How to remove Cerrosafe

[Zerstoerer]

...another moment of genius in an amateur gunsmithing career...

Tried to cast my chamber (30-30 Win Marlin Lever Action).
Now, the stuff is stuck for good in the chamber.
Chiseled the excess away, bent one steel cleaning rod trying to hammer it out and nothing. Solid.
Done this before with no problem, why now the drama?

Any advise is greatly appreciated.

 

[ldsgeek]

Slowly heat the action/barrel, boiling water is hot enough. The cerrosafe will melt long before the steel is affected. You need to lightly lube the chamber before casting and remove the cast before it re-expands, cerrosafe first contracts, then starts to expand again which will make it too tight to remove. From the Brownells website:

"Note the time the casting was poured. The casting will take only a very short time to solidify, usually within a minute. Wait 30 minutes and then remove the plug from the bore. Turn the muzzle upward and the casting will fall from the chamber. At 30 minutes after initial solidification, Cerrosafe shrinks slightly, so removal is very easy. Allow the new casting to cool thoroughly then measure the casting exactly one hour from the time it was cast. The casting will give you an exact measurement of the chamber. "

 

[Zerstoerer]

I will try that as soon as I get home.
Thanks a million, boiling water - I thought I needed a flame...

 

[rcmodel]

A heat gun would do it too.

Seems way less messy then dipping the gun in boiling water.

rc

 

[Zerstoerer]

The heated water trick worked - I first let the barrel heat up under running hot water, then added some boiling water from a tea kettle and the block fell right out.
Thanks again.

 

[Mac's Precision]

Cerrosafe...... good stuff.

Don't feel too bad....I have seen many a chamber casting experiments go amiss. It always seems to get all challenging on guns that are the hardest to get to the chamber.

I had a customer come in with an AR15.. LOADED with cerrosafe. Filled it right up...4" down the barrel then all the way into the locking lugs! THAT was fun. I pulled the barrel on that one...had to warm it and work it out. WHAT a mess.

Cheers
Mac.