Squib - Stuck Bullet

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jbeltz7

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This is my first in 40+ years of shooting and admittedly, I'm guilty of poor reloading practices, so please forgo the lectures.

I have a .357 Hornady XTP stuck in a 4" Ruger GP100 barrel I can't get out. So far I have tried an aluminum rod (nope,) a brass rod (bent) and an oak dowel (broke 2x.) Between the metal rods and the oak dowel I soaked the barrel with a copper barrel cleaner for 2-days.

What's left?

I can try and drill it out but I do not have the fixtures to rule out barrel damage. I would prefer paying a gunsmith over damaging a barrel but what will they do? Appreciate your insight.
 
It must really be stuck! If you can locate a brass rod just smaller than bore diameter, you should be able to drive it out with that. I wouldn't risk trying to drill it out myself, since in my experience a drill will never go straight when you absolutely need it to......

I've had best luck driving bullets out of barrels (for other people, of course) by using a mallet with a hard surface so the blow isn't cushioned. I use a brass hammer for this and it's always worked. For a brass rod, try a welding shop for brazing rod, or even an auto parts store. Some of them carry brazing rods.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
The one time I had a squib with my security 6, I used a steel rod inside a bic pen liner to protect things and beat that bullet back into the case that didn't want it back so I collapsed it. The 5 other angry bullets in the revolver made me a bit nervous so I oriented the gun in my vise so it wasn't looking my way.
 
Thanks, I have been using rubber grips in my vice and they might be absorbing some of the energy of the impact but with all the destruction to the rods I have been using I would have thought the bullet should have moved. The range master tried to freehand the initial removal with a rubber mallet and the aluminum rod so the bullet may have been knocked out of alignment and is jammed in the barrel.

I'll find a thicker brass rod and figure out a way to get metal on metal bracing and administer a few good whacks hopefully without damaging the handgun.

The Bic pen might work as an excellent alignment tool for drilling should it com to that.

Happy New Year Everyone!
 
You need to remove the cylinder, insert an aluminum or brass rod into the muzzle end and drive the stuck bullet backward down the barrel toward the breech end of the barrel. I had one stuck once and wound up soaking the thing in WD 40 a few days. I did as described above and once I got it free it came right out.

Stuck bullets are annoying and sometimes very difficult to remove. When I loaded single stage I used to get squibs from time to time. Since I started loading progressive the squibs have all but been eliminated. Now all I worry about is double powder charges ..... : (

I think I'd forget the drill, bad idea.


If the suggestion above doesn't work ..... I got nothing.
 
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Try a penetrating oil, such as Kroil, soaking both sides of the bullet but particularly the side in the direction you plan to drive the bullet. You could also try drilling a small counterbore or countersink in the end of the (tight fitting - 5/16" is probably what you can find, wrap it with electrical tape to tighten the fit and protect the bore) brass rod to keep it and the bullet centered.

Cut a piece of 1" thick hardwood or plywood to a width that will fit in the frame (about 1-1/2"). Clamp the wood very tightly in your vise with about 2" extending out the side. Swing out the cylinder and set the frame over the wood, barrel up and the forcing cone resting on the wood. It helps to have a friend hold the gun firmly against the wood while you drive the bullet out. You can even use a heat gun to heat up (and enlarge) the barrel to give you a little more advantage (think about how hot the barrel was when the bullet stuck).

Keep the brass rod as short as possible to minimize bending.

Please don't ask where I learned any of these tricks.
 
Not to be silly but get a bigger hammer. I've had squibs before and tried to knock them out with a 4 oz hammer. I now use an 8 oz brass hammer and the bullets no longer give me a problem.

I see my friend going crazy with his light hammer and cleaning rod and not getting anywhere. I give him my squib rod which is sized just to fit my 9mm barrel and. 38s. Go to ACE Hardware and get yourself a better rod.

You can make about 5 range rods from one stock rod and give them to your friends.
 
Go to ACE Hardware and get yourself a better rod.
Click to expand...
Agreed

Like Fred posted, get one that just slips into the barrel, soak with Kroil etc for good measure, then remove the cylinder, and give it heck with a solid hammer.

I had my son's FIL stick a 158 Gr bullet in an aluminum framed snub nose. I had to make a brass insert to fit the barrel and the drill bit and use it as a guide to drill through the bullet. Popped out super easy then. Gotta be careful doing that.
 
If the bullet is stuck closer to the muzzle, then what about making a tool that does the hammering in that direction via a pulling force?
You could take a lengthy (18-24") steel rod, a third to half the diameter of the bullet, threaded to accept a nut slightly smaller than the bore diameter and on the end sticking out of the barrel a 1-2lb cylindrical weight that slides freely and can slid smartly against a stop- another nut perhaps.
Of course you'd have to drill a hole through the bullet, but it'd be a hole much smaller than the bullet diameter and if done carefully you could easily avoid drilling the inside of the bore. Heck, it wouldn't even be necessary to drill is square.
The nut in the barrel would smack against the stuck bullet and with a few slides of that weight the bullet should be driven out.
I don't know what this tool is called, but I've seen it's use in a different application before. I think criminals may use something like it to rip out car ignitions, or maybe they use it for that purpose and it has a more legitimate use...anyone?
 
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Appreciate the responses, the brass rod I bent was a .22 cleaning rod so maybe something closer to 5/16 will work along with a more solid support method.

No one suggested a double powder load behind a wax bullet so I will scratch it off my list but seriously I would have never imagined a bullet being so tight in the barrel.

Thankfully, this was a not a semi or the resolution may have occurred in the ER.

CLP, I believe what you are referring to is a jag, the pisser is the bullet is only 3/4" into the barrel and I cannot push it out as it is a revolver.
 
Shouldnt have used copper solvent!!!

Should have used any decent penetrating oil.

Should have used a bore size brass or polished steel rod.

Should have used two whacks with a bigger hammer.

First thing to do now is get some good penetrating oil in it to help neutralize the copper solvent that is ruining your barrel as we speak!!!

rc
 
The tool mentioned at the end of post# 10 is a slide hammer.;) You need to get a brass rod that is slightly longer than the barrel and slightly smaller in diameter. A brass bolt or screw of about 4 1/2--5 inch length would work as well. The 5/16 inch brass rod will be cheaper though I bet. That and a 12 OZ or so dead blow or brass headed hammer. Yeah support the barrel and do not be afraid to whack that squib rod good!
 
Steel rod with electrical tape wrapped around several zones on it to shield the bore from steel contact.
 
Yeah a cleaning rod won't cut it. Get a real rod or buy a squib rod. It will come right out with a solid blow or 3 from a mallet. I have quite a bit of experience deliberately (and not so deliberately) sticking and removing bullets.
 
Take a piece of 5/16" OD copper tubing and wrap the outside with electrical tape to get a snug fit in the barrel.
Then take a 3/16" or 1/4" aircraft drill bit which is 12" long and drill out the broken wooden dowel and through the bullet.
You can then take a 5/16" steel rod wrapped in electrical tape to pound the bullet back into the case.
 
I had a brass rod turned down for a close fit. Before that, I used an aluminum gutter spike with the end cut off straight. A big hammer and a couple of good whacks is better than a small hammer and woodpecker tapping.
 
I know this really will not help but all the attempts to get it out so far has deformed the bullet and expanded it more so it is is really jammed in there, Happened to me many years ago with a LSWC I stuck and mangled it good, same way, tried a cleaning rod first.:eek:

Use the above suggestions of a 1/4 bronze/brass welding rod. Let oil soak in over night.

I would take the cylinder and grips off and get an extra set of hands, someone hold the gun and put the grip part (corner) on the bench and then pound away
 
after you get your quarter inch brass rod and soak the bullet/barrel with kroil, put the brass rod down the barrel, turn the gun upside down and pound the gun/rod on a block of hardwood, concrete, or other hard surface. this usually works better than trying to brace the gun/rod against a backstop and hitting the rod.

luck,

murf
 
Yep, I've had the best luck with a brass rod of the largest size I can get in the bore and a weighty hammer or plastic mallet. No rubber mallets. Don't pussyfoot around, give it a good smack. They'll come out. Just be sure to open or remove the cylinder first!

Stuck bullets will sure open your eyes to the gas pressures involved in launching your bullets every time you pull the trigger though! Hard to fathom how much it takes to push a bullet through a barrel until you have to do it yourself the hard way.
 
I have every confidence that you'll get it out.

I had a cleaning rod wrapped with soft cloth stuck in my 50 cal Black Powder Kentucky Long rifle. It was good and stuck, it wouldn't move forward or backward. After three days of soaking pulling and cussing I finally got it to move just a smidge. Not too long afterward I actually got it to slide out.

It had to come out the same way it went in and it went in through the muzzle. Fortunately I was able to budge it. Just when I was thinking about giving up. This particular rifle is plugged by the factory at the breech end. It had to be pulled out.

It sure taught me a valuable lesson I'll not soon forget.

Whew!!!! Gives me the willies just thinking about it.
 
DO NOT use any kind of wood for this. You need a brass rod that closely fits the bore. Most hardware and building supply centers will stock them. A large heavy padded vise bolted secure to a heavy bench helps a great deal.
 
I hope it is out by now. If not, follow info in post #24 and the like. Big hammer, reasonably large brass rod. Strong blow will move it. I have done this dozens of times with semi's and revolvers with no resulting damage at all.
Home Depot, Lowes, local hardware has the rods you need in stock.
 
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