Ok fellas,

I have a custom made brass ramrod for a muzzleloader that has a 10-32 thread on the end. I had an extension threaded in and it broke off at the end of the actual ramrod with the threaded end in place.

it's a pretty small thread opening. I thought about drilling it out- I imagine its aluminum.

is there anything I can do myself or should I find someone else to extract the broken part?

Post a picture, please.

I'll try tomorrow.

If the bit still in there isn't stuck fast, you may be able to use a pencil eraser to tease it out, or maybe a drop of wax or superglue to temporarily adhere a small stick or something to it in order to unscrew it.

I have a tiny Ease-out set for just such things. I've removed a broken #6 screw with it

I've had good luck with left handed drill bits.  Many times the broken part spins right out while you're drilling it because the torque from drilling is going in the loosening direction.

First place I'd look for drills is either McMaster-Carr or MSC.


- Chris

success my friends.

I had the ramrod out in the laboratory this morning looking at the broken stem. it barely had 1 thread on half of it above the groove line in the ramrod. I found the smallest locking forceps in the lab that I could find and I could make contact with that elevated thread. I put some 3 in 1 oil into it and let it run into the threads for about 30 minutes and barely touched the tip of the ramrod on my Vortex Genie mixer to vibrate it loose for just a split second.

I then opened the forceps to catch that partial thread and twisted quarter turns of the ramrod while holding the forceps in place. two full turns and it twisted the rest of the way out with my fingers.

I would have taken pictures but today was a madhouse at the lab with a possible rabies case and all the BS involved.

that would have worked, after I oiled and vortexed it. it was that loose.
very good idea.