How I Dislodged a Stuck Bullet

[Clod Stomper]

Well, I'm a tinkerer.  So sometimes I screw things up.  Which happened recently when I was trying to make a subsonic load with surplus 147 grain tracers and Trail Boss in .300 Blk.  (BTW, don't try that combo.  It ain't worth the trouble.)

 

So, skipping the drama of getting the bullet stuck... I needed to get it unstuck.  No longer being one to run to the nearest gunsmith, I have to figure out how to drive that bullet outta there on my own.

 

First things first.  I have some Kroil handy, so I dribble a bunch down the bore to hopefully help ease the bullet's path back out of the bore.  (By the way, the bullet was a couple inches past the chamber into the bore.)  The first tool I ran across was some hollow steel tube I've had forever.  I try using that to hammer the bullet out backwards.  Not happening.  Even though the tubing is pretty thick-walled, it starts to expand around the nose of the pointed bullet and actually engages the rifling enough to spin when I pull it back out.  Uh-oh.  Hope I didn't scratch my bore.

 

Well, it's really stuck, so I have to start getting serious.  First I run to Ace Hardware in Bearden.  I pick up some 1/4" steel rod (hot-rolled, in case you are wondering).  I also get some 1/4" heat-shrink tubing to apply to the rod to protect my bore.

 

I cut off an appropriate amount of the 4' rod (I have an 11.5" barrel, so I cut off 12" of rod).  I bevel/round the edge so I won't scratch the bore.  I then polish the entire end of the rod with 1500 grit sandpaper so that there is no chance I can scratch the bore.

 

I want the end of the rod to stay centered in the bore, so I want to drill an "indention" or cone-shaped crater in the end of the rod.  Well, my lathe is at my Dad's house and I'm in Knox, so I drill a 1/4" hole in a piece of wood (I happened to have a piece of 5/4 (1") deck board handy).  I insert the 1/4' rod halfway through the hole and put a drill bit (driven by a cordless drill) through the other side and start drilling.  It works as intended and I have a rod with a concavity in the end (no jokes here, please).

 

Here's where I screw up again.  I wanted a deeper hole in the end. So I use a smaller drill bit, thinking it will stay centered in the rod.  It doesn't and I now have a rod with an off-center hole in the end.   <snicker>

 

Oh well.  It'll have to do.  I re-bevel and re-polish the end of the rod....

 

Starting near the end I've been filing on, I put some heat-shrink tubing about 1/4" from the end and heat it until it's tight.  I keep on adding (about 2 and a half pieces total) until I am about an inch from the other end.  

 

Then I dribble some more Kroil in the bore from the muzzle end and some into the chamber end.  I drop my new driving rod into the muzzle and start tapping (with enthusiasm).  The bullet starts moving immediately and I just hammer it until it falls out through the chamber.  

 

Pics to follow...  Edit:  Ok, I normally use Flickr, but something has changed on their site.  So no pics until I can figure it out. They're not that interesting anyway.  Sort of an afterthought really...

 

Edited August 21, 2014 by Clod Stomper

[Dolomite_supafly]

I have stuck a lot of bullets in the bore during my experiments trying to shoot HEAVY bullets using the 7.62x25. A single bullet is easy to remove and if often no more difficult to push out than a really, really tight patch. I will say that having several stuff in the bore at the same time is a lot more difficult.

 

I was working with a blowback AR chambered in 7.62x25. It ran factory surplus great. Well one day I decided to try shooting some subsonic loads out of it. Stupid me, I did not confirm hits on target until after the third shot and then I had a sinking feeling when my target was pristine. I tried to just knock them out but because there were three there was no way I was going to push them out. So I took a long drill bit and drilled one of the bullets. Then I epoxied a sheet metal screw to a cleaning rod. I screwed the cleaning rod, with screw, into the bullet with the hole in it. I used  a hammer to pull that one bullet out. Then I repeated it two more times.

 

Surprisingly there was no damage to the bore. Not a scratch and, more importantly, not a bulge. The barrel even turned out to be a MOA shooter after the "incident".

[Mike.357]

damn that was serious gun pron

 

I am kinda breathing hard.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Mike.357

[Dolomite_supafly]

damn that was serious gun pron

 

I am kinda breathing hard.

Yeah, but that picture of a 4' "rod" is a little too small for me to get excited.

[TMF]

I used to whack stuck bullets out of AK barrels by throwing down the AK cleaning rod and smacking it with the magazine. Worked every time.

[Clod Stomper]

I have stuck a lot of bullets in the bore during my experiments trying to shoot HEAVY bullets using the 7.62x25. A single bullet is easy to remove and if often no more difficult to push out than a really, really tight patch. I will say that having several stuff in the bore at the same time is a lot more difficult.

 

I was working with a blowback AR chambered in 7.62x25. It ran factory surplus great. Well one day I decided to try shooting some subsonic loads out of it. Stupid me, I did not confirm hits on target until after the third shot and then I had a sinking feeling when my target was pristine. I tried to just knock them out but because there were three there was no way I was going to push them out. So I took a long drill bit and drilled one of the bullets. Then I epoxied a sheet metal screw to a cleaning rod. I screwed the cleaning rod, with screw, into the bullet with the hole in it. I used  a hammer to pull that one bullet out. Then I repeated it two more times.

 

Surprisingly there was no damage to the bore. Not a scratch and, more importantly, not a bulge. The barrel even turned out to be a MOA shooter after the "incident".

 

Yeesh.  That gives me the shivers just thinking about it.

 

I'm impressed by the epoxy holding the screw to the rod.  I've used some (1-Ton Epoxy, or something like that) that was super strong.  Couldn't believe how well it held.  

 

Isn't it amazing how much we can put bores through and they still work?  This wasn't my first foul-up, by any means.

 

Edit:  That reminds me of an article I read many years ago about someone shooting a full-auto M-10 .45.  If memory serves me right, they had a squib load that was enough to push the bolt back and several more rounds fired after it.  It ended up being 6 or 7 bullets lodged in the bore of that MAC.  Don't think there was any major catastrophe.  Just stuck bullets.  

Edited August 21, 2014 by Clod Stomper

[Clod Stomper]

damn that was serious gun pron

 

I am kinda breathing hard.

 

He he...  And unlike real pron, this was actually a true story...

[Clod Stomper]

I used to whack stuck bullets out of AK barrels by throwing down the AK cleaning rod and smacking it with the magazine. Worked every time.

 

If I were in the Middle East and had to get my weapon firing again in a hurry, I'd do the same thing.  

 

But in my back yard with my pistol AR, I'm gonna be as gentle as possible.

[TMF]

If I were in the Middle East and had to get my weapon firing again in a hurry, I'd do the same thing.  

 

But in my back yard with my pistol AR, I'm gonna be as gentle as possible.

 

Ha, I hear ya. Not much you can do to hurt an AK that's been in combat service since before we were born.

[GlockSpock]

I have stuck a lot of bullets in the bore during my experiments trying to shoot HEAVY bullets using the 7.62x25. A single bullet is easy to remove and if often no more difficult to push out than a really, really tight patch. I will say that having several stuff in the bore at the same time is a lot more difficult.

 

I was working with a blowback AR chambered in 7.62x25. It ran factory surplus great. Well one day I decided to try shooting some subsonic loads out of it. Stupid me, I did not confirm hits on target until after the third shot and then I had a sinking feeling when my target was pristine. I tried to just knock them out but because there were three there was no way I was going to push them out. So I took a long drill bit and drilled one of the bullets. Then I epoxied a sheet metal screw to a cleaning rod. I screwed the cleaning rod, with screw, into the bullet with the hole in it. I used  a hammer to pull that one bullet out. Then I repeated it two more times.

 

Surprisingly there was no damage to the bore. Not a scratch and, more importantly, not a bulge. The barrel even turned out to be a MOA shooter after the "incident".

 

Yeesh.  That gives me the shivers just thinking about it.

 

I'm impressed by the epoxy holding the screw to the rod.  I've used some (1-Ton Epoxy, or something like that) that was super strong.  Couldn't believe how well it held.  

 

Isn't it amazing how much we can put bores through and they still work?  This wasn't my first foul-up, by any means.

 

Edit:  That reminds me of an article I read many years ago about someone shooting a full-auto M-10 .45.  If memory serves me right, they had a squib load that was enough to push the bolt back and several more rounds fired after it.  It ended up being 6 or 7 bullets lodged in the bore of that MAC.  Don't think there was any major catastrophe.  Just stuck bullets.  

 

I had no idea that multiple bullets could become lodged in a barrel. I assumed it would be bad if you fired again once one was stuck. Of course it depends on a lot of variables but still, I am surprised.

[tnguy]

If your bullets are stuck because you're firing a reduced load, I'd imagine you've vastly increased your margin of safety with regard to the pressure and barrel limits. Not that I would choose to try it :)

[gregintenn]

A wooden dowel or muzzleloader ramrod; (size depending on caliber) and a hammer usually works for me.

 

For lead bullets, I have a bullet puller that screws into my muzzleloader ramrod. It is nothing more than the shank of a wood screw, with the other end threaded to screw into the head of the ramrod.

[Clod Stomper]

A wooden dowel or muzzleloader ramrod; (size depending on caliber) and a hammer usually works for me.

For lead bullets, I have a bullet puller that screws into my muzzleloader ramrod. It is nothing more than the shank of a wood screw, with the other end threaded to screw into the head of the ramrod.

I've used both of those methods as well. Then I had a wood dowel split and I then had a bullet AND a wood dowel stuck in the bore. So I don't use wood any more.

[Clod Stomper]

I had no idea that multiple bullets could become lodged in a barrel. I assumed it would be bad if you fired again once one was stuck. Of course it depends on a lot of variables but still, I am surprised.

Like you said, depends on a lot of variables. With a low pressure round in a blowback action there might be no damage or just a bulged barrel. With a high pressure round in a locked breech, probably a bulged barrel at best. More likely a split barrel and/or damaged shooter at worst.

[Guest Bunt]

Use the steel rod but pack steel wool in barrel and around the rod as you drive it in to keep it centered, smack the everything hell out of it. I've go the shortest route so in you cause from the muzzle.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Not sure I would use steel wool but masking tape should work pretty well to keep a rod centered.

[Clod Stomper]

Maybe copper wool? Or masking tape. Or any sort if tape really. I used heat shrink tubing because I knew it was tough and would most likely not let the steel rod touch the bore. Seemed to work pretty well.

[BJB]

I stuck one in my 6br. Pulled the barrel and put it in a barrel vice. Use my air compressor with a high pressure tip and was able to blow it out. I Know, I Know. But I have witnesses and they were sober

[Clod Stomper]

I stuck one in my 6br. Pulled the barrel and put it in a barrel vice. Use my air compressor with a high pressure tip and was able to blow it out. I Know, I Know. But I have witnesses and they were sober

 

I believe you.  I'd like to have seen it, but I believe you.

[wrenchhead97]

I've blown a misfired load out of a .50 cal muzzle loader with air before, but that's not as tight as a jacketed bullet in a modern gun.


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[leroy]

Keep ya a brass rod around for these kinds of jobs... No damage to lands and grooves...

 

leroy

[sybo]

Ive gotta second the brass rods suggestion. I keep several different lengths ans diameters in my shop always!