Had my first reloading mishap tonight

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Jakkar

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2006
Messages
49
Location
New Jersey
Took a box of .357 magnum 147 grn DEWC over 3 Grns of Bullseye to the range tonight. I had already fired over 60 from this batch so I was feeling pretty confident. Loaded up the first 6 rounds and started to site in the adjustable sites on my 686. My buddy fired the first 6 rounds and I watched and saw or heard nothing strange. As we were siting for 25 yards we brought the target back to review and could only find five holes. Took out the flashlight and found the bullet about an inch from the end of the barrel.

I can only guess that I screwed up with my progressive but I am typically very careful as I am new to all of this.

Thankfully it was the last round but now I am stuck with a bullet jammed 7 inches into an 8 3/8 inch barrel and no idea how to get it out. Any ideas.
 
Tap it out with a hammer and wooden dowel. And be careful. Surprised you didn't notice a difference in the shot fired.
 
Squirt some oil down around the bullet,and see if it'll tap out with a WOOD or BRASS rod.NOT STEEL.Brass is much better than wood dowel,wood dowel doesn't hold up vey long.
You can really screw up a barrel using steel tools to dislodge a stuck bullet.

please do not ask me how I know this.:eek:

btww,what kiknd of progressive press.? wondering how it happend is all.
 
I wasn't the one shooting the gun but there was no difference is sound. It is such a light load that with the heavy long barrel there is very little kick so I am assuming that the difference between a proper round and a squib might be minimal.

The press is a Dillon 550.
 
I also use a brass rod you can go to the hardware store and get a couple diff. dia. rods to work with diff. calibers. Im glad you didnt bulge your barrel that would be bad on a revolver. I have buldge a barrel on a colt .45 and I had to replace it:banghead::banghead: . If anything seems out of the norm stop and check it alot cheaper trust me

It maybe worth your $ to get a flash light of some sort so you can see your powder after station 2 before you seat the bullet. like this one


http://www.uniquetek.com/site/696296/product/T1255
 
Last edited:
Congratulations on your new flinch. :) It goes away eventually. (if you don't have a flinch, you didn't think about what would happen if you fired another round)
 
Im glad you stopped and loooked ! i didnt !Now my ruger is back at the factory getting a new barrell! And I was lucky !!
 
Hopefully this will be the last time for you.

I've reloaded and shot two squib rounds in my old S&W Model 10. Usually you know it right away. The shot just doesn't feel right. A brass rod tapped mine right out. I try to be more careful now.
 
If one didn't have any powder in it, does that mean another one has a double charge? :eek:

There seem to be a lot of stuck bullets these days.
And it seems to be accepted as a cost of doing business, which I think worse.
Click to expand...
Boy, ain't that the truth!


1224.jpg
rcmodel
 
Jakkar said:
Well the bullet is good and stuck in there. I can't get it to budge.
Click to expand...
It'll come out, but don't be surprised if it takes some force. A .30-06 bullet has about 4000lbs of force pushing it down the barrel.

I've never had a squib round in my reloads, but I did in some old military ammo (8mm) that was real interesting. I was shooting a miltary semi-auto at the time, and the action cycled and sprayed burnt and unburnt powder everywhere. I had to use a brass rod to pound out the bullet, but the rifle survived just fine. Have to love that old military technology - built like a tank.
 
"Had my first reloading mishap tonight"

Make that read, "Had my LAST reloading mishap tonight."
Do everything you can to make it true!
 
Stuck

If that bullet that close to the end of the barrel you may have a hard time beating it out with out breaking the dowel. Brass rod may get it started then switch to wood. Some oil probaly wont hurt.
 
I found a brass rod and managed to get the bullet out after a little work. I think I will stick to heavier loads for a while. The 3.0 Grains of Bullseye is not much in a large .357 case and I guess I must have missed one.

I appreciate all of the help.
 
You might have to drill a hole down the middle of the bullet to relieve some of the pressure. (this might be a job for a gunsmith)

I would try to just pound it out gently (so it doesn't upset and wedge even tighter) after lubing it with Liquid Wrench.

The 3.0 Grains of Bullseye is not much in a large .357 case and I guess I must have missed one.
Click to expand...
Try using 3 or 4 (or 4.5) grains of Red Dot. It's a lot lighter and fluffier than Bullseye and will fill the case better.
 
Last edited:
I've only been around one squib and it was due to a case with no powder, just the primer pushed the bullet so that is spanned between the cylinder and the barrel. The cylinder wouldn't rotate and we knew what happened. Tapped it right out.
My question is... what are all the things that could cause a squib? Maybe I should just start a thread with that question.
 
Man, there's no way I would drop 3gr of bullseye into a revolver case with a progressive... I know my limitations.

But then again, I'm a wuss..

And I have a chargemaster.
 
3 grains of bullseye may work in a .38 spl. case with the DELWC. But maybe its not really sufficient in a .357 mag case. As the barrel picked up a little more fouling it was enough to slow the bullet so it wouldnt clear or maybe you short charged it by a grain.


No powder would have been a noticably different report, and it always leaves the bullet in the forcing cone of the barrel the 3 or so times its happened to me.
 
3 grains of bullseye may work in a .38 spl. case with the DELWC. But maybe its not really sufficient in a .357 mag case
Click to expand...
.

I agree that is to small a load for a mag case. I'm not sure what the tech name for this is but if you put to little powder in your case it much worse than to much. The problem is when the primer goes off the the powder is laying flat in the case and it ignites from the front to the back, not back to front. If the case is fuller the powder has to ingnite from the back. Some one at my club brought in a artical about it with lots of pictures of the end result :what:. I would switch to 38spl cases if your going to shoot that lite.
 
Please make sure if you are going to HAMMER the bullet out you go from the back of the bullet. using a cleaning rod if you do it from the front of the bullet you take a chance of two things happening, 1. you cause the bullet to expand and create an even tighter grip on the barrel. or 2. the cleaning rod slips to the side and gouges the barrel. So go from the back or take it to a smith and have him do it.
 
I agree that is to small a load for a mag case. I'm not sure what the tech name for this is but if you put to little powder in your case it much worse than to much. The problem is when the primer goes off the the powder is laying flat in the case and it ignites from the front to the back, not back to front. If the case is fuller the powder has to ingnite from the back. Some one at my club brought in a artical about it with lots of pictures of the end result . I would switch to 38spl cases if your going to shoot that lite.
Click to expand...

Alliant recommends 2.8 grains of Bullseye in .357 cases for WC target loads (and up to 5.7 grains for a really hot load) 3 grains should not be a problem.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top