Ok so long story short, I got a ruger gunsite scout in 308. I zeroed it in with my hunting ammo, then started plinking with some Tulammo. I know, I’m an idiot. Anyway, after about 15 rounds of it, a rim decided to sheer off, so now I have a broken case in the chamber. I bought a broken shell extractor, but I guess im using it wrong. I can see it grab the edges of the case, but then just pops out. The only left I can think of is to drop some kroil in there and hope it penetrates between the cartridge and the chamber wall.

I tried to shimmy a flathead screwdriver down there to spin the case, but the only one I have with a long enough shank, the head itself is too big to grab the case.

I’m lost on what to do from here besides taking it to a gunsmith to get it out.

I'd try kroil for a while, then get a bronze bore brush that will fit snugly inside the broken case, jam it in there, and try to pull it out.  It may work, or you may end up with both a casing and a brush stuck in your chamber.  If you end up with both stuck, step 2 is to stick a 1/4" wooden dowel down the bore from the muzzle end and try to tap everything out.  If that doesn't work, step 3 is to admit defeat and take it to a gunsmith.

So the entire head sheared off?

Try a cleaning rod with a bore brush. The bristles catch on the mouth of the case and extract the case when you reverse it.

The entire rim sheared off. So there’s nothing really to grab

The head is the part that holds the primer and also has an extractor groove with a rim. You can have the rim come off, or you can lose the entire head.

I can't figure out from the description which case it is. Can you still see the primer?

If the whole head is gone, a brush is fed up into the neck where the bristles grab on the case mouth. A ruptured case extractor basically does the same thing, it grabs the mouth of the case.

Broken shell extractor, send the bolt home with some vigor.  

Penetrating oil, then empty a can of "canned air" like for cleaning keyboards (or any kind of refrigerant like for your car) into it to chill it then brass brush to pull it.

Open tap and die drawer and see if I have a tap that will thread into the case then tap out from the muzzle.

This is how the shell extractor should be working. If you've only pulled the rim off the case you can't use it.

It’s broke off where the rim for the extractor would grab, so there’s nothing to grab. The shell extractor that I have is adjustable, but I’ve lengthened and shortened it, but can’t get it to grab. I guess I’m doing it wrong. I run it up through the broken case, feel some tension when I try to remove it, but when I yank back on the bolt, it just pulls the shell extractor back out.

I can’t get the bolt to close when I use it. It doesn’t go far enough forward for that to happen.

If the head is still on the case, why can't you use a cleaning rod to knock it out?

Because there is no head. The entire bottom of the case is missing.

Sounds like the same problems I had with 223 Tula in 3 different brands of AR15's - multiple broken shell casings, 1st round fired out of each AR15.

On one of them, I got a screw driver to go into the chamber and then I pried on the shell casing at an angle and yanked it out.

Try tapping on the angled screwdriver with a mallet. The goal being to deform the bottom of the case.

Will you screw up your chamber? Possibly but unlikely.

A long skinny punch might work. Also a metal dental pick might work.

GSR scouts usually produce good accuracy with Tulammo until the sticky steel cases wear out the extractor tension. I guess you had the opposite.

I bet the lacquer is "gluing" the case to the camber wall. Midway sells a system to remove a stuck case

No advice but good luck.

Get a piece of 1/4" steel or brass rod, about 3' long and drop it down the barrel. I guarantee the fucker will fly out.

It’s those grey polymer cases. I don’t think there’s lacquer on those

Ok, this one is a hard read. Basically this thread is.

Q: I have problem X
Answer: Solution to problem depends on if it's condition A or condition B.   Which condition is it, A or B?
Q: A .    also and B after you answer to A.        so it's Yes
uh  ??

Anyway, after the final post, I THINK it's been defined, and the answers given - you need to buy a broken shell extract that will go through and grip the front of the case mouth, and let you yank it back out that way.  With force. a lot of force.  More muscle force than it takes to shear a case head off.  How the Heck a bolt-action rifle sheared a steel case head off is beyond me, but apparently here we are.   There's a reason I don't shoot steel.  And in a bolt action, that has to be a night mare, since ever casing is going to stick like a bastard you have to maunally muscle out.  FWIW, if you do shoot steel, fire a brass round every 30 rounds or so, to keep the chamber cleaned out.

Anyway, my quesiton now, is being a scout, I've recently handled one of those Rugers and they are surprisingly sweet.  I'm curious if you are using the far forward scout concept scope mount on yours still?

I tried a broken shell extractor, but I can’t get the bolt to close on it. I’ve even smacked the bolt handle with a mallet to see if it will seat, and it still won’t.

To answer your other question, I took the scout rail off and added an XS Rail and never looked back. I got this for hunting in the woods, and I’m not a fan of scout scopes.

Thanks.  The challenge with a broken shell extractor is you have to have a gap between the front of the case-mouth and the chamber throat, for the gripper to fit.  If it's a tight fit, there isn't much gap.  Take care, as you could be tearing up that section, which will jack up your rounds initial entry into travel, and screw up your accuracy.  It's one reason I am loath to use one of those things.  they do require adjustment, so that it's edge is just in front of the case-mouth, and not too short.  And preferally not too long, doing said damage.  

An additional investment worth having, is a bore scope.  they are quite cheap.  



If you get desperate, you can remove the stock and as many springs and delicate parts as you can, and heat the whole thing up.  preferably with a hair-dryer heat gun.  Failing that, a torch.  Obviously, if torching it, take care not to get too hot to denature the metal or damage anything.  Which as a layman, how do I do that?  So the other option is the oven, where at least you can control the temperature, and so avoid just that.  Take it up to 400 or so.  This will expand the metal and soften the "sooty/glue" residue sealing the case to your chamber, and then try again.


Regarding the scope location - agreed.  I remember the "Scout" concept, and remember the forward mounted scope was an integral part of the concept.  Then it just sort of all went away and was forgotten by time.  Recently Garand Thumb did a video on the Steyr Scout, that was actually quite educational.  Normally I don't really watch GunTube channels, but I did watch that one, and it was pretty educational.  Basically, as he put it: "sometimes two beautiful amazing parents get together, and have an ugly and incompetent child.  And that is the story of Jeff Cooper, Styer, and the Styer Scout"  Pretty much summed it up, and he goes into detail.  With the biggest real detriment to the whole concept, being the random and ineffectual location of the scope, with a view window smaller than a postage stamp, crappy light transmission, and terrible balance.  Why?  So that one can more readily run stripper clips to reload.  that was the whole reason for the goofy scope location, was stripper clip reloads.   So I was curious if I missed anything and maybe you did it forward and are happy.  Your answer doesn't surprise me, the whole thing was just a dumb concept.  But the "scout" rifle concept itself is actually pretty great, otherwise.  A very light weight easy to carry effective little gun shooting a common round, and doing it well enough to do the job.  The Ruger versions are SWEET, and have very nice triggers.

The Cerrosafe trick as shown in the MidwayUSA video above is the correct way to do it without the risk of buggering up your throat or leade.

Yes, it was because of stripper clips. None of the off the shelf iterations really got it right, because they all put DBMs. Strippers are slick and lightweight, much more so than detachable magazines on a rifle like that. Also the rifle carries really easily when you can grab it around the front receiver ring with your thumb all the way around. With a conventional scope mounting, you can't do that.

I have a Ruger and I don't really like it. The magazines are bulky single stacks. If you are ok with 3 rounds, the flush mag is not that bad for carrying, but I much prefer the M98 version with the internal magazine that I have. That being said, I have a micro red dot on mine now. That's even slicker than the LER scope.  

I tried finding a kit on there, but only found the block of metal to melt

I tried using a 45 cal brass brush. Didn’t work. Now I just have a flattened 45 bore brush

There is no kit get the block and a ladle and a torch that is all you need.

Even a large serving spoon will work. Cerrosafe melts at 160F, so damn near any heat source is sufficient.
You don't need a perfect chamber cast to figure out what cartridge a mystery rifle is chambered for, you just need to get enough Cerrosafe in front of the case mouth to have a solid surface to push the whole mess out with your rod.
The Cerrosafe is reuseable, so don't throw it away once you've got it out.

Any update ?

Dear God, stop with the mallets and screwdrivers.  


I've never had q problem with the standard military broken case extractor,  not sure why it isn't working for you.


If it's not being grabbed by the bolt.(did the extractor break? ) insert it till it grabs and then tap it out from the muzzle with a wooden dowel.

The shell extractor doesn’t work because the head of the cartridge came off, but there is still that taper on the rear of the case by the head holding right at the chamber mouth, so the shell extractor cannot go into the chamber fully. Looking back, I should’ve looked for a 30-06 shell extractor because the neck would be longer.

Not official and not approved and maybe a bad idea, but at this point, I'd be looking at just hitting it with the head of a tap sized to fit into the accessable part of the broken shell from the rear - bit into it good with the tap (like from a home thread-tapping kit), and then hammer the tap and hopefully bit into shell casing out from the muzzle with a rod.  Maybe that won't work, but so far, nothing else is either.

Make sure to soak the chamber overnight first with a penetrating oil, to help loosen up the casing, then hit it with a carb-cleaner real quick inside the casing, for that part where the tap contacts it, is dry.

Failing that: Gunsmith.

Another vote for cerrosafe.  It works.