Bullet AND wood dowel stuck

[zidave]

I've gotten myself into a world of stuck...

Went to the range today to test out some new loads for my Mosin and got 4 off with no problem then the 5th round got stuck, something got into the case(I obviously didn't inspect the cases as well as I thought) and got the powder wet so only the primer went off and was just enough to get the bullet lodged into the barrel.

So me being uneducated, I took a wooden dowel and attempted to push it back from the muzzle end. Well I discovered that wasn't a good idea and the wood got stuck in the barrel.

I went home and disassembled the rifle as much as I was able to and put some gun oil down the barrel(yep, another mistake I learned from, the wood is probably swollen now) and then proceeded to hammer the steel cleaning rod from the muzzle end which seems to have made it worse.

I did some research and it seems I'm not the first person to do this and someone suggested getting a copper solvent and letting it eat the copper jacket.

Anyone else have anymore advice?
Feel free to call me every name in the book because I definitely deserve it but as long as you can help. :oops::oops:

[Junior1942]

Get a short wooden dowel which is a slip-fit in the bore. Fill the bore with oil. Put the short dowel in the bore. Wrap a rag around the dowel/muzzle junction. Whack the end of the dowel with a hammer. Hydraulics is our friend :-)

[zidave]

Would that not do the same thing as the rod hammering the wood?

[Junior1942]

Nope. Oil doesn't flex, bend, compress, etc. Try it.

[MrWolf]

Nice tip Junior - I like it.

[KYShooter73]

A .25 acp case fits well down the bore of a .30 cal. I would soak everything in oil, then start tapping a rod with a .25 acp case on the end down the bore from the end closest to the boolit. If you start from the muzzle wrap some tape around your rod to prevent crown damage. Once you get it to move, it should be easy.

[leeggen]

If posible get a brass rod or atleast a metal rod that fits close to bore dia. Then rap a few rings of tape at dif spots along rod( to protect the barrel from damage by the rod). The wood rod can break and jamb extremely tight but you can get it out. I have used oil and I have use grease, as said hyd. pressure works wonders. Used to do that to remove bearings also.
Take your time and be calm.
CD

[John Taylor]

Sense the bullet is already expanded you will need to relieve the pressure. A drill about half bore size with an extension on it to reach the bullet, wrap tape around the drill so it stays center and drill most of the way through the bullet. Then use a rod that is smaller than the drill and drive the bullet out from the drilled end. You can also use a rod that is a close fit to the bore and it will move the bullet also, the hole in the center will keep the bullet from expanding tighter in the bore. Just took one out this way a couple weeks ago after the owner got a wooden dowel stuck in the bore.

[gunshot98]

You can get long drill bits at Harbor Freight. What John said works great. I've done it several times. Just be patient and work slow

[joesig]

It may be a better investment and less expensive than an aircraft drill to hit McMaster Carr or Enco and get a three foot drill rod. Four dollars plus shipping.

Grind/file a D bit into the rod, tape it as mentioned above. (make sure the tape is wound to get tighter as the rod is spun. Would not be fun to have the tape come off in the barrel) drill out dowels. It's not as fast as an aircraft drill but rod is then useful as a punch.

Cut the rod so it isn't much longer than the barrel so it doesn't whip while being struck.

Then grind off the D bit and knock out stuck projectile. Be careful as the drill rod, even in the "annealed" state can be on the brittle side so gentle blows or a lead hammer and eye protection.

[Wolfer]

I had a similar situation once. I took a propane torch and started heating the barrel at the spot but under the stock. When smoke started coming out of the barrel I stopped. Boolit and chunk of wood slid right out.
Didn't hurt the bluing at all.

I'd try juniors method first.

[rmcc]

Go with JUNIOR1942's method. Maybe a little messier when things come out but you can apply way more pressure with that dowel and oil than you can trying to beat it out with another rod and hammer. The only thing I can add is I would use an oak or hickory dowel if possible. You can argue with it but you can't beat physics!!

rmcc

[doc1876]

I had a .58 muzzle loader with a stuck round, and I drilled a hole in the puller rod, tied it to a car bumper, and the barrel to a tree and backed up SLOWLY. yes it worked

[fouronesix]

Well, since this is appears to be a "voting" process.... I'll vote for John Taylor's method.

Let me get this straight. A wood rod was already tried and is wedged-in. Many times they get wedged-in then break. OK, let's pour some oil (no mention as to which end to add the oil- bullet end or stuck dowel end??). Get ANOTHER wood rod and try to drive the obstruction out via hydraulic pressure. Never mind the possibility exists that the next wood rod can break or get wedged. Actually, there is no practical difference between solid contact and liquid (hydraulic) contact as to how much force is applied.

[Cmm_3940]

The second dowel is a short length inserted from the muzzle end and act as a piston atop a column of oil. There is no contact between the first dowel and the second. I don't see how it could get stuck. Also, hydraulic pressure applies force evenly across the entire surface of the obstruction, not just the point of contact

[johnson1942]

doc 1876, i love a good laugh and you gave it to me. wow that was funny and interesting. some people say man came from monkeys, no monkey ever thought of that, thanks for the post and keep those pearls comming.

[bob208]

another way is to drill into the base of the bullet thread a long screw into it and use a slide hammer to pull the bullet out. I have a large dent puller that works well for this.

[zuke]

Next time use a GI M-14 sectional cleaning rod.

[Blue2]

Worse one I encountered--after trying all the easier solutiuons---I soldered steel cup over the end of the barrel in which I had threaded to take a grease nipple. Then I put a grease gun on it and pumped out the obstruction. Cleaning the grease out of the barrel was a bit of bother but it worked out fine without using a lot of heat.

[MtGun44]

I regularly warn folks not to use a wood dowel, but always get somebody
chiming in "Well, I did it and it worked fine.........."

Sigh.

Bill

[Stephen Cohen]

Well they stoped putting wood handles on wood chisels for a good reason.

[Hickok]

Reading this with interest. Zidave, did you get the boolit and rod out!

[John Taylor]

I had a .58 muzzle loader with a stuck round, and I drilled a hole in the puller rod, tied it to a car bumper, and the barrel to a tree and backed up SLOWLY. yes it worked

There was a story in Muzzle loader mag many years back about a guy that had a stuck ball in his barrel. He had made a new ball puller out of some hard steel and this was the first opportunity to try it out. First try he had trouble getting it to bite so he through the rod down the barrel and twisted as hard as he could. He got a good bite so started pulling and nothing moved. He ask a friend to help and the friend being much bigger drug him across the field pulling the rifle and the owner hanging on to the ram rod ( plowed up about 40 acres). Nothing was moving that stuck ball so he tied the gun to a tree and tied a rope to the ram rod and hooked his mule to it. After whipping the mule it started to move so he kept whipping and the mule kept moving. Seeing most of the ram rod he looked at his rifle and realized there was no stuck ball, he had screwed the bullet puller into the breach plug and it turned his barrel inside out. This made it impossible to shoot again because the sights, now on the inside, would not allow a ball to pass through. With the rifling on the outside he decided to use the barrel for a guide for a new rifling machine.

[Finster101]

Where's my boots?

[zidave]

I have not gotten it out yet but I really haven't even tried.
I live in an apartment currently and don't have a bunch of tools at my disposal.
In less than 2 weeks I take a visit to my parents home, my father and I will give it a go then.

I'll post a progress report when I can.

[sundog]

There was a story in Muzzle loader mag many years back about a guy that had a stuck ball in his barrel. He had made a new ball puller out of some hard steel and this was the first opportunity to try it out. First try he had trouble getting it to bite so he through the rod down the barrel and twisted as hard as he could. He got a good bite so started pulling and nothing moved. He ask a friend to help and the friend being much bigger drug him across the field pulling the rifle and the owner hanging on to the ram rod ( plowed up about 40 acres). Nothing was moving that stuck ball so he tied the gun to a tree and tied a rope to the ram rod and hooked his mule to it. After whipping the mule it started to move so he kept whipping and the mule kept moving. Seeing most of the ram rod he looked at his rifle and realized there was no stuck ball, he had screwed the bullet puller into the breach plug and it turned his barrel inside out. This made it impossible to shoot again because the sights, now on the inside, would not allow a ball to pass through. With the rifling on the outside he decided to use the barrel for a guide for a new rifling machine.


John, uhhh, really? Wow. ;-)

[Garyshome]

Next time.........! Hope you get it worked out!

[zidave]

Next time.........! Hope you get it worked out!

Trust me, I learned my lesson.
Many lessons to be learned.

[Outpost75]

John is correct.

Then buy yourself a Brownell's Squibb Rod kit for each caliber you shoot and keep it in your range bag.

Then you can go into business and charge $10 to ********* at the range to remove their stuck bullets and cases.

Removing wooden dowels is extra!

[zidave]

Somewhat of a progress report.
I got some Hoppe's elite copper solvent and just put a few drops in the barrel on the chamber end.

[gunshot98]

My dad used the grease gun method years ago. He found a grease fitting that would screw into the nipple hole. Worked like a charm. Hydraulics are the answer.

[Springfield]

Wolfer, you didn't leave the torch on long enough. Heat the barrel until the oil ignites and it will shoot the lead and wooden rod out, leaving the rod stuck in the garage roof. Ask me how I know!

[freebullet]

This thread is amusing.

I've used a steel rod with electrical tape around it to knock out a squib or stuck case. I never thought to break off a wood Dowell in there first. I've made my share of bonehead mistakes though, so don't feel too bad.

I would try the tape wrapped steel rod because i have one. If that don't work I'd go hydro method.

[Mooseman]

Over the past 40 years I have used the hydraulic method (Brass rod with electrical tape "Piston"and a big hammer)of removal and have never damaged a customers rifle or had it fail to work. Water or oil work equally as well, water is an easy cleanup. I had a customer that ruined a barrel by trying to drill out a stuck dowel when the drill ate the rifling on one side before bringing it to me.The wood was angle broken forcing the drill into the side. I have used compressed air on stuck cases , with some success...not always.
Rich

[Petrol & Powder]

OK, not to be a huge jerk, but it's a Mosin rifle. Unless it has some sentimental value for some reason, it may just be simpler ( maybe even cheaper) to get another one. I think it's entirely possible to save the existing barrel and remove the obstruction but at some point you have to ask yourself how much effort do you wish to expend?

If the wooden dowel is split over the end of a jacketed spitzer bullet, it is effectively a wedge. Pushing the bullet and broken dowel from the muzzle towards the breach by either a close fitting metal rod or hydraulic pressure seems to be the most likely method to work. I think trying to remove most of the wooden dowel first would improve your odds. I'm assuming the bullet is closer to the breach than the muzzle.

There are other methods but none that I will put in print.

[KCSO]

First off DON"T use wood!!! #2 if the dowell is stuck and expanded in the bore you might have to drill it out. I use a drill bit made from a just under bore size BRONZE rod and sharpened like a bore drill. Drill out the wood going slow and cleaning ever inch or so, then when you get to the bullet put some Kroil in the bore and let it sit ovenight. Then use a piloted dril bit to bore through the bullet and then tap out the shell with a bore size rod.

Don't feel like the lone range here i do at least one of these every year for someone.

[zidave]

Finally got it out with no damage to the bore!

Heated up the barrel with a propane torch until the lead inside the copper jacket melted out and in the process, scorched most of the wood.

Then took a long drill bit and drilled the wood and ash out, drilled through the jacket and had to hammer what was left of the jacket out.

Took her to the range today after cleaning the heck out of the bore and she shoots just fine.

[zuke]

Never ever use wood to remove anything out of a barrel again!!!!!!!!!!!!

[zidave]

Never ever use wood to remove anything out of a barrel again!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the tip.....

[imashooter2]

To melt the lead and burn the wood, you had to get the internal temperature over 450 degrees. Who knows how hot you got the exterior. I don't know enough about heat treating to know exactly what you have done to the steel, but I know you are well into the heat range used to temper. I urge you not to shoot it anymore until someone knowledgeable examines it and gives it a clean bill of health. Make sure you tell the examiner exactly what you did.

[waksupi]

To melt the lead and burn the wood, you had to get the internal temperature over 450 degrees. Who knows how hot you got the exterior. I don't know enough about heat treating to know exactly what you have done to the steel, but I know you are well into the heat range used to temper. I urge you not to shoot it anymore until someone knowledgeable examines it and gives it a clean bill of health. Make sure you tell the examiner exactly what you did.

Shouldn't have hurt anything. I've used high temp solders on high end rifles with much higher heat. No damage, as long as I put a close fitting wood dowel in the barrel to prevent scaling.

[daengmei]

Many MN rear sight bases are soldered on (as well as pinned) so low temp heat should not be a problem.

[zidave]

Many MN rear sight bases are soldered on (as well as pinned) so low temp heat should not be a problem.

I already had that removed for my scope mount so that was not a problem.

[imashooter2]

Well, I'm happy to be wrong, but I was concerned...

[rodsvet]

I've fired the M60 in anger until the barrel glowed hot enough to light a cigarette. I wouldn't be too concerned about the heat used. Rod

[freebullet]

Glad you got it out. I'm gunna bet you learned a few lessons there.

[zidave]

Glad you got it out. I'm gunna bet you learned a few lessons there.

No doubt

[shooterbob]

Something a smith showed me once with 22's stuck in a barrel was a hot air gun and heat the barrel. This guy had 12 rnds in a bbl and once heated they started pinging out of the barrel. Metal swells and bullet drops out or drives out easier. The 22's were compressed with air between them, so they came out moving fast.