Stuck bore snake

bigkimbo

Well-Known Member
A friend has asked how I would remove a bore snake which snapped while he was pulling it through. Anyone had this and any ideas how to remove it?
I have told him to put a good dose of wd40 down the barrel let it soak in then try blowing with an airline, worth a try.
 
OOh! Haven't had this happen, but I often wonder what I'd do. You don't say what it's stuck in. I guess if it was a shotgun, things would be fairly easy. Probably not for a rifle, especially ones with a small bore. Yes, I think some lubricant put in there and give it time to seep down, although that might just be counter-productive in that the snake might expand as it absorbs some of the oil. Might be worth trying something like a suitably sized cleaning rod with a self-tapping thread on the end. That might grab it enough to pull/push it out. But even if it just breaks the snake up a bit, you could persevere and eventually pull it out in bits, although that would be a long job and you would have to be pretty careful.
 
Any fluid will make it swell , Use a wooden rod or cleaning rod with a old cleaning brass brush fitted may help ,untwist the brush remove the brush that it leaves just the two wires as it were, then from the other end that it snapped at slowly twist in like a cork screw the rod using a rotating action ease the pull though out bit like a fine wine cork ? worth a try .
 
Probably a bit late in the day for bigkimbo but I was once advised to attach a strong piece of fishing line alongside the pull through to cover this eventuality. Best of luck and please report back with what worked.
 
Thats a good idea. I am going to tie a strong piece of cord onto mine so I can pull it back out in case it ever happens to me. Cheers
 
Whatever he does, he’s gonna struggle.
Has he got a mongoose?
Sorry, I’m not being helpful.
Ken.
PS. I thought ‘snakes had a loop at the back end so you can put strong cord throught the loop before you pull it into the barrel, then, if it snaps, you MIGHT have a chance to pull it out backwards.
won’t be easy reversing that brush section though.
 
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Happened to me a few years ago

Didn't have a rod so used the tip of a fishing pole

That snapped in the barrel - I stopped when I had half the garden shed up the barrel and took it to a gun smith

I got a funny look from him when he saw what came out of the barrel - he used a cleaning rod and the magic touch
 
PS. I thought ‘snakes had a loop at the back end so you can put strong cord throught the loop before you pull it into the barrel, then, if it snaps, youMIGHT have a chance to pull it out backwards.
won’t be easy reversing that brush section though.

Yes, mine do.
The snake (not including the thin pull cord section) is also longer than my barrel, so if the cord were to snap off I could just pull it out backwards by the loop.
 
Set fire to it??

K

Oddly enough, I recently overheard a very experienced ex military shooter discussing this very thing. Apparently he's had this happen several times with military pull throughs and the solution, that worked, was lighter fluid and ignition! This followed by a fairly intensive cleaning. Boresnakes might be messy though, as they're manmade material.

(Please insert every single disclaimer ever printed by every lawyer ever in history here if anyone is ever tempted to try it.)
 
Funny, I sent back a bore snake that I'd bought for my wife's shotgun that snapped on the first use. Thankfully, it had emerged just enough to grab the tip with a pair of pliers and pull the rest of the way. It was an incredibly tight fit, much tighter than the one I use on my 12 bore or either of my rifles. It was also a cheap eBay job, which the others aren't, which made me wonder...
 
ive had this happen I tried a cleaing rod which never worked I then thew a total p1sser chucked all my toys out the pram the wife then calmly walked over took her time and picked the tail of the snake from out of the breach and gently pulled the snake backwards
 
crochet needle or something like that to snag one end enough Tiny fish hook on line poked down with cleaning rod and j j j j jiggling it a bit
S
 
At the risk of stating the obvious the first consideration is to recall from which end you were pulling when it broke as it will come out more easily when applying reverse pressure. How you do that is the tricky bit!



If you have a bore brush or mop unwind the wire binding with pliers until you have an improvised two-prong fork. CAREFULLY insert into bore until contact is made with base of snake, then apply pressure and twist in the hope it binds. If it does offer a small prayer and pull.


K
 
Maybe try one of those plastic covered net curtain wires.
Cut a small amount of plastic off, showing the inner wire and "pull" it a little to form a small hook towards the centre, twist into the bore snake, taking care not to damage the barrel and bobs your uncle.
Maybe.
 
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