OTIS cable stuck in bore

[mgdavis]

Just got a text message from my buddy. Sounds like he got too many patches loaded onto his OTIS cable, and then tried to force it through the barrel. I told him I'd help him screw with it tomorrow. Any ideas on how to get the jam out?

It's an AR-15, and I'm guessing that it's stuck just forward of the chamber. I told him not to pull on the cable any more, but I'm sure it's already jammed up pretty well.

[RevDisk]

Just got a text message from my buddy. Sounds like he got too many patches loaded onto his OTIS cable, and then tried to force it through the barrel. I told him I'd help him screw with it tomorrow. Any ideas on how to get the jam out?

It's an AR-15, and I'm guessing that it's stuck just forward of the chamber. I told him not to pull on the cable any more, but I'm sure it's already jammed up pretty well.

Clamp the barrel in a very decent vice and hook the otis cable to a winch.   

Why was he using more than one patch?

[mgdavis]

I think he took another, less gunny, buddy shooting, and then buddy #2 was cleaning the rifle.

Think I could get the cable unscrewed from the fitting, and then use a rod to push it back to the chamber?

[CNYCacher]

Is there any type of rigid tubing available to you which would fit around the cable and then inside the bore?

[mgdavis]

Is there any type of rigid tubing available to you which would fit around the cable and then inside the bore?

That's a thought. I'll have to see how much room there is. Could probably find brass tubing at the local hobby shop if we go this way.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

I would advise using a blank. I would of course be wearing eye and ear protection, watching from a thousand yards with binoculars, and preparing to chuckle maniacally if the gun blows up.
In all the threads like this at THR, there's always a closet arsonist recommending that you use an open flame of some kind to loosen things up or something. I don't know if that works, but it too appeals to my destructive nature. If you still want to live dangerously and none of the previous methods worked, you could probably dump some drano down the bore. I think it would dissolve the patches. Heaven knows what it would do to the bore, though.

[mgdavis]

Think I could get the cable unscrewed from the fitting, and then use a rod to push it back to the chamber?

He just shot me another text, turns out this is exactly what he did. It worked.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

i was gonna suggest compressed air

[brimic]

It's an AR-15, and I'm guessing that it's stuck just forward of the chamber. I told him not to pull on the cable any more, but I'm sure it's already jammed up pretty well.

I've done the same thing once. IIRC, I twisted the cable to unscrew the jag, removed the cable, then went down to the local gun shop to get a .22 coated rod to punch it out. I no longer use the Otis for the AR-15 (espescially since I installed the match barrel.)

[280plus]

Too late now but a wooden dowel to ram it back the other way would be another method. We use them to clear squibs on the pistol range. I got a lot of them when I first started to reload. 

I had to up my 9mm powder charge so I could physically see "powder/no powder" before I plopped a head on there.

[Standing Wolf]

Aw, you wimps! Dynamite.

[SADShooter]

I've had this issue with the DMR kit and my M1A. In principle the Otis system is great, but having to get patches just rightis really a PITA.

[Boomhauer]

A good 1 piece rod (don't forget to wipe it down before use to remove any grit and check for embedded grit!), nylon brush, patch loop, bore guide, and pull it through instead of trying to push it through is the way to go. .22s are a pain in the ass to clean because you put anything bigger than a tiny patch on it and it will stick.

The ".22 size" patches that come with many cleaning sets simply aren't properly sized.