Spent case stuck in chamber

[ditto1958]

I was out shooting my Henry 30-30 today, and it is jammed. I fired a round, tried to work the lever, and it will not budge. The spent case is still in the chamber, and the bolt will not move more than a few millimeters.

The action on this rifle is very similar to a Marlin 336.

Is this something I can fix, or do I need to send it in?

 

[Sugarbug]

Try putting a cleaning rod down the barrel and tapping at the bottom of the case while you work the lever.

 

[Leadfoot]

Place rod in barrel.

Turn gun upside down, sit the rod on the floor and let the weight of the gun rest on the rod.

Work the lever while lifting up on the gun and gently letting the gun drop down on the rod.

 

[ditto1958]

Place rod in barrel.

Turn gun upside down, sit the rod on the floor and let the weight of the gun rest on the rod.

Work the lever while lifting up on the gun and gently letting the gun drop down on the rod.

Wow! That worked like a charm. Thank you, Leadfoot and Sugarbug.

 

[scooterj]

Be sure to clean the chamber. Something, possibly powder fouling or dirt, caused the spent case to hang up.

 

[Leadfoot]

Glad it worked. And like Scooter said, be sure and give that chamber a real good cleaning.

 

[ditto1958]

Be sure to clean the chamber. Something, possibly powder fouling or dirt, caused the spent case to hang up.

Will do.

 

[themcfarland]

After cleaning, drop a round in the chamber and see if it sits fully and comes out fully.. if it does your ok, if not you might not have removed the debris or gunk ..

 

[Mac 1]

Saw a post the last couple days about how people cannot get help in this forum like they use to. Looks to me like the help is still here. Good to see this.

 

[Leadfoot]

Saw a post the last couple days about how people cannot get help in this forum like they use to. Looks to me like the help is still here. Good to see this.

This forum used to be about guns. I, myself am guilty of posting some silliness quite often, but there are still quite a few of us around who know guns and are willing to help when asked.

Most people want others to validate their decision to buy this gun or that one, they don't really want "help".

 

[ditto1958]

Saw a post the last couple days about how people cannot get help in this forum like they use to. Looks to me like the help is still here. Good to see this.

Well, I sure did appreciate it.

Also, more on the stuck brass issue. I did give my chamber a good cleaning. I also fire a few rounds of the Monarch ammo in my 336. It ejected fine. So, I tried it again in my Henry, and, while it didn't get completely stuck, it was difficult to eject it. I then tried a Federal Power-Shok round, and it slid back out like a hot knife through butter.

30-30 factory ammo does not seem to be very standardized from brand to brand.

 

[madwabbit]

Place rod in barrel.

Turn gun upside down, sit the rod on the floor and let the weight of the gun rest on the rod.

Work the lever while lifting up on the gun and gently letting the gun drop down on the rod.

I learned something on bayoushooter today. definitely going to remember this one.

 

[scooterj]

Well, I sure did appreciate it.

Also, more on the stuck brass issue. I did give my chamber a good cleaning. I also fire a few rounds of the Monarch ammo in my 336. It ejected fine. So, I tried it again in my Henry, and, while it didn't get completely stuck, it was difficult to eject it. I then tried a Federal Power-Shok round, and it slid back out like a hot knife through butter.

30-30 factory ammo does not seem to be very standardized from brand to brand.

Monarch ammo usually is a little hotter than any of the domestic brands and the cases seem to be made of a harder alloy. These two things are contributing factors in the stuck/sticky cases.

 

[fishhawk]

use scotchbrite fine and polish chamber,problu some rust.

 

[Ritten]

I had a customer a while back decide to fire some 30+ year old reloads in his brand new .308 with a Bisley match chamber. Long story short, he put a round in with a stiff bolt, hammered the bolt down, FIRED, and then bent the bolt handle trying to hammer it back open. After a good chewing I had him ship me the rifle and proceeded with a nearly full proof way to unstick even the hardest stuck cases.

Mix up a 50/50 mixture of Acetone and Dextron III transmission fluid.
Take the action out of the stock and set in a bucket with the muzzle pointed up.
Fill the barrel with the fluid and let sit over night.
By morning the bolt can be opened with one finger.

 

[ditto1958]

I had a customer a while back decide to fire some 30+ year old reloads in his brand new .308 with a Bisley match chamber. Long story short, he put a round in with a stiff bolt, hammered the bolt down, FIRED, and then bent the bolt handle trying to hammer it back open. After a good chewing I had him ship me the rifle and proceeded with a nearly full proof way to unstick even the hardest stuck cases.

Mix up a 50/50 mixture of Acetone and Dextron III transmission fluid.
Take the action out of the stock and set in a bucket with the muzzle pointed up.
Fill the barrel with the fluid and let sit over night.
By morning the bolt can be opened with one finger.

Hope I never need to do that, but it sure sounds like good advice.

 

[CATS]

Is your Henry new or not new? If it is new, it could also be that your chamber has some tool marks that are grabbing the expanded brass. A rusted/pitted chamber could do the same. Or you may have scored the chamber with sand/grit/metal shavings/trash. What does your extracted brass tell you? Get a magnifier and look at it closely. At any rate, as the others stated, a good cleaning should help. Look at your used patches as they come out and you may see the offending grit. AND these were factory rounds for sure and not hot hand loads-'cause if hand loads you may want to rethink what you were doing.