stuck cartridge

T

tom mann

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I shot my viper today and now the bolt won't eject the empty shell. It did shoot. I saw where it hit the paper.
How do I get it out. The bolt handle turns up all the way, (pretty sure ) but won't pull back. I did put a touch of grease on the bolt before inserting it. Only shot twice. What do you think happened?
Can I put a rod down the chamber, twist the bolt up in the release position and gently tap the end of the rod to rel to release?
 
Yes, you can try that. In the mean time I would check my load to make sure it isn't too hot.:confused:

Dan Honert
 
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While you're reducing the powder charge, look to make sure you grabbed the right powder can. In fact, check out what you did entirely and determine exactly what caused the case to stick. Once you get it out, the case itself should tell some kind of story.

Make sure the bolt is open all the way before you do anything.....
 
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Using the blunt end of a cleaning rod (with the brush or jag removed) is the best way. Stick it down the muzzle and with a pecking motion the case should come out.

CAUTION*******WHEN USING A CLEANING ROD TO UNSTICK A CASE, MAKE SURE TO NEVER TAKE YOUR HAND OFF THE ROD FOR ANY REASON WHILE IT IS IN THE BARREL!!!!!!
 
JerrySharrett said:
Using the blunt end of a cleaning rod (with the brush or jag removed) is the best way. Stick it down the muzzle and with a pecking motion the case should come out.

CAUTION*******WHEN USING A CLEANING ROD TO UNSTICK A CASE, MAKE SURE TO NEVER TAKE YOUR HAND OFF THE ROD FOR ANY REASON WHILE IT IS IN THE BARREL!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Jerry is correct. A man died at St Louis because he left cleaning rod in gun and fired.
Bill
 
tom mann said:
I shot my viper today and now the bolt won't eject the empty shell. It did shoot. I saw where it hit the paper.
How do I get it out. The bolt handle turns up all the way, (pretty sure ) but won't pull back. I did put a touch of grease on the bolt before inserting it. Only shot twice. What do you think happened?
Can I put a rod down the chamber, twist the bolt up in the release position and gently tap the end of the rod to rel to release?
Click to expand...

It might be caused by a too-hot load, but perhaps not.

I once thought I had full length resized some new-to-me, once-fired (from a machine gun) .223 cases but I was mistaken. The brass got a full preparation routine, trim, chamfer, primer pocket normalize, flash hole deburr, neck turn, anneal, etc. Of course they passed my case-checker test because, unlike the rifle chamber, the case checker is not tapered; it's just step drilled to check the base diameter, base to shoulder dimension, neck diameter, and overall length.

But, in this case, the machine gun had a larger chamber diameter than my bolt gun; therefore, the mid-case diameter was too great. The bolt was hard to close and after firing the case was well stuck requiring tapping a rod down the muzzle to free it. It took a while to diagnose the problem and the case wasn't very far out of spec but it was enough to cause it to stick. Anyone who has a drill press with a taper-fit chuck knows what I'm talking about.

I disassembled the rest of that batch of ammo, full length resized the cases, and re-loaded them. No problems now, but a silly mistake on my part caused a LOT of extra work.

Could that be your problem......... failure to full length resize some over-sized brass?
 
Stuck Case

An alternate method of removing a stuck case is this: 1 Make absolutely sure the bolt is completely unlocked. 2 Take a screw driver with a flat blade and insert it between the bolt handle and opening cam on the action. 3 Gently pry the handle open. I prefer this method especially If a loaded round is stuck in the chamber. This method will fail if the screwdriver used is too small. As a safety measure if a loaded round is stuck in the chamber DO NOT put any part of your body in the path of the bolt or bullet if the round should fire. Every stuck case or loaded round I have ever had has been due to inadequately sized brass but a super hot load will also do it. Tim
 
Just get your cleaning rod out and take off the tip.
Gently tap the rod a few time with a plastic mallot.
see if the bolt comes all the way and tap the EMPTY case out.
If that doesn't work you may have to remove the barrel from the action and it isn't pretty.
 
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