doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Stuck Cartridge in .35 Newton

Friends:

My brother acquired a .35 Newton Springfield- gorgeous custom rifle from about 1930. Needless to say, we want to return it to service. The ballistics are impressive and it is likely powerful enough for our Texas whitetail, as well as any wooly mammoth which are encountered.

While fire-forming .35 Newton cartridges, he closed the bolt on one which was a bit stiff. Upon opening the bolt on the unfired, un-fireformed cartridge, resistance was way too much. Long story short, the extractor broke.

We are left with a fully loaded cartridge stuck in the chamber. Obviously, a new extractor is no big deal, but.... how do we get the cartridge out of the rifle?

I told him I was extremely leery of firing it and then dealing with just an empty case, because I think it is possible that the case was a bit too long, and the bullet has been jammed into the case mouth. If this is the case, the bullet neck tension will be enormous, and extremely high pressures will be result. I recall reading somewhere they might exceed 100k psi. A Springfield is hell for stout, as demonstrated in Hatcher's Notebook, but we do not wish to risk eyes, limbs or the rifle.

I seem to recall some sort of gunsmith tool for this problem, but dont actually know.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

Regards

GKT

A friend had a similar experience almost 40 yrs ago with a 243 M70 except the rim tore off instead of the extractor breaking. I unscrewed the barrel (with loaded cartridge still in place), giving me enough room to operate and get a grip on the cartridge head. He was lucky, it came out without much trouble. Hope you're lucky too!
Regards, Joe

Greg,

Check with Brownell's. They sell a case remover that works like a dent puller. It is not cheap.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=972/Product/STUCK_CASE_PULLER

Pete

I wonder if a 36" brass rod slighly smaller than bullet diameter used as a ramrod would work? Im sure light tapping would push the bullet in, but then perhaps it would lodge on the powder giving enough resistance to knock the case out. Ive used a rod on many stuck cases, never a loaded round. Best of luck,

C.

Several years ago a man killed his wife who was holding the rifle while he tried to drive a loaded round out of the chamber with a rod.

Have you tried a new extractor?

Several years ago I had a friend with the same problem I made a fitting to clamp (air tight) on the muzzel and jacked it out with Hyd power.With a porto power.No Hammers. Whitey

Soak the primer in penetrating oil before doing anything else.

Sorry to hear about the accident. I assume the primer must have detonated?

As Mark suggets, the primer needs to be deactivated somehow. I wonder if a small hole could be drilled in the case head with a Dremel tool and then water or WD-40 introduced into the case to deactivate the priming compound and powder.

Thinking outloud here, please let us know how it goes.

C.

The cartidge was not fired, merely chambered. After the tight fit, he decided to unload and check everything out, and thats when the extractor broke.

We will let everyone know how it comes out.

Literally.

Regards

GKT

Would drilling heat the cartridge?