Stuck plastic cleaning jag

Georgezilla · Post by **Georgezilla** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 12:54 am

My father has got a plastic cleaning jag stuck in his single-six barrel. The jag is stuck a long with a cleaning cloth wrapped around it. I was only confident enough to try and remove it by trying to push it out with a wooden dowel using a mallet, but it wont budge.

I thought about heating the barrel up enough to soften the plastic, but I was not sure if that would ruin the integrity of the heat treatment. I also thought that perhaps a strong plastic solvent would work to remove. However, in either case if the plastic did melt, I am not sure how easily the residue could be cleaned, so I figured I should seek some more advice.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks.

MtStream · Post by **MtStream** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 2:19 am

Fill the bore full of oil & let stand for several minutes to an hour. Drain out oil. Have or get a dowel/brass rod that is close to bore diameter and a 2# or greater mallet (Seriously) the trick is to use one good firm hit to force the obstruction out. Several taps are likely to ring the bore.
I learned this little trick from some nice fella at Beartooth Bullets when I had a squib in my Blackhawk. Worked like a charm.

Post by **Bullseye** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 6:54 am

A brass rod or a hardwood (oak) dowel will do the trick. A regular wood dowel is too soft and can break causing an even tighter jam in the barrel. The oil suggestion is a good one. Also, lubricate the back side of the barrel just before tapping out the obstruction. Once the blockage hits the freshly lubed area it will come out much easier.

R,
Bullseye

bigfatdave · Post by **bigfatdave** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 7:47 am

Penetrating oil, patience, and a dowel / brass rod as big as the barrel, you don't want it splintering and jamming in as a wedge making things worse.

You'll want the gun in a padded vise, obviously.

Sounds like a trip to the hardware store is in order, take a shell casing to test brass rods for size* and take a look at mallets, I'd be torn between a good-size brass hammer or a plastic dead-blow mallet, neither is all that pricey. I would NOT be bonking on a firearm with a steel hammer, but I'm aware of my clumsiness and wouldn't want to add a dent to a plugged bore.

Is a single-six barrel easily removed? I'm far from a revolver expert.

* (compare to the barrel first ... hardware store employees look at you strangely when you start shoving their merch into firearms)

Georgezilla · Post by **Georgezilla** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 11:58 am

Thank you all for the advice. I will let you know what progress is made now that I have a better idea of how to get it out.

Georgezilla · Post by **Georgezilla** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 5:52 pm

Wow, this thing is in tight. I was hitting the dowel completely straight, I made sure it was not too long, lubed the barrel, and it still splintered. The jag did not budge at all.

Any other suggestions? Perhaps its time to take it to a gunsmith?

Post by **Bullseye** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 5:55 pm

A brass rod, close to the barrel's diameter is going to be the fix. If you cannot get one then a smith is your best option.

R,
Bullseye

bigfatdave · Post by **bigfatdave** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 9:59 am

What penetrating oil did you use, and how long did it soak? you might even want to plug the ends after filling and rotate a few times over a day or so for maximum penetrative effect.

If you could get the barrel out and had a really big vise you could use it as a press with that brass rod you're probably on the way to buy from the hardware store.

Did you get in an incorrectly-sized jag, or did you jam a correctly-sized jag into a pre-existing obstruction?

I might take a swing at drilling it out before I went to a gunsmith, but I'm kind of reluctant (or just too stubborn) to find professional help. If you DO use the drilling method to relieve some tension in there, run the bit down a sleeve if at all possible, the sleeve turning is your indication that you're too close to the actual barrel. No warranty express or implied comes with this idea, and I won't even call it advice, more of a musing while contemplating possibilities.

blue68f100 · Post by **blue68f100** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 2:53 pm

The only penetrating oil I use is "Kroil". Brass rod, 2# hammer then don't by shy about it. I would only attempt to drill if it was close to one end. If it was deep I would use a pilot to center it and keep it away from the rifling.

Good luck.

I had one stick once when I though I needed 2 patches to clean the groves. Was able to drive it out with a hammer on the cleaning rod.

Georgezilla · Post by **Georgezilla** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 3:58 pm

I used Rem oil and let it set for several hours, and I rotated it once.

bigfatdave wrote: did you jam a correctly-sized jag into a pre-existing obstruction?

Bingo! that is exactly what happen. Thank all of you for your advice and insight!

The brass rods I found were a bit expensive, and I would have had to do a bit of fabrication to make them work, so went the smith route.

What happened was the first inch of barrel on the single-six was totally leaded up and the cleaning jag and patch were stuck on that. The smith used a strong lead solvent to break the bond, then oiled it up and tapped it out. The barrel had about an inch long collar of lead which was fairly thick that was stuck in it!

I suppose .22 revolvers lead up significantly faster than semi-autos, and to a significantly higher degree. The smith said to clean the barrel of the single six after every use, and use a bronze brush if needed. Based on what I have learned, using a bronze brush on .22s wasn't a good idea, but I guess one may have to on a .22 revolver.

blue68f100 · Post by **blue68f100** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 10:20 pm

Are you shooting ThunderBolts???????

These have a history of leading barrels....

Georgezilla · Post by **Georgezilla** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 12:46 am

No, pretty much only Federal goes into the pistol.

ruger22 · Post by **ruger22** » Mon Nov 01, 2010 10:42 am

I never heard of a bronze brush being bad on any caliber barrel. Match shooters tend to avoid any brush, wanting that last fraction smaller group, which I somewhat understand.

Scientifically, even cotton patches would eventually wear out a bore. When you rub a soft material against a harder material, both items wear away. Just more of the softer material wears away each time. Think of water wearing down rock for the Grand Canyon.

I clean my Single-Six after every session, and I use a bronze brush along with patches. Stainless barrels tend to be rougher inside, especially when new. Mine needs less cleaning each time, pretty easy now after about 1500 rounds. Now if only the cylinder face and topstrap would get so easy!