Slugging gone horribly wrong

Ganderite said:
The reason I have used partial cases of powder to blow out squib bullets, etc is that it can be done in the field, with no tools, in a couple of minutes.

I have done this more times than I can count, without incident. I start with an estimated half powder charge and then work up if needed.

If I am doing this at home, i switch to using about 20 gr of shotgun powder in a rifle.
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X2
I've solved the problem of an obstructed barrel this way as well, without damage to either the gun or me. A similar cure is to fill the barrel with water behind the obstruction and fire a primer over it, or a primer with a pinch of fast pistol powder like Unique. Water is non-compressible, unlike your wood dowel, it is also precisely the correct bore size. Rather than increasing the powder charge with each try, as long as the obstruction moves forward, you only need to repeat the same way several times until the obstruction clears.
 
I had the same problem....Hours of work later......
To fix it, I got a short piece of quarter inch stainless tubing and a 3 foot quarter inch aluminum rod. I pushed the stainless rod, 2 inches long, into the muzzle and a long drill bit into the tube and drilled into the dowel as far as I dared.
I then removed that gear and carefully pushed a thin 3 inch woodscrew down the muzzle into the hole in the dowel, tightened the screw and pulled it out with the dowel attatched. It was still stuck so I cut off a 6 inch piece of aluminum rod and started hammering it down the muzzle. The blockage moved so I then used a long piece of rod and hammered the blockage all the way out. My barrel is fine. If you are careful, it can be done. The sensible way of doing it is to braze an appropriate wood screw to the end of a quarter inch brass rod , smooth the weld, and unscrew the dowels drom the barrel. This is how muzzleloader enthusiasts remove lead balls from the barrel.


Chumlee Bumsnag said:
Thank you for the good advice. Yes, my dowel was too small. It broke and jammed itself. I'm sure I will get it out, but I just had to step away a bit and get my bearings.
I might have damaged the bore already, but it is what it is. This is my test Mosin, and I have already learned $139 worth of what not to do today. When I get the shtuff out of the bore, I am going to proceed with my reloading plan. I am going to get this right, even if I have to buy another rifle.
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A little piece of cotton ball or q tip cotton over the powder will keep you from spilling it. I'd tie it to a tree or old tire and use a string to pull the trigger. All in a safe place where you can fire a gun.
 
Water.


or more appropriately, hydrolic pressure.

Fill it up and tap everything out with the mallet and another wood dowel of just smaller than the barrel diameter. This is a similar method the old timers used to deprime berdan cartridge cases. It works and will not harm your rifle.
 
Ridge_Fridge said:
Here is a question.... What is slugging?
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Slugging: Driving a greased lead ball down the barrel to measure the lands and groves. When the ball comes out, just clean it and measure with your micrometer. These measurements indicate not only the wear, but also to give actual barrel and rifling measurements for loading tolerances and data.
 
Ganderite said:
The reason I have used partial cases of powder to blow out squib bullets, etc is that it can be done in the field, with no tools, in a couple of minutes.

I have done this more times than I can count, without incident. I start with an estimated half powder charge and then work up if needed.

If I am doing this at home, i switch to using about 20 gr of shotgun powder in a rifle.
Click to expand...

Well Ganderite, I felt like telling them to shoot it out, also, but I knew I would be clobbered if I did.
With all your experience, I thought sure they would listen to you and thank you for a safe way to remove the obstruction.
But no, people who know nothing about it, chose to trash and ignore you.
Jack O'Connor also reccommended this procedure, and like you, he stated it was so handy if it happened on a hunt in remote country. So easy in the back country to be using a pull through and break it off in the barrel.
Just shoot it out, and carry on.
I will repeat though, REMOVE THE BULLET FROM THE CASE, and use the powder only, to blow it out.
 
Hah! I remember a thread years back about barrels being ringed from flies/ants/insects in the barrel, you want them to shoot out an obstruction?;)
 
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