Just as the title says. My boresnake got stuck in just inside the neck of the chamber and broke off just inside the muzzle. What are my options?
A google search reveals some really dumb answers, and even the answers that aren’t so dumb haven’t worked (i.e. dowel rods).
Has anyone successfully removed a broken snake from an AR-15 barrel without damaging it?
Lol youre not the same guy that got the patch stuck in your barrel are you? 
Youre NOT gonne damage the barrel man. How far in is it? Can you get some needlenose in there to grab it?
Is any of the nylon pull cord attached to it still?
No. I have never had a patch stuck in my barrel.
No part of the boresnake is outside of the barrel, and I’ve tried pliers. I’ve been afraid to use a metal cleaning rod because of damage. Other rods have bent and/or broken.
Is it a hard chromed barrel? I wouldn’t worry about damaging it, as it’s fairly tough steel.
I recall a recent thread where a guy using an OTIS cleaning rod and patch managed to get it stuck. :eek:
Drop some CLP or other lube down the barrel and push with a wooden or brass dowel/rod thru the breech end and push out thru the muzzle.
Part of it is OUTSIDE of the barrel? Get some big ViceGrips and clamp it on then!
Pull the shit out of it until it cvomes out, is it the size Boresnake for your rifle? Or were you tryin to make something work
I was joking about the patch, there was a guy on here about a month ago that happened to.
I have had the string brake off one before just before the muzzle used a pair of pliers to pull it the rest of the way out.
You might try using a cleaning rod and and push it into the pull handle were it loops back into its self. I just tried a .40 cal snake and my cleaning rod will slide into the sleeve fairly easily.
If it is a brass or bronze brush and you have time, soak it with an aggressive copper cutter type bore cleaner. It may dissolve it enough to make removal easier. You could also try placing the muzzle in boiling water. The heat might soften the bristles enough to loosen it’s grip on the bore.
Make a brass or aluminum slug that will just fit inside your bore. Slightly round the ends. Drop it in from the chamber end. Fit a long dowel behind it and whack it good with a ballpeen or heavy brass hammer. Don’t miss and smack the rifle. It will help if you can mount the barrel in a barrel vise to hold the rifle in place while working on it
The bristles made it out okay, it is just the nylon stuck. No part is sticking out of the barrel (no way to grab it). Is there anyway to dissolve the nylon without damaging the bore?
You could try burning it out.
Wood dowl rod
You don’t have a cleaning rod?
Seems to me that you’d have to pull it out rather than try to ram it out. With the whole thing in there, or a substantial part of it, pushing from the end will just bunch it up and make it clamp tighter to the bore - the harder you hit the dowel the tighter it’s going to clamp. I guess I’d soak the crap out of it with a synthetic oil (lubricity) or maybe some “personal lubricant” (glycerine or glycol-based), then cut the head off a brass or aluminum 8-32 screw and taper it, screw it into an aluminum cleaning rod, screw it into the boresnake from the muzzle and then pull while turning clockwise. Repeat as necessary as it tears out. I dunno…just noodling here. Good luck.
Try the dowel rod from the muzzle end, carefully give it a few taps with a small hammer…
I spent the afternoon with the dowel rod. All I have now are bits and pieces of dowel rod lying around.
And this is why I will stick with my Otis kit…
Ok I just tried it with my .22 cal snake. Bear in mind this is just a untested Idea. If you look at were the snake handle is formed were it loops back into its self I can slide my cleaning rod into the sleeve and it goes all the way down to about 2" from the brush at that point it is stitched closed. I would try the rod it would bunch up but it would only be the last 2" before the brush. That might be manageable.
My boresnakes all have a loop an the opposite end from the pull cord. Maybe the OP’s experience is a good reason to secure some paracord through that loop…
Tried ramming it with a cleaning rod. I think the lesson is that if you try to push rope, you get nowhere.
This is a Noveske barrel. From now on, boresnakes aren’t touching my rifles.