How to deal with live rounds stuck in the chamber.

by RK Campbell

There are many occasions in which we will deal with a fired cartridge case stuck in the chamber. When the cartridge is still live, the situation is nitty gritty. There are many possible causes. The case may be bulged or deformed. The chamber or cartridge or both may be dirty or corroded. Or, the firearm’s owner may have attempted to chamber the wrong type of cartridge. This problem isn’t as severe as in the past, but still exists. In the past, ammunition quality was poor enough that broken shell extractors were issued due to the frequency of cases rupturing but this is rare today. Today, tools such as the Brownells Stuck Case Puller for safely removing stuck fired or unfired cartridge cases are the province of gunsmiths. Such pullers work with any ammunition, even rimless cartridges, provided the bolt can be removed. If the bolt will not open, it’s recommended to remove the barrel.

Be cautious as this is a known-loaded firearm that can’t be readily cleared.

Read more in the February 2016 issue.

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