BOY IS IT STUCK!

[flashpoint]

Was cleaning my TC Seneca .45 tonight and the brass bore brush came out of the cleaning rod and is stuck down in the breech area. Any help on how to get it out is much appreciated.

 

[Are. M.]

Happened to me earlier this year. Thick super glue or 5 minute epoxy and a little patience. Good luck.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/this-isnt-supposed-to-happen-right.127996/

 

[William Lincoln]

Take a wire clothes hanger and bend it straight make a small hook on the end 1/8 inch,push down
into bristles and twist while pulling. Repeat as it comes out. Also a tow worm screw can grab
enough bristles to hold while you get it out. It is no big issue. Be calm and you will get it out.
Just saw the epoxy idea posted. You can try that as well after mine fails--if it fails you.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Copper or aluminum tubing of just under bore diamater pushed down the bore and over the brush and then the whole thing pulled out. (Member Ramrod's idea).

I buggerred a Renegade breech pulling it to get a stuck brush out in the early 1980's and haven't used a bore brush in a muzzleloader since. Unnecessary. If you insist use the kind that are a single wire looped through a hole in the threaded stud and not the cheaper swaged brush.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

I use .45 cal brass brushes in my .50 cal when patching wet or dry. At least if it comes apart down there it might be easier to pull it. Guess I'll find out one day. Good luck with yours.

 

[flashpoint]

Take a wire clothes hanger and bend it straight make a small hook on the end 1/8 inch,push down
into bristles and twist while pulling. Repeat as it comes out. Also a tow worm screw can grab
enough bristles to hold while you get it out. It is no big issue. Be calm and you will get it out.
Just saw the epoxy idea posted. You can try that as well after mine fails--if it fails you.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Oh man, I had visions that my hobby of muzzleloading was at an end. Deer season opens Monday and after sighting it in today I was ready to go and now this brush thing happened. I used my tow worm as suggested which has tight coils that ends in a sharp little hook. I fed it down the barrel and made a couple of turns and pulled. Out it came on the first try. Amazing! What was interesting was that the threaded end of the brush fit perfectly inside the toe screw coils so when I turned it, it almost threaded itself into the coil and it just came out easily. Looks like I'm going huntin' after all on Monday. Also, thanks for all the other suggestions, guys. Unfortunately, I won't be able to try them out as I am NEVER going to use a bore brush again!

 

[Ohio Rusty]

I use a bore brush, but one smaller than the bore diameter. Then I can wrap cloth around the brush and scrub the bore and the cloth doesn't come off as it is stuck on the bristles. I use a .36 caliber brush for my .40 rifle.
Ohio Rusty ><>

 

[nkbj]

Finding good quality brushes for fast twist target rifles that shoot really long bullets has become well nigh impossible. The solution has become to not have square bottom grooves.

 

[Jim]

Haven’t had that happen, but . . . .as my cleaning routine, I remove the breech plug and use the brush from the rear.

A while back, with my TC hawken, I broke the wood ram rod in the bore, on a live charge . . . .

That ended my shooting for the day, but after soaking the breech area in water, I drove home, removed the plug, the ball, and the soaked charge, along with the remaining 13” ramrod.

Easy-Peasy!

 

[Loyalist Dave]

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS...,

So my chef buddy, who is my hunting buddy too... his son got a copper bore brush stuck in a rifle. Now the Chef and I do the undersized brush combined with 3-0 or better yet 4-0 steel wool, but the son, got hold of a tight brush. When it jammed, he pushed it back down and then tried to get it out by pulling quick and hard. The idea was sorta "sound"..., that it had merely snagged on some thick crud, and some velocity and more force would dislodge the crud and the brush would come free..., nope. The shaft of the brush did come away...without the bristle portion of the remaining brush, still stuck within.

We tried various worms but these failed too....,

THEN my son suggested we use the solution that modern guys use to get rid of "copper" deposits in modern barrels, left by copper jacketed ammo.
So plugged the nipple hole, added the solution to the barrel, let it sit over night, and ...

VOILA.... dissolved the copper brush bristles like nobody's business....,

My buddy needed a new brush anyway

LD

 

[LME]

Was cleaning my TC Seneca .45 tonight and the brass bore brush came out of the cleaning rod and is stuck down in the breech area. Any help on how to get it out is much appreciated.

I once had a rifle in my shop that had a jag break off 3/4s of the way down the barrel. I just put a little powder under the nipple and fired it out . The rifle wasn't damaged at all and shoots the same as it did before the accident.

 

[ord sgt]

A while back, with my TC hawken, I broke the wood ram rod in the bore, on a live charge . . . .

Shoot it out instead. A bit more recoil will be felt. It will not harm the barrel. But it does save some extra work. A friend has sent two ramrods down range with the same rifle after being distracted during the loading procedure. The rifle still shoots well.

 

[user 48702]

You have to be careful when using copper bore solvents containing ammonia, such as Sweets. Barrel damage can occur if the solvent is left in for more than an hour or so, Sweets advises no more than 30 minutes. The solvent, if left to long, will etch and craze (microscopic cracks) the bore. Since bore cleaners will penetrate around threads and tight spaces, I would suggest removing the breech plug either before or after using copper solvent cleaner, since it is going to just sit between the threads eating away.

 

[Old Hawkeye]

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS...,

So my chef buddy, who is my hunting buddy too... his son got a copper bore brush stuck in a rifle. Now the Chef and I do the undersized brush combined with 3-0 or better yet 4-0 steel wool, but the son, got hold of a tight brush. When it jammed, he pushed it back down and then tried to get it out by pulling quick and hard. The idea was sorta "sound"..., that it had merely snagged on some thick crud, and some velocity and more force would dislodge the crud and the brush would come free..., nope. The shaft of the brush did come away...without the bristle portion of the remaining brush, still stuck within.

We tried various worms but these failed too....,

THEN my son suggested we use the solution that modern guys use to get rid of "copper" deposits in modern barrels, left by copper jacketed ammo.
So plugged the nipple hole, added the solution to the barrel, let it sit over night, and ...

VOILA.... dissolved the copper brush bristles like nobody's business....,

My buddy needed a new brush anyway

LD

Bad idea!! See post #13.

 

[mooman76]

I use a well worn brush so it doesn't fit as light, also i turn the brush at the breech area that way the bristles change don't jam when pulling back out. direction and then

 

[William Lincoln]

As Ranchroper and others point out you can use undersize brushes
with patches wrapped or 000 steel wool etc. to remove hard fouling.
i shoot RB & conicals, which have never complained about some
small trash as they rush down the bore to escape a fiery blast.

 

[Howard Pippin]

Below is part of a post and I would like to add a little bit of what caused the whole thing.

While on a hunting trip a month ago, got into a discussion with a fellow that I see once a year and kind of know, and he asked me how I hunted besides archery and I said muzzleloaders. He said he had one he'd thought he would sell, seems he bought it in 1973, it's a Lyman 45 caliber. He had no instructions or knowledge on how to use it, I don't know if he ever got it to shoot, but he broke the ramrod off in the barrel and put it away for 25 years. A more knowledgeable friend told him to take the nipple out, dump in some black and he could shoot the broken ball loading end out of the barrel. He did this and promptly put it away for 20 years or more, where it set in his house till a month ago. He asked me if I would care to buy it, I said sure, what do you want, and he said $25. Very nice looking rifle, I took it out to my hunting camp, heated some water poured it in the barrel and it wouldn't go out the other end, and I couldn't get the nipple out either. After using a 22 rifle cleaning rod (That's all I have for cleaning guns in my camper,) and a rag wrapped around the end, I was able to pump enough hot water up and down to get it to come out the nipple. Everything was red rust and after spending some time swabbing and swabbing and swabbing, it did look better. Had to journey home about a week later for a dental appointment, so I took back some other stuff including some fine valve grinding compound. After work in the barrel over with this it seemed much better, a little heat got the nipple out and so I put it away until I got home. Poured a few 44 caliber balls three days ago and went shooting today. At 50 yards, experimenting with different patch lubes, using 777 2f ,About 47 grains equivalent, I got it To shoot an inch and a half group. Weather was kind of foul today so when I get a chance I'll try again.
Another strange thing, the rifling at the muzzle is partially gone on one side, Appears to have just rusted away, I imagine from the way it was stored and it doesn't seem to affect the shooting ability. When I get a chance to shoot a few more times, With no wind, Maybe I can see how it really does, but it does tend to be a keeper and not just a wall hanger. The deal also included the two hole bullet mold for round balls, almost a full box's of caps, the broken off tip, and a very nice powder measure. Said the rifle cost $65 when he bought it brand-new.
The fellow that owned this particular rifle was pretty much working in the dark as far as knowing how it worked. The ramrod that came with it was wood with A metal end glued on for seating the ball and also for cleaning. Apparently he had shot it several times, without cleaning, using black. He thought he should run a patch down the barrel so he put a patch over the end of the ball driver and proceeded to push it down the barrel. He said it got tight and tighter until it stopped, and in trying to pull it back out, he broke the tip off the ramrod. Putting it away in disgust, it sit for about 20 years and then a friend told him, to take the nipple out, put some powder underneath and shoot it out, so he went out in the garage and successfully shot the broken end out. The tip on the end of the ramrod that he were to use for everything was just a a little bigger on the end than the ramrod. There was no smaller diameter space behind the so-called cleaning tip for the extra Cloth to gather in, and there was no way that you could have forced a patch down the barrel with that ramrod, only he didn't know that. I didn't ask him if he had tried it wet or dry, I don't know if it would have made any difference, he was able to get it about halfway down before it wouldn't move. When he offered me a muzzleloader for $25 I really wondered what in the world it was, as he is a friend I have known for some years probably not far behind me and age.

 

[William Lincoln]

For $25 you re-cycled an old gun into something that is useful for
hunting or range fun. Imagine how many other deals are out there?
Most people would not know what to do with an old muzzleloader
except throw it away or sell for cheap. Good job!

 

[Rich44]

Copper or aluminum tubing of just under bore diamater pushed down the bore and over the brush and then the whole thing pulled out. (Member Ramrod's idea).
[/QUOTE]

While there are a lot of ways to skin a cat, this is a great idea.

 

[Cpt Flint]

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS...,

So my chef buddy, who is my hunting buddy too... his son got a copper bore brush stuck in a rifle. Now the Chef and I do the undersized brush combined with 3-0 or better yet 4-0 steel wool, but the son, got hold of a tight brush. When it jammed, he pushed it back down and then tried to get it out by pulling quick and hard. The idea was sorta "sound"..., that it had merely snagged on some thick crud, and some velocity and more force would dislodge the crud and the brush would come free..., nope. The shaft of the brush did come away...without the bristle portion of the remaining brush, still stuck within.

We tried various worms but these failed too....,

THEN my son suggested we use the solution that modern guys use to get rid of "copper" deposits in modern barrels, left by copper jacketed ammo.
So plugged the nipple hole, added the solution to the barrel, let it sit over night, and ...

VOILA.... dissolved the copper brush bristles like nobody's business....,

My buddy needed a new brush anyway

LD