A friend of mine recently came into posession of a .303 Enfield 1944 model,the big problem is that some idiot tried to clean it at one time and got about a 3 inch long wad of cotton wedged in the barrel about 3 inches up from the breech.....any good suggestions on how to remove without damaging the barrel. Any good people out there with any suggestion? All help is appreciated.

I'd suggest a worm... the tool used to get patched balls out of a muzzle-loader without shooting them out EXCEPT I don't know of a ~30 cal worm.

If it were me, I'd soak the patches with Kroil (a thin penetrating oil), then use a solid cleaning rod to drive the patches out from the muzzle end. A long brass rod of just under 30 cal would be ideal. You might want to use a muzzle guard to protect the crown.

Whatever you do don't get any wooden dowels driven in there.  I saw a major deal develop this way.  The metal rod sounds good to me.

Dennis Jenkins

Quoted: A friend of mine recently came into posession of a .303 Enfield 1944 model,the big problem is that some idiot tried to clean it at one time and got about a 3 inch long wad of cotton wedged in the barrel about 3 inches up from the breech.....any good suggestions on how to remove without damaging the barrel. Any good people out there with any suggestion? All help is appreciated.

Cigarette Lighter with the tall flame? It would burn the cotton out in a few seconds, and there's no way it could generate enough heat to damage the steel. Then you'd just have a few ashes/cinders to clean out. My thought, but I'm no expert.

Quoted: Whatever you do don't get any wooden dowels driven in there.  I saw a major deal develop this way.  The metal rod sounds good to me. Dennis Jenkins Quoted: A friend of mine recently came into posession of a .303 Enfield 1944 model,the big problem is that some idiot tried to clean it at one time and got about a 3 inch long wad of cotton wedged in the barrel about 3 inches up from the breech.....any good suggestions on how to remove without damaging the barrel. Any good people out there with any suggestion? All help is appreciated.

A wood dowel would be the best idea. Wood is not going to harm the bore. I have used it before with good results.

Quoted: Quoted: Whatever you do don't get any wooden dowels driven in there.  I saw a major deal develop this way.  The metal rod sounds good to me. Dennis Jenkins Quoted: A friend of mine recently came into posession of a .303 Enfield 1944 model,the big problem is that some idiot tried to clean it at one time and got about a 3 inch long wad of cotton wedged in the barrel about 3 inches up from the breech.....any good suggestions on how to remove without damaging the barrel. Any good people out there with any suggestion? All help is appreciated. A wood dowel would be the best idea. Wood is not going to harm the bore. I have used it before with good results.

So right after someone says not to do it, you say it's the "best idea"?  

Isn't Dennis Jenkins from Empire Arms or something like that?  I would listen to him.

That's not me.

I once saw a major online situation develop this way.  That forum still doesn't have a regular moderator.  I'd think TWICE about introducing a wooden dowel.

Dennis Jenkins

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Whatever you do don't get any wooden dowels driven in there.  I saw a major deal develop this way.  The metal rod sounds good to me. Dennis Jenkins Quoted: A friend of mine recently came into posession of a .303 Enfield 1944 model,the big problem is that some idiot tried to clean it at one time and got about a 3 inch long wad of cotton wedged in the barrel about 3 inches up from the breech.....any good suggestions on how to remove without damaging the barrel. Any good people out there with any suggestion? All help is appreciated. A wood dowel would be the best idea. Wood is not going to harm the bore. I have used it before with good results. So right after someone says not to do it, you say it's the "best idea"?   Isn't Dennis Jenkins from Empire Arms or something like that?  I would listen to him.

Quoted: Cigarette Lighter with the tall flame? It would burn the cotton out in a few seconds, and there's no way it could generate enough heat to damage the steel. Then you'd just have a few ashes/cinders to clean out. My thought, but I'm no expert.

Makes sense to me.

Why not explain what can happen if he uses a dowel instead of all these vague warnings.

I would think the Kroil and a non-steel (Dewey) cleaning rod would be an ideal way to remove the cotton.

LL

Quoted: Why not explain what can happen if he uses a dowel instead of all these vague warnings. I would think the Kroil and a non-steel (Dewey) cleaning rod would be an ideal way to remove the cotton. LL

and what is a major online situation?

go with the cleaning rod, no tip, or a bronze drill rod,
if the cotton is packed too tight, you may not beable to get the flame close enough,

I'll just leave it to your imagination.

Dennis Jenkins

Quoted: Why not explain what can happen if he uses a dowel instead of all these vague warnings. I would think the Kroil and a non-steel (Dewey) cleaning rod would be an ideal way to remove the cotton. LL

If you use wood you could get a Splinter

Soak the plug with motor oil.  Drive out with a close fitting brass rod available at Home Depot or Lowe's.

I like the worm/pick idea. A wad of cotton will compress and wedge tighter as you push against it. By pulling it out, it loosens as you work on it.

All that said, if you decide to use the wooden dowel, give us all enough notice so we can come and watch.

X

Been there, done that, used a dowel and I can still play the piano.

OK , will somebody PLEASE explain the dowel issue .  I used one on a handgun before .
 Did I cheat the grim reaper somehow ?

A lot of people may wind up with a shattered wooden dowel also stuck in the bore.

This probably looses a lot in the retelling.  The whole thing had the moderator cussing before it was over and quite a few people mouthing off.

Dennis Jenkins

Quoted: OK , will somebody PLEASE explain the dowel issue .  I used one on a handgun before .  Did I cheat the grim reaper somehow ?

Quoted: A lot of people may wind up with a shattered wooden dowel also stuck in the bore. This probably looses a lot in the retelling.  The whole thing had the moderator cussing before it was over and quite a few people mouthing off. Dennis Jenkins Quoted: OK , will somebody PLEASE explain the dowel issue .  I used one on a handgun before .  Did I cheat the grim reaper somehow ?

just spend 2 minutes in GD here or at a few other forums and you can get the same thing!!!

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Whatever you do don't get any wooden dowels driven in there.  I saw a major deal develop this way.  The metal rod sounds good to me. Dennis Jenkins Quoted: A friend of mine recently came into posession of a .303 Enfield 1944 model,the big problem is that some idiot tried to clean it at one time and got about a 3 inch long wad of cotton wedged in the barrel about 3 inches up from the breech.....any good suggestions on how to remove without damaging the barrel. Any good people out there with any suggestion? All help is appreciated. A wood dowel would be the best idea. Wood is not going to harm the bore. I have used it before with good results. So right after someone says not to do it, you say it's the "best idea"?   Isn't Dennis Jenkins from Empire Arms or something like that?  I would listen to him.

I say it is the best idea because I have seen wooden dowel used by a gun smith that builds $5,000 rifles. He used the dowel to remove everything from a lodged bullet to tight patches. Wood is in now way going to harm steel.

I've done some boneheaded things in my life but this has got to be the worst. I was shooting some reloads this morning out of my M96 Sweede and one round would not chamber. I figered I must not have sized the case right. I thought maybe I didn't get the shoulder sized back enough or something. Anyway here is when I got stupid. I figured maybe it would chamber if I applied a little more force on the bolt. Long story short...the round got stuck and I could not extract it. The extractor came off the rim leaving the round in the chamber. I tried tapping it out with a cleaning rod but it was stuck good. Now I'm thinking the bullet may be oversize. Maybe a Carcano bullet or even a 270 bullet got mixed in to the batch I was loading with. I decided to wait till I got home to work on it. Now here is where I got REALLY stupid. I decided to use a 1/4" dowel rod to tap it out with. The bullet acted like a wedge, spliting the end of the dowel and it just compressed around the bullet really tight. Worse yet, the dowel rod broke off in the bore. Now I have a live round stuck in the chamber and a wood dowel stuck in the bore that just tightens up more if you pound on it. I thought about trying to pull the round out with a pair of curved needle nose pliers but I don't want to take the chance of squeezing too hard and setting the primer off. The whole gun would blow up in my face. Any thoughts or suggestions? I'm feeling pretty foolish and worried. :o :( This is one of my favorite rifles and one of the most accurate.

I tried one more time to pull the dowell out using the long screw and this time it worked! :D :D :D I was just about to give up and take it to a gunsmith. after the dowell came out, the round was easy to drive out with a steel cleaning rod. that's the method I should have used to begin with. :\ Never, never, never, ever use a dowell rod to drive out a stuck round! Thanks again for all the helpfull suggestion!

I don't think the cotton wad will split a sooden dowel, if it does though I would like to see the pictures.