Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Case Head Separation: How to remove stuck case?

I'm going to remember to epoxy deal. One of our guys had a case head separation at elk camp one year. I whittled a a piece of wood that would just fit into the case and then screwed a large wood screw into the back of it to expand the wood and grip the case and then popped it out with a cleaning rod. Kind of a home made shell extractor.
Doc

I have never had a case head seperation (knock on wood)
but if it happens once, what are the chances of it happening
again with the safe rifle? Hope this isnt a stupid question.

Case head separation isn't always the fault of the gun. Reloads, where the shoulders are bumped back too far, causing the brass to stretch dangerously thin on repeated firings, or, an occasional out of spec factory round fired in a gun with a little too much gap between the bolt head and the breech are the usual offenders.

If the rifle's headspace is within spec, and the gap between the bolt head and the breech isn't excessive, or, there isn't a huge, bevel at the mouth of the chamber, then you shouldn't have to worry much about it, provided the brass fits the chamber and the loads are within the correct operating pressures of the particular round. If you are concerned, let a reputable gunsmith check it out for you.

Go to a hardware store and buy some of the expander plugs that is used in holes drilled in concrete to put lag bolts in, they have all differant sizes, as well as ones used to hang pictures on walls, put them in from the rear and tighten but don't over tighten, then tap it out with a rod from the muzzle.you can even fit them by cutting them down on a lathe for differant size cartridges, a custom set.

If anyone is having trouble following this idea, Look at how a drain plug for a boat works. miles

Thanks for the suggestions. I definitely plan to make up a kit for my shooting box and be prepared for the next time. As I mentioned in the first post, after the separation occurred, I left the gun at a gun shop to be fixed. But, I was wondering what else I could have done myself in order to get the gun back into the woods. Thanks to all for some great ideas!