Bronze Bristle Brush stuck in barrel

[canneryrow]

I really screwed up - a Bronze Bristle Brush broke off in the bottom of the barrel of my replica flintlock. I tried to bore into it with a worm and it broke off. Other than telling me how stupid I am, any ideas??

thanks

 

[54ball]

Find a copper pipe as close to bore size as possible. File the inside diameter of the pipe thin. Push the pipe down the bore, hopefully it will take the worm and brush. The pipe can be driven around the brush then pipe is removed with brush in pipe.

 

[fleener]

pull the breech plug if you can. the cooper pipe is a great idea, and depending on the rifle and your skill I would try that first.

Fleener

 

[Rifleman1776]

You are not the first. Sorry it happened. Tough lesson. If other ideas don't work try a corkscrew style patch puller. I don't like them as they can scratch the bore but it may be your last best option.

 

[ZUG]

All good answers - I would try the copper pipe first then the corkscrew -- next time use a nylon brush if you HAVE to use a brush -- good luck.

 

[crockett]

That's a really good idea. It is pretty common for a lot of muzzle loaders to think you can use a tight fitting brass/bronze brush in a muzzle loader. On a regular rifle all the bristels get slanted backwards as you push the brush down the bore, the brush exists the barrel and then as you pull it back the bristles slant back the other direction. In a muzzle loader when you get to the bottom of the bore the brush bristles are slanted toward the muzzle and you can't pull the thing out.
Years ago I had a brush that wasn't too tight fitting, I didn't know you weren't supposed to use a brass brush and I was shooting conicals and figured there was lead fouling.
I kept rotating the brush and I think the bristles started moving from a backwards slant to a side to side slant and I was eventually able to pull the brush out without the big job of removing a breech plug (AND IT WAS A CVA!)
Got me thinking......Um....
PATCHED ROUND BALL. No lead fouling, just clean up with hot soapy water. Use black powder.

 

[Col. Batguano]

The other thing you can use is 2 cartridge cases brazed together to make a double-sided funnel. Use something like 2 30-30 or 30-40 cases. One end located the brush, and the second one centers you cleaning rod to the end with the threads so you can screw it back on there. Of course, this only works if the thread is still there on the brush.

 

[rustyh]

:nono: :shake:
This topic has come up many times on this forum and it always ends the same, with a brush stuck at the bottom of the barrel. With luck you may be able to get it out with the copper tube but more often than not it is off to a gunsmith to pull the breach plug so the brush and whatever else is tangled up down there can be pushed out. Leave the brushes for the center fire guns.

 

[daniel collums]

one of my friends done that many years ago and i took a corkscrew and welded it to a steel rod, it screwed right down on the brush all the way to the bottom and pulled it right out.

 

[crockett]

Not to repeat myself but if anyone ever does get into such a jam, well nothing ventured nothing gained, take some vise grips to get a good hold on the rod- if you damage the rod- that's cheaper than taking off the breech plug- and try rotating the bush clockwise so it doesn't unscrew and do that for a while and see if bit by bit you might get the wires side ways and then get the thing out. If it doesn't work and you still have to take off the breech plug- well- at least you tried.
Once again, like everyone else I had to try conicals, sabots, the whole thing but muzzle loaders work best as originally intended, a cloth patched round ball, black powder, etc. It eliminates a lot of problems.

 

[Billnpatti]

No, no, no! Do not remove the breach plug!!!! You don't want to remove the breach plug when there are other options. If you happen to have a CVA rifle, you never, never, never mess with the breach plug. The best suggestion is the one from 54ball about using a copper pipe or tube to remove the brush. This little trick has almost become the standard method for removing a stuck brush from a bore.

Once you have it out, do not use it or any brush in your bore again. These things are fine for modern guns where the breach is open and you just push the brush through. But when you are dealing with a muzzleloading rifle where the breach is not open, a brush is almost guaranteed to get stuck. There is a technique for removing a brush from the bore as long as it is still on the rod and that is to turn it clockwise to cause the bristles to lay down. Then as you continue to turn the brush as you withdraw it from your bore. But, in your case, the copper tube is your best bet.

If you use nothing but patched round balls, as God intended, you will never have a leading problem. The only thing that will be in your bore will be black powder fouling that is easily removed with warm soapy water and patches on a cleaning jag. No brush will be needed.

 

[ChrisHarris]

Shoot it out.

You indicated you have a flintlock. Can you remove the vent liner and fill the chamber with a few grains of powder?

I lost the tip of a ramrod down a barrel once. It wasn't pinned to the wood rod and I got a patch and jag stuck. Pulled real hard and the rod came out without the tip and jag.

Took it down in the basement and put a couple charges of 4F from my pan primer through the nipple hole. Seated the jag and replaced the nipple. Stacked up 5 or 6 boxes inside each other and placed a beach towel in the middle.

BOOM! :rotf:

 

[fleener]

seriously?? never remove the breach plug?

Best way to make sure you don't damage the rifling.

Fleener

 

[pargent]

There is a guy on another post wanting to know why not to use brass brushes in a muzzleloader .

 

[nkbj]

Fellas, all ya gotta do is get a piece of brass tube and drive down on the brush. The bristles collapse within the tube and the tube just falls right back out of the barrel. First time it happened to me I put a chamfer on the inside of the end of the tube to help the bristles go on up in there but I don't think it was really needed.

So, what did all those 1800's long range target shooters do about leading in their British .45's? They didn't all shoot paper patches did they?

 

[54ball]

seriously?? never remove the breach plug?

Best way to make sure you don't damage the rifling.

Fleener

His advice is sound for CVA and Traditions as they have a peculiar patent breech in both flint and percussion.
Many other factory made guns have breeches that are very difficult to remove. Although not impossible, the smith needs to know exactly what type he is working with.

The more PC barrel designs like Rice, Green Mountain, Getz and Colerain have a more traditional breech plug. Even these require suitable tools and some care.

 

[curator]

A few decades ago, bronze or brass bristle bore-brushes were made with the wire core first pushed through a hole on the threaded portion, then wound with the bristles. They could not pull off inside the bore. Giving them a quarter turn clockwise allowed them to be pulled out of the bore without injury.

Unfortunately today most of the bore brushes are made in China by a new method where the bristle portion is swaged into a sleeve that is threaded to fit the cleaning rod. These can ONLY be used where he brush is pushed through the bore, never pulled as they will separate from the sleeve.

NEVER use these kind of brushes in a muzzle loading gun if you don't want to deal with the consequences. Do a search on this site and see how many posters have asked about this very same issue.

 

[Ken Cormier]

For over 35 yrs I have NEVER used a bore brush to clean a m/l. No need have always shot prb pillow ticking patch. I clean with hot water I will stack up any one of barrels against any ones. I usually shoot 500 shots plus a year. Been shooting same flinter for 28 yrs no problem. Just a rant still can't figure out why folks over contemplate things. I try to use the K.I.S.S system keep it simple stupid

 

[pargent]

+1 :thumbsup:

 

[buzz]

In my smoothies never had a lick of trouble but in a rifled barrel i surely can see how you would