Stuck bullets in barrel
- Thread starter tgt40
- Start date
Not unless you have at the very least, a dive tank compressor, and a safe place for the bullets to go when they exit the tube at VERY high speed. It takes a great deal more to get the bullet moving, than it does to keep it moving once it does. That high pressure air expands at the speed of sound, or tries to, at whatever pressure the air is at, so somewhat faster than ambient pressure speed of sound.
Desperation move, but tapping the barrel to fit a grease nipple, and pumping the blockage out with a grease gun 'can' work, in some cases. I saw a very slick unit made by a smith in Edmonton, which slid in to the barrel, and used his metal lathe to hold the whole operation together while pressure was applied with a grease gun, too. Pretty slick, but you need a decent metal lathe for that method. Grease is essentially incompressible, so the bullet(s) tend not to ricochet around the room breaking things.
Have used that method to clear double loaded and multi-ball loaded Muzzle loaders, though in those cases I adapted the nipple to the flash hole.
Cheers
Trev
New Camper
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Lurking in the woods near SFRC.
Fluid movement as in a low pressure hydraulic system came to mind... Not that I've ever filled a barrel with bullets but I'd devise an apparatus to clamp on the barrel through which oil could transfer an applied pressure onto the obstructions.
Is there not a chemical that will dissolve lead and not harm the steel of the barrel? With all the lead removal chemicals out there, one would think this maybe the least destructive method. Tapping the muzzle to accept the grease nipple and then recrown after would seem to be a reasonable method as well. The lead will be most likely very tight as the second and third bullet etc, slam into the stuck one causing each subsequent bullet to expand and fill the bore almost as though they were cast there, only with no cooling shrinkage. I suspect they are going to be very tight, even more so if the barrel is bulged. I'd be inclined to drill them with a 17 cal barrel drill with bushings made to keep drill centered at front and rear, relieving the stress and then push them out with a steel rod of appropriate size.
But I'm still certain with a little research one could find something that will dissolve lead over time, and not harm the barrel.
But I'm still certain with a little research one could find something that will dissolve lead over time, and not harm the barrel.
get a 3/16 rod, file it on the end like a spade drill then wrap tape around until it just fits the barrel, this will prevent the rod rubbing the bore, now slide it in the barrel and drill the lead out, you will have to drill a little and pull the rod out to clear the bits, if you use a drill only turn low speed, done this with 22 and 45 auto, I use the lathe to turn the rod usually 100 rpm ish, hold the barrel and fee your way thro,
Why does everyone want to drill out the bullet, or stick hard metal objects in the barrel that could scratch or damage the bore. If the bullets are drilled out you are now left with a lead core, which would be even more difficult to remove than a solid bullet.
Also, when a gunsmith provides the ideal solution that could effectively remove the bullets without damage, everyone else ignores him and proposed their own coat hangar or spade bit solution?
Also, when a gunsmith provides the ideal solution that could effectively remove the bullets without damage, everyone else ignores him and proposed their own coat hangar or spade bit solution?
Are you referring to that post a while back where the guy have a bullet stuck in the barrel which turned into wood and a cleaning rob being stuck in the barrel? I feel for the guy but it still makes me laugh cause it was not me that did
Options. Best thing about them, is to have several to choose from.
My methods worked fine for me. Funny enough, drilling the centre out of thousands of rivets also made them much easier to remove, as well.
Must be at least ten percent smarter than what you are working on, for it to be fixed when done, eh.
Cheers
Trev
burnt_servo
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- right in the middle of b.c.
as mentioned else where a brass drillbit could be easily made .
once the center is removed the rest should push out , it isn't , or at least shouldn't be fused to the bore .
any remaining lead could be worked out with a brass brush .
brass being softer than steel , won't harm the steel , but brass being harder than lead , it should easily remove it .
doing this first would do potentially less damage than heating the barrel to melt the lead out , where over heating the barrel is a real possibility , as well as the lead now being able to bond with the steel ( ie "tinning ") .
hammering the bullets out using a metal rod may work , but due the sheer amount of bullets lodged in the barrel , it might also jamm them in tighter .
none of us actually have the barrel in hand , so all we are really doing offering possible options to the op .
I can say though that I recently repaired a 22 caliber pellet rifle where someone tried to fire out a obstruction and had many pellets jammed inside .
I made a took a short low quality drill bit ( about 1/2" long ) and welded a shaft to it . I then annealed the drill bit and then brazed brass over the bearing surfaces that would contact the barrel . ( I had to regrind and shape the cutting edge )
I machined it down to easily slide through the barrel and I covered the rest of the shaft in electrical tape .
once the pellets where drilled out , they easily pushed out with a piece of wooden dowel .
if I was thinking , I would have saved a lot of time just to machine a piece of brass into a drill bit and thread the end for a aluminum or brass cleaning rod cleaning rod .
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burnt_servo
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- right in the middle of b.c.
you could also be creating a bomb
Hence the blow up nicely part
have you tried this?
Drilling out the centre will relieve pressure holding the bullets to the barrel walls and the rest can be pushed out. I have done this for this situation and it worked for me. Brass or bronze rod is not "hard" and will not hurt a steel barrel. My coat hanger story was for entertainment purposes, even though it did work
Also having drilled out thousands of solid rivets, studs and bolts, screws, etc. I can say it does work if you are careful. For many situations it's the only way...I am curious if the melting method damages the blueing?
Who rejected anything?
I offered up my experiences, he offered up his, the guy with the actual gun in hand is free to choose as he sees fit.
Cheers
Trev
