HELP: Bullet stuck in barrel

[Scharfschuetze]

Years ago when working up squib loads for the kids and when I had free daily access to a virtually unused indoor range, I stuck a few bullets, both jacketed and cast in .223 and 308 barrels. This was in the course of thousands of squib rounds fired in the range, so it does happen.

A moderate cast bullet level charge will shoot the bullet right out. In fact, a heavy charge will work just fine if your backstop will withstand more powerful ammo. As I posted earlier, there is no radical increase in pressure and probably a reduction in pressure given the expanded volume of the chamber which now includes the portion of the bore from the chamber to the stuck bullet. It is, as Larry points out, a breach seated bullet and poses no more danger than that. To expedite the departure of the stuck bullet, clean and lightly lube the bore in front of the stuck projectile.

Remember that this isn't putting a bullet down the barrel against an obstruction or stuck bullet. That is frowned upon!

I just can't get behind pounding a rod down an expensive or unobtainable original barrel with a hammer.

[Soundguy]

If a brass rod down the bbl will damage the bbl, the guns not fit to shoot....

[swheeler]

If a brass rod down the bbl will damage the bbl, the guns not fit to shoot....

sounds right to me!

[308Jeff]

I think the opinions in this topic are about as far from a consensus as it can get.

[Soundguy]

If brass was hard on gun bbl metal, then copper jackets and bimetalic jackets and brass cases on chambers would be eating up guns DAILY.

[Scharfschuetze]

I think the opinions in this topic are about as far from a consensus as it can get.

Pound away guys

Having worn out several barrels and having made numerous barrels from steel dowls to finished-rifled tubes working for a gunsmith, I can tell you that barrel steel is pretty soft stuff. That's a good thing as it allows some elasticity in the metal to contain high pressures. A good barrel is well worth an inordinate level of care. Certainly brass is softer, but pounding on a rifle just makes me cringe.

[Soundguy]

Pound away guys

Having worn out several barrels and having made numerous barrels from steel dowls to finished-rifled tubes working for a gunsmith, I can tell you that barrel steel is pretty soft stuff. That's a good thing as it allows some elasticity in the metal to contain high pressures. A good barrel is well worth an inordinate level of care. Certainly brass is softer, but pounding on a rifle just makes me cringe.

If a brass rod is going to hurt a rifle bbl ( it should not even be making any forcefull contact anyway! ) then a brass case pounding away at the chamber at 20-30-40-50-60K PSI is going to hurt it.

Newsflash.. Many FMJ bullets have a jacket of copper. Brass is copper and zinc. Some bullets have bimetal jackets, That's mild steel and a plated gilding, perhaps a copper wash, usually in the 125 are of BHN. Some projectiles are monolithic solids. i have safari rifles that shoot straight brass projectiles. Brass is about 60 BHN. Copper is about 35 bhn.

If you use a correct diameter rod, and a chamfer on the end, there should be no way to 'gouge' your barrel rifeling. There should be NO WAY to 'SLIP' off the projectile. If you have a .45X bore, and use a .25" rod.. SURE.. so don't use a .25" rod.. use a correct size.

Using the wrong 'tool', then blaming the tool / technique on doing the damage really just shows that the person doing the work is a 'tool'.

[Soundguy]

Pound away guys

Having worn out several barrels and having made numerous barrels from steel dowls to finished-rifled tubes working for a gunsmith, I can tell you that barrel steel is pretty soft stuff. That's a good thing as it allows some elasticity in the metal to contain high pressures. A good barrel is well worth an inordinate level of care. Certainly brass is softer, but pounding on a rifle just makes me cringe.

If a brass rod is going to hurt a rifle bbl ( it should not even be making any forcefull contact anyway! ) then a brass case pounding away at the chamber at 20-30-40-50-60K PSI is going to hurt it.

Newsflash.. Many FMJ bullets have a jacket of copper. Brass is copper and zinc. Some bullets have bimetal jackets, That's mild steel and a plated gilding, perhaps a copper wash, usually in the 125 are of BHN. Some projectiles are monolithic solids. i have safari rifles that shoot straight brass projectiles. Brass is about 60 BHN. Copper is about 35 bhn.

If you use a correct diameter rod, and a chamfer on the end, there should be no way to 'gouge' your barrel rifeling. There should be NO WAY to 'SLIP' off the projectile. If you have a .45X bore, and use a .25" rod.. SURE.. so don't use a .25" rod.. use a correct size.

Using the wrong 'tool', then blaming the tool / technique on doing the damage really just shows that the person doing the work is a 'tool'.

[alamogunr]

"22 If you have a .45X bore, and use a .25" rod.. SURE.. so don't use a .25" rod.. use a correct size."


I use steel drill rod stock. It is ground and polished and available in just about any size you need. For the above example, I have a 7/16" drill rod. For a .30 cal. bore, use a 19/64" rod. Grind the end flat and slightly chamfer the edge.

[arlon]

Not exactly sure what that picture is of, or attempts to show, so I won't speculate.

Per the 'story'.. if a steel rod was able to slip off the bullet and into the bore, sounds like they were using something very slim like a cleaning rod, vs a rod just small enough to slip into the bbl.

That is an image down the bore of the mentioned .38 revolver. Those are gouges mentioned in the bore of revolver caused by using a steel rod (speculation). I suspect each hammer strike left a gouge. A brass rod sure did NOT do that. I've never heard of a brass rod damaging a steel bore. I'm sure someone out there is capable though. A proper fitting brass drift rod is pretty reliable in my way of thinking.

Also if you look at the pic, the image is looking up just past the forcing cone area of a S&W model 15 with a 4" barrel. So the the big blurry opening is the .38 bore. Looking at the radius of the gouges compared to the bore is pretty obvious that someone was using something WAY smaller than the bore.

Like I said, I like a brass rod close to bore size. If I'm knocking a slug down something like a 45-70 I just use an old empty brass pistol case that fits in the bore and use that as a "shoe" for the rod. No slipping.

[Soundguy]

That is an image down the bore of the mentioned .38 revolver. Those are gouges mentioned in the bore of revolver caused by using a steel rod (speculation). I suspect each hammer strike left a gouge. A brass rod sure did NOT do that. I've never heard of a brass rod damaging a steel bore. I'm sure someone out there is capable though. A proper fitting brass drift rod is pretty reliable in my way of thinking.

and they must have use a rod very, very, very much undersized to even make contact like that.

improper use of the wrong tool.

[arlon]

and they must have use a rod very, very, very much undersized to even make contact like that.

improper use of the wrong tool.

Exactly.

[Larry Gibson]

This would be a good test for Larry to do for the forum though. Lets say take his favorite 06 equipped with a strain gauge, drive a 150 grain Hornady spire point 12 inches into the barrel and load a case with 49 grains of 4895 topped off with a wad of dacron to hold the powder in place, fire it and show the results here. I'm in!!

Sorry, but like Scharfschuetze, I don't really like pounding on my rifles. I have removed numerous stuck bullets (mostly cast) with rods but I drill a cone shape in the end of the rod to center it on the bullet tip. Most stuck jacketed bullets are the result of no powder or it did not ignite and the primer simply stuck the bullet in the throat. Most times just the weight of the rod with barrel vertical will tap the bullet back out.

Pounding a jacketed bullet 12" into the barrel is what I don't recommend and is something I am not inclined to do with any rifle of mine.

I also have used Hatcher's method numerous times but generally use a starting load of whatever powder is being used. As did Hatcher I also don't use anything to hold the powder in the case. This means the cartridge sans bullet must be loaded with the rifle in a vertical position and then lowered gently. This is not allowed on many ranges and is difficult to do with some actions, especially CF actions. I believe that is why Hatcher didn't recommend it.

Note this method applies to closed breach actions and is not usually a successful method with revolvers.

Larry Gibson

[Soundguy]

Exactly.

kinda like using a beld sander and a jack hammer to clean your bathroom mirror.. then complain about the damage to the mirror.

wrong tools, improper technique.. but it's not the users fault somehow...

[Soundguy]

Exactly.

kinda like using a beld sander and a jack hammer to clean your bathroom mirror.. then complain about the damage to the mirror.

wrong tools, improper technique.. but it's not the users fault somehow...

[swheeler]

Sorry, but like Scharfschuetze, I don't really like pounding on my rifles. I have removed numerous stuck bullets (mostly cast) with rods but I drill a cone shape in the end of the rod to center it on the bullet tip. Most stuck jacketed bullets are the result of no powder or it did not ignite and the primer simply stuck the bullet in the throat. Most times just the weight of the rod with barrel vertical will tap the bullet back out.

Pounding a jacketed bullet 12" into the barrel is what I don't recommend and is something I am not inclined to do with any rifle of mine.

I also have used Hatcher's method numerous times but generally use a starting load of whatever powder is being used. As did Hatcher I also don't use anything to hold the powder in the case. This means the cartridge sans bullet must be loaded with the rifle in a vertical position and then lowered gently. This is not allowed on many ranges and is difficult to do with some actions, especially CF actions. I believe that is why Hatcher didn't recommend it.

Note this method applies to closed breach actions and is not usually a successful method with revolvers.

Larry Gibson

"I had seen a FMJ bullit stuck halfway in a 30-06 barrel.The solution was simpel.A case filled with a normal powder load , a little dacron.
Fired , and the bullit was removed."

This is the post I replied to, the 12" in the barrel was just an approximation of "halfway".

Edit: I don't like pounding on my rifles that's why I wanted you to do it to yours!

[elmacgyver0]

When I was a kid I floated a lead bullet in a bottle of mercury, in a few days the bullet dissolved.

[LAGS]

I have used Mercury to remove lead build up from barrels.
It will desolve a lead slug stuck in a barrel. but is also very corrosive to the steel if left for any period of time.
And it is Toxic.
Seems more toxic now than when I was a kid.
We would play with mercury in science classes in school in our hands.
Now they Evacuate a school if a Mercury Thermostat switch or Neon light gets broken.

[BNE]

ITS OUT!

I took two long sockets and added tape until they were a snug fit in the chamber. I then added tape to a 12 inch long drill bit. ~0.125" diameter


I then drilled just enough to make sure it was centered or close to centered on the bullet.

This is what it looked like in the chamber:


I drilled some of it out and then re-tapped on the brass rod. This is what came out! I put another bullet beside it for comparison.


The bullet was swaging up and around the brass rod.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Drm50]

My method is like BNE's. I have brass rods for bore size. They are center drilled with set screws
for pilot bits, just like a extension bit. Usually I don't have to resort to drill. If I do it's after some
Bubba used a under sized rod and beat on bullet until it "riveted" itself into bore. A under sized
steel rod can also gouge bore. Also a word on screw puller method: if you run a screw into a bullet
it will expand like a nail anchor. These screw pullers were designed to pull round balls that were
patched and work good for this purpose. I have had cases where guys pulled the threaded fitting
that accepts the screw off the rod, leaving screw and ramrod tip in bore. In ML you can get lucky
and work enough powder in barrel to shoot it out. I am firm believer in sharp whack with heavy
hammer on proper size brass bar, with barrel anchored. Do not stand gun on butt and pound on
bullet, stock will be damaged.