I doubt the air compressor will work in this case. If we assume his bore is half an inch, it will have an area of 0.159 in². Multiplied by 125 PSI you get not quite 20 pounds of force. Less if the bore is smaller. I am sure he has already pulled with 20 pounds of force on the cord, and it didn't work. The air is useful when you have no other way get hold of the stuck ball, but he has a hold, and it is no help.
Saturated lye solution would eventually eat out the patch if it is cotton. Maybe not if it is synthetic. It will gradually react with the metal unless it is stainless. It could take weeks on a tight patch. Concentrated sulfuric acid will also etch the metal, but will dissolve a plug much faster. Whether you get ahead on etching with the acid or the lye depends on the speed with which the plug is broken down as the chemical of choice takes hydrogen and oxygen out of its structure in the form of water. I don't think strong chemicals are the way to go? I wouldn't trust either one.
You could theoretically put the thing in an oven and, beyond 451°F, the cellulose in fiber will burn. Unfortunately, the synthetics in the Bore Snake will also be melting and/or burning. Think noxious fumes and charred plastic goo stuck to the bore and in need of methylene chloride or similar strong solvent to remove. Not a pretty picture.
My personal approach would be to go to the hobby shop and buy some of those telescoping brass tubes, and pick a set that fit the bore closely on the outside and leave a 1/8" hole inside. Get the 1 foot lengths, not 3 foot, or you will have to cut it. Also buy a 3 foot length of 1/8" music wire from the hobby shop. They sell it for landing gear struts. If the outer tube isn't snug in the bore, add tape to the outside. Insert it from the rear. Wrap the outside of the rear of the tubing enough paper to center it in the back of the receiver (the bolt is out for all this). Now heat the tip of the music wire to red heat with a propane torch, and quickly shove the hot end down through the brass tube and spin the cool end of it back and forth between your palms for a few seconds. Repeating this will gradually char the back of the patch and drill a burned hole down until you get to the loop in the Bore Snake. When the loop is burned through, the Snake will come out. The patch will now be thinned out and should push out with a rod.
I thought of substituting a long 1/8" electrician's drill for the hot wire drill, but I think it will get tangled in the patch fibers and you will end up with a drill stuck in there with everything else. The hot wire will not carry enough specific heat to warm the bore enough to affect barrel temper any more than hot propellant gas does. It will also tend to cool on its way down the brass tubing, so you have to be quick about it. It will likely take several applications of the hot wire just to dry enough oil out to start drilling. The oil will act as a phase change material and cool the rod until it is driven off. The oil vapor may be flammable, so don't get the propane torch too near the smoke.
Good luck with it,
Nick
Saturated lye solution would eventually eat out the patch if it is cotton. Maybe not if it is synthetic. It will gradually react with the metal unless it is stainless. It could take weeks on a tight patch. Concentrated sulfuric acid will also etch the metal, but will dissolve a plug much faster. Whether you get ahead on etching with the acid or the lye depends on the speed with which the plug is broken down as the chemical of choice takes hydrogen and oxygen out of its structure in the form of water. I don't think strong chemicals are the way to go? I wouldn't trust either one.
You could theoretically put the thing in an oven and, beyond 451°F, the cellulose in fiber will burn. Unfortunately, the synthetics in the Bore Snake will also be melting and/or burning. Think noxious fumes and charred plastic goo stuck to the bore and in need of methylene chloride or similar strong solvent to remove. Not a pretty picture.
My personal approach would be to go to the hobby shop and buy some of those telescoping brass tubes, and pick a set that fit the bore closely on the outside and leave a 1/8" hole inside. Get the 1 foot lengths, not 3 foot, or you will have to cut it. Also buy a 3 foot length of 1/8" music wire from the hobby shop. They sell it for landing gear struts. If the outer tube isn't snug in the bore, add tape to the outside. Insert it from the rear. Wrap the outside of the rear of the tubing enough paper to center it in the back of the receiver (the bolt is out for all this). Now heat the tip of the music wire to red heat with a propane torch, and quickly shove the hot end down through the brass tube and spin the cool end of it back and forth between your palms for a few seconds. Repeating this will gradually char the back of the patch and drill a burned hole down until you get to the loop in the Bore Snake. When the loop is burned through, the Snake will come out. The patch will now be thinned out and should push out with a rod.
I thought of substituting a long 1/8" electrician's drill for the hot wire drill, but I think it will get tangled in the patch fibers and you will end up with a drill stuck in there with everything else. The hot wire will not carry enough specific heat to warm the bore enough to affect barrel temper any more than hot propellant gas does. It will also tend to cool on its way down the brass tubing, so you have to be quick about it. It will likely take several applications of the hot wire just to dry enough oil out to start drilling. The oil will act as a phase change material and cool the rod until it is driven off. The oil vapor may be flammable, so don't get the propane torch too near the smoke.
Good luck with it,
Nick
