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 12 hours ago, kneelingatlas said: Pull a BoreSnake through from the muzzle, thank me later This^^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chapo Posted July 19, 2020 Author Share Posted July 19, 2020 Thanks. But this was the first thing I tried Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kneelingatlas Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 How about beating a lead slug down the barrel from the muzzle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_B Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 If all the other methods have not worked and you can find a gunsmith or friend with a chamber reamer it will take about 2 minutes to get that out. And would sure be cheaper than ruining a barrel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrapin Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 I’d probably try a 3/8-16 tap. It should cut reasonable threads in the brass without hitting your chamber wall. Once you have a couple threads, leave the tap in and tap it out from the muzzle end with a dowel.I do tend to be a bit reckless, so keep that in mind.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chapo Posted July 19, 2020 Author Share Posted July 19, 2020 Thanks all. Will try the cerrosafe next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chapo Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 Happy to report that cerrosafe worked. But took me three tries to get it. The first two came out without the brass. Then I had an idea to drop the molten but add a screw in the middle in hopes that I could expand the molten and grab the brass. This worked perfectly. Used a drill to try and remove the screw but instead the screw head broke with all the torque of the drill, but I was able to insert a rod and remove the plug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltdmstr Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Any idea why that turned into such a project? I've had this happen multiple times with the PCC and was able to get the broken-off piece out with a dental pick. Still a PIA, but nothing close to what you went through. Really, that broken off piece should have expanded to the chamber wall, and not be a huge deal to get out. Is the chamber on that fluted or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 1 hour ago, ltdmstr said: Any idea why that turned into such a project? I've had this happen multiple times with the PCC and was able to get the broken-off piece out with a dental pick. Still a PIA, but nothing close to what you went through. Really, that broken off piece should have expanded to the chamber wall, and not be a huge deal to get out. Is the chamber on that fluted or something? For real. I’ve seen them removed at the range in a few minutes on a few occasions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chapo Posted July 25, 2020 Author Share Posted July 25, 2020 I think the issue of why the case conformed so much to the barrel is that the rounds where reloads for 9mm major and where pretty hot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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