Case Separation

[Mark Daiute]

Shooting the weekend before last I had a case separate at the neck. Some of that piece of case is in the very end of the chamber and maybe, just a little in the lead.

I have tried and failed to remove it.

Any ideas or help would be appreciated.

I'm wondering if a .32 caliber cleaning jag might just slide down the bore but then fetch up and remove the piece of case.

Thanks,

Mark

[Tom Trevor]

Mark, Put a tight cleaning patch in the barrel just ahead of the chamber then melt some cerro safe [used for chamber casts] pour it into the chamber let it cool a few minutes and push out from muzzle. Works every time.
Once in a while an oversize bore brush will work. Hope this helps.

[Mark Daiute]

thanks, Tom, I'm on it!

[Mark Daiute]

1 lb of Cerrosafe on it's way! Chamber casts!

[psteinmayer]

I didn't even see that it was you posting the same thing on the KCA forum Mark... I must have still been asleep, LOL. Have you tried grabbing it with a pick or the turned end of a scribe? I'm guessing you already did... but I thought I would throw it out there anyway.

Let us know how you finally got it out!

Paul

[joem]

I have used a plumbers steel brush, the kind they use to clean the inside of copper fittings prior to soldering. Jam it in and twist and pull the offending chunk out.

[gpw_42]

Have you tried freezing the barreled action? I've read that can be useful, as the brass freezes faster than the steel. Never tried it myself.

Steve

[jon_norstog]

Odd, now that you think of it. I've never had a case separation in a Krag. They headspace on the case rim, not the shoulder. I did have separation problems in a Lee rifle I bought; a previous owner had apparently tried to make a 30-40 Improved out of it using I would guess a drill bit.

I took the rifle back to the sop where I bought it, Ron Peterson's in Albuquerque. He wasn't happy about fixing it, but I wouldn't leave and I wouldn't give him an excuse to throw me out of his shop, so he sent it to the gunsmith he had doing his repairs.

That was how I met Jim Bedeaux and his son Roy. Arquebusiers extraordinaire!

jn

[madsenshooter]

Someday something like that is going to happen to me. I have some cases that I have no idea how many times they've been reloaded. I bought one of those ruptured case extractors a long time ago, but haven't had to use it yet. Those cases are relegated to cast bullet loading now. I recently discovered that if I size my bullets .3145", and keep the cases in the same rifle, I don't have to size the cases at all. Just deprime, reload.

[joem]

I have case seperations in a old Danish RB. I use the steel brush since there is no broken shell extractor made. Works every time.

[Mark Daiute]

Someday something like that is going to happen to me. I have some cases that I have no idea how many times they've been reloaded. I bought one of those ruptured case extractors a long time ago, but haven't had to use it yet. Those cases are relegated to cast bullet loading now. I recently discovered that if I size my bullets .3145", and keep the cases in the same rifle, I don't have to size the cases at all. Just deprime, reload.

Bob, the simple fact that you DO have the extractor is insurance enough that you will never, ever need it. The reverse corollary is that should you loose track of the extractor you are guaranteed to have a case separation.

[Mark Daiute]

Color me "LOSER"

The Cerrosafe came and I melted it on the kitchen stove in a lead ladle I have, a big one, big enough for pouring ingots.

Poured the Cerrosafe into the chamber and left home for a couple hours.

Now, keep in mind I plugged the barrel with a brass brush wrapped with a patch on the end of my Dewey cleaning rod.

So, I come home expecting to tap, tap, tap the whole mess out. Tap,. tap, tap, no movement.


some of the Cerrosafe is in the locking lug recess so I take the action out of the stock and judiciously apply a propane torch and melt the Cerrosafe out of the locking lug recess in the receiver.


Tap, tap, tap. No joy.

So I melt some more out of the chamber. Tap, Rap, Hammer! Nothing.

I mashed over the end of my Dewey cleaning rod, miraculously I rapped on the end and it is back in place and still swivels. A miracle I do not deserve at this point but at least something went in my favor.

I'm concerned about the receiver, the end of it was on a rug the whole time I was doing this rapping on the rod. Don't want to take any chances bending or breaking it.

I will now cease and desist until such time as I can find someone with a barrel vise and a brass rod.

Sigh.

[Mark Daiute]

just re-read toms post "let it cool for a few minutes" I bet that's where I went wrong. I let it cool for serveral hours and I understand that it expands a fair amount.

If I get the courage up a melt it all out.

M

[Mark Daiute]

My rifle is ok and back in action, almost. Hammered the rod out after removing most of the Cerro Safe.

Found the case neck on the floor.

Now all I have to do is clean up some of he errant Cerro Safe

[butlersrangers]

Mark - You should post the 'outcome' on the KCA site. Several people responded to your post there with different ideas and were never acknowledged.

Any theory on what contributed to the 'neck separation'? A photo of the case parts would be interesting.

[Parashooter]

Next time, do yourself a favor and plug the bore with a size O buckshot then drive the cast out using a one-piece steel rod at least 1/4" in diameter with a flat end polished to remove any burrs. 9/32" or 7mm diameter is better but not as easy to find at the local hardware store. Most cleaning rods are not designed to be driven hard and although a normal chamber cast usually comes out very easily, abnormalities like burrs, corrosion, or case fragments can make it tough, even at the specified 30-minute interval.

[Mark Daiute]

Next time, do yourself a favor and plug the bore with a size O buckshot then drive the cast out using a one-piece steel rod at least 1/4" in diameter with a flat end polished to remove any burrs. 9/32" or 7mm diameter is better but not as easy to find at the local hardware store. Most cleaning rods are not designed to be driven hard and although a normal chamber cast usually comes out very easily, abnormalities like burrs, corrosion, or case fragments can make it tough, even at the specified 30-minute interval.

I was thinking brass rod, but I bet steel will be easier to come by. I forged ahead with the cleaning rod knowing what I was doing, patience being in short supply. No excuses. I knew it was stupid. I learned a lot on this one.

I figure a steel or brass rod will reside near the reloading bench from here on out.

[Mark Daiute]

Mark - You should post the 'outcome' on the KCA site. Several people responded to your post there with different ideas and were never acknowledged.

Any theory on what contributed to the 'neck separation'? A photo of the case parts would be interesting.

I'll respond to the KCA as soon as I get to my computer with the password on it!

I have no idea why the kneck broke off. It was forward of the shoulder leaving a couple mm of the neck ahead of the shoulder on the case when I extracted the case.

[Griff Murphey]

I bought a 96 Krag carbine 39 years ago and when I got it home realized that it was plugged with part of a bullet and case. I think someone had tried to fire a .45 LC or .44-40 or similar. I could not hammer it out. I poured Hoppes No. 9 into the muzzle and let it sit. A week passed, no results. Poured the old Hoppes out and added new. Another week passed... I took it to an old retired Air Force Colonel who did gunsmithing in his garage. He put a rod in it and the bullet fragment fell out easily.

Granted, not the same as a case.

But Hoppes would dissolve some brass, and should make a case easier to tap out with a rod, I think. Of course you would need to cork up the breech to soak a case with enough Hoppes.

Used to have a Jungle Carbine that would fracture cases. A new or near new brush on a rod would get them out.

[Tom Trevor]

Glad it worked out for you. I should have expanded on the" few minutes" part of my post as you found out it does expand.

[Mark Daiute]

Glad it worked out for you. I should have expanded on the" few minutes" part of my post as you found out it does expand.

experience is a great teacher and I'll not make the mistake twice.