Henry Long Ranger case seperation(223)

[papaboomboom]

my buddy had a case separation on a LC brass today. Far from overloaded(it is reload), any ideas on removing case from lever action rifle?
He said he had a LC case separate when he was depriming brass)

[LynnJr]

He is sizing the brass too much.
Go to one of the home improvement stores or harbor freight and look for a package of tools that has those little dental pick looking tools in it. They are cheap and you can bend them without ruining a good tool.
See if he can grab the inside of the case and pull the brass out.
If that doesn't work slide the tool between the piece of brass and the chamber and fold the brass inward.
Now run a cleaning down from the muzzle and bang the brass out.

[DueceMcGurk]

Papa,
Remove the lever, bolt and ejector before starting Lynn's good recommendations. Also lube the heck out of the brass piece after forming a lip.

You can also try to form a lip from the rear of the split case and then drive a wooden dowel from the muzzle side.

Forming a "right angle" on a piece of bronze brazing rod is also a possibility. It WILL come out. Be patient and don't scratch the crown or chamber.

Good luck. Keep us advised.

[papaboomboom]

Thanx for help. Will advise, Lynn jr: what do mean sizing brass too much, is it being crushed too much, he has had two LC cases come apart, one in the rigle, one in the die

[ar15barrels]

my buddy had a case separation on a LC brass today. Far from overloaded(it is reload), any ideas on removing case from lever action rifle?
He said he had a LC case separate when he was depriming brass)

Get a cleaning rod which is longer than the barrel with a non-rotating handle.
Insert cleaning rod down the barrel from the muzzle to the chamber.
Slide the rod out of the chamber so you can access it through the ejection port.
Thread a 357 or 9mm bore brush on the rod.
While rotating the rod clockwise (looking at the muzzle as you are holding the rod), draw the brush back into the stuck portion of the case about an inch or until it just starts to get tight.
Continue rotating the rod as you stop pulling on it and then switch to pushing on the rod as you continue to rotate it.

It should be one smooth operation pulling back while turning and then pushing forward while continuing turning.
The case will get stuck on the brush.
Unscrew the rod from the extracted case and remove the case and brush through the ejection port.
Withdraw the cleaning rod.

[Pofoo]

Don't use a wooden rod. It could/will break and then you will have a bigger problem.

[LynnJr]

You should size all your brass to fit the chamber you are using the brass in
Most shooters shoot there brass then bump the shoulder back 0.002 and call it good.
I never do that!!!
When you fire your brass a few times it will then properly fit the chamber.
From that point you can bump the shoulder a given amount so the brass extracts perfectly on all your ammo.
You sacrifice one piece of brass but the rest will actually last longer.

If you screw the die down until it makes firm contact the brass is oversized nearest the neck shoulder junction and the shoulder is also pushed back to far.
When you fire the gun the casehead slams against the boltface and the unburned powder slams into the shoulder stretching the brass near the web so it can fill the chamber.
Now you size that brass so the die contacts the shellholder and that extra few thousandths ends up in the neck because the body of the case won't compress and the extra has to go somewhere so it ends up in the neck.

After repeated cycles the brass ends up failing right in front of the web area.

To check this out for yourself you need to sacrifice one piece of brass.
Measure the brass length before loading it and write that down.
Load it and fire it and the brass should be shorter because it had to fill in all the empty space in the chamber.
Now full length size that brass and it will get longer.
It gets longer because anything that get shrunk by the die ends up in extra neck length.
Repeat several times and if that brass keeps getting longer the area in front of the web is getting thinner each firing.
If your constantly trimming your brass your oversizing it for your chamber.

Everybody likes to talk about zero headspace but all that leads to is finicky reloading dies in my humble opinion.
On my guns I have my Chambers cut 0.004 longer on purpose up to 338 Lapua.
After that I want +0.006 - +0.008 on a CheyTac size case and larger so my dies work as designed.

Edit: don't bang on a carbon fiber rod as they will shatter and you will spend hours at the doctor getting it removed from your palm.