Stuck Cleaning Jag

[musketman]

Although this has never happened to me (yet) I can see that it could for some people...

All of my ramrods are metal, military smoothbores, go figure...

How would you go about retrieving a cleaning jag that has got stuck in mid barrel when the tip that the jag was screwed into came off the end of the wooden ramrod?

You now have a cleaning jag and patch and your ramrod's tip lodged inside of your barrel, how would you go about getting it out?

1. Pull the breech plug and run it through?

2. Work some powder into the breech through the vent/nipple, seat the jag against the powder and shoot it out?

3. Get out the hacksaw and make a really short barreled version of your gun?

 

[Stumpkiller]

Well, I went with #2 the time it happened, and would repeat that (but with maybe 5 gr of powder next time :shocking.

:results:

You must have seen my post in the "Second Stupidest Thing" thread. Gave a whole new twist to my sport of Stump Shootin.

What I have done in "almost stuck" situations (assuming the ramrod tip is still attached to the ramrod) is to wrap a 12" x 1" strap of leather I carry in my hunting pouch around the exposed end and use the added grip it affords to jerk the rod out. I have a pair of those thin metal "Ladies Legs" tools that usually just mar the ramrod and my fingers; but they don't weigh much or take up much space so I carry them in hope.

 

Have done all of the above!

I have also used J.B.Weld to reattach the rod to the tip. Let sit overnight, shoot oil into both ends of barrel, push in to get things moving then out. :results:

 

[Keith]

I'd go with #2, unless I had a CO2 discharger. For a stuck rod I might try a very liberal dose of lubricant and pull like hell. When I have tried to pull a stuck ball I found a bench mounted vise a nessecity. That's why I bought a CO2 discharger.

 

[Flintshooter in Indiana]

Maybe you could hook a Hoover vac to the barrel and suck it out?

It's all according to how attached to the jag I was and how easy the barrel comes out of the stock. If'n I's in the field, I'd shoot it out. If home, pull the breech and punch it out. :results:

 

[Packdog]

Been told you can remove the vent liner and screw a greese fitting in, depending on the type vent liner of course, Pump her up till it pops out. Again so I'm told it works like a charm it is just a bear to clean up after.
Packdog

 

[sse]

I had a stuck cleaning jag, while the rod was still attached. and that was bad enough. I dribbled a little water down the bore and after about one minute it came out easily.

Regards, sse

 

[cayugad]

The very first day I was shooting my .58 caliber Green Mountain Barrel and its aluminium ramrod I had a jag on the end. I pushed a patch down to swab the barrel and came up without the end. So I did option #2. I pushed the thing to the bottom, took out the clean out screw and packed in some Goex FFFg and shot it out into the dirt, jag and ramrod end that had came out.

 

[peter]

While shooting it out sounds extreme it realy isn't. When I first got my flintlock I had to pull a ball which was so tight all I got was threads worth of lead. So I bought co2 ball discharger, which turned my flinter into a long barrelled air gun. Ball went thru 2 weeks of sunday papers, half a dozen layers of corragated card board, thru box they were in, and across spare room, striking old bed frame that was leaning against wall. Ball split in two, only found one part of it. Lesson learned is, don't throw out old bed frames, they may save you from having to explain just how you put a hole thru side of house. :what:

 

[cayugad]

have you ever really noticed how far a roundball will fly when you make that terrible mistake of loading it without the powder first.

I done that in my .50 caliber not to long ago, and took the clean out screw out, packed as much FFFg in there as I could then replaced the clean out screw of course. Capped it, and aimed down range at the 25 yard station. I was shocked when that ball went all that distance, bounced off the wood down there and bounced back almost 10 feet. Then you start thinking, a revolver shoots 20 grains of FFFg and a round ball. How much powder do you actually pack into that clean out bolster area when you kick one out that way...??

 

[jtmattison]

I agree with ghost.
Put some JB weld or epoxy on the rod and stick it back in.
Let the glue set and it will pull right back out.

Huntin

 

[Herb]

I was shooting in the Fort Bridger Rendezvous some years ago, with my Green River .45 cal Leman Trade Rifle I built. Spit patches, I think. Swabbing between shots and all that. My 8x32 jag broke off the rod and was stuck in the barrel. The range officer tried to blow it out with CO2. Didn't work. Had to go home and pull the breech plug and push the jag out. But a few years before that, the brass tip pulled off my wooden rod, leaving the cleaning jag in the barrel. My son said, use super glue. I put some of that on the end of the wooden rod, stuck it back into the rod tip, let it set 15 minutes or so, and it pulled right out. I learned to pin rod tips.

 

[shmrck1]

cayugad,
had the same think happen to me with a .45cal ibs
G/M barrel!! returned the barrel to G/M and they replaced it & my only cost was shipping it to them!! they are very easy to deal with!! i also received a new barrel in less than a week!!! i currently use a home made hickory
ramrod.
snake-eyes :m2c: :thumbsup:

 

[2172]

I've used a CO2 discharger to free three stuck jags at our club...if I didn't have one, I'd go with #2..Hank

 

[Birddog6]

I had one brought to me with a jag stuck in it. I took a nipple & drilled it out, then silver soldered a air hose connection to it & blew it into the dirt with air pressure from my shop compresser.

 

[roundball]

I had one brought to me with a jag stuck in it. I took a nipple & drilled it out, then silver soldered a air hose connection to it & blew it into the dirt with air pressure from my shop compresser.

FYI...I put a tapered cone shaped rubber end on my air hose attachment...I can remove a vent liner or nipple, press the tapered rubber end into the hole and it seals fine...it's a fairly common, standard air hose accessory...think I saw it in a blisterpac at a NAPA store or something

 

[Birddog6]

I tried that first with the rubber tiped psssst psssst & it would not come out. I made the fitting & sealed it tight, then cut the air to it all at once & it came out instantly. Guess it was the sudden surge of air & it had to move.

Also, I know one guy that even that would not work & he pumped it out with a grease gun.

 

[Dave K]

I did buy an old shotgun that still had a load in it that I could not get out. I did use the grease zerk method. I wonder if on a flinter, if a guy could use a needle like you use to fill a ball with. Hmmmmm

 

[2172]

Dave, the CO2 discharger has a flint adapter and now that you mention it, it sure looks like the ball-filling needle..Hank

 

[wulf]

First off,,,you never :nono: put a dry patch down a dirty barrel. Second,,if it gets stuck it is because it is dry...
obvious solution wet patch by pouring water or water soluable oil down the ram rod into the barrel thus getting the dry patch wet making for easy removal and not the possibility of losing the jag.... :results: :imo: Hope this helps....Wulf