• Watch Out for Scammers!

    We've now added a color code for all accounts. Orange accounts are new members, Blue are full members, and Green are Supporters. If you get a message about a sale from an orange account, make sure you pay attention before sending any money!

Double bullet lodged - how to finish removal?

NoDopes

NoDopes

Old Salt
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 6, 2020
4,672
8,872
North Texas
Ok. fucked up and I knew better.. I got two bullets (sub-sub sonic apparently) stuck at the end of a 16" barrel. 300BO, pistol gas system.
Charge was enough to cycle, but not push bullet all the way out... so I'm assuming the barrel isn't bulged.

Tried oak dowel, and aluminum rod, but they were wedged pretty hard.. (ELD-X 220g)
I've drilled out with successively larger bits until now I just have basically a couple copper jackets in there wedged.
Not sure what to try now to remove those and not damage the barrel.
Either a perfect fit copper rod, heat, freeze or BT Eliminator soak?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mike Casselton
Time to hire a gunsmith? They've probably fixed that sort of thing before and are set up for it.

If it were me, I'd turn a brass plug, bore diameter, and put a thin flange on the back end about ø.3075". Drive it into the throat and make a threaded barrel extension/adapter I could put a PortaPower on and push it all out hydraulically. Then I'd bump the velocity up a touch on my future sub loads.
2¢
 
  • Like
Reactions: straightandtrue and stefan73
Following,

I would probably try heat then a brass rod. If I couldn't catch an edge with a brass rod I would try slugging the barrel in hopes that would catch the jackets. If that coupled with heat didn't work I would try freezing but try to figure out how to localize the freezing to the jacket as best as possible.

Just a thought

I'm sure somebody with a lot more experience/knowledge will provide some advice. I am no gunsmith, just saying what I would probably try doing if it were me.

Good luck

.
 
Why was a 16 inch barrel drilled for pistol gas system?

Is that common?
My 10.5 is pistol gas system.

My pet load is 220 fbrn with 12.1g cfeblk.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rookie and lash
If all that is left is copper jackets its going to be tough to push them out.
Try a couple of days a copper cleaner that you can leave in the barrel for an extended period.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nikonNUT
It seems strange that they are in there so tight. I almost made the same mistake a few years back when making subsonic 223s with 55 grain bullets. I shot one, and the steel didn't say "ding" so I pulled the bolt. The bullet slid right out using a cleaning rod.

I would try soaking the stuck bullets with Kroil or a really good penetrant and then try to push them out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jrpilot and wayno1
Run a torch in there. Right at the end of the barrel? Copper jacket will melt way before the barrel. At least soften if up enough to loosen it up.
 
It occurs, they might be in there "so tight" because there's a bulge in the barrel where the two projectiles collided... Afterall, if you have an obstruction "at the end of a 16" barrel" the next round will be going ~1000fps at impact. That's nearly 500ftlb energy with nowhere to go.

It might be an interesting exercise to put some calipers on the barrel around where the two projectiles are and compare up/down the length. Just sayin...
 
  • Like
Reactions: RTH1800, Jscb1b and McCrazy
@Snuby642

Why was a 16 inch barrel drilled for pistol gas system?
Why was a 16 inch barrel drilled for pistol gas system?

Is that common?
My 10.5 is pistol gas system.
Click to expand...

I’m curious about this too. Especially for subs, I’d think you’d want as much gas as possible to cycle the bolt. But, I’m also truly not a semi-aficionado. I use them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Snuby642
we keep two rods one wood and a solid anodized aluminum one that wont scratch the inside of a barrel and a dead blow hammer in a tube and a small block of wood when we go to the range just in case have not seen a case it's not come in handy on or squib rounds its not been able to dislodge . lol did I just jinx myself ?
1620689299985.png
sadly organized was never mentioned so finding anything is always the tricky part .
 
Last edited:
I would run a sheet metal screw thru the back of the copper jacket and use a slide hammer to remove them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2aBaC̶a̶
I wouldn’t bet on the barrel bulge, but I’d check just to be sure. An ounce of prevention and all.

And guys! He already said that he drilled the bullets out until almost the jacket, so many of the normal solutions no longer apply. This will take a sized to caliber end piece on a solid rod. Similar to how a ramrod works, but tighter than a musket ramrod for sure.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ravenworks
If he drilled all the way thru them, ypu could pout some lead onto a cleaning brush to make a plug like if you were gonna lap the barrel.... maybe?
 
I would also try the Kroil as a step before getting any more aggressive with it.

If it will loosen the fore end nut on a 70 year old Model 12, it may well penetrate and help.

Bit of a heat gun with the Kroil in there helps also.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Aftermath and Texasflyer
All I can think is. Unless you had this barrel straight in a lathe to drill out the bullets I would be impressed as hell if you didn't fuck anything up with you cordless drill.

To late now but if it was in a lathe you could drill and then tap the hole and use a slide hammer of some sort like someone above said
 
  • Like
Reactions: RTH1800, SporterII, McCrazy and 2 others
C-clamp it to the bench, tie a string to the trigger and yank a mag full of supers through it...

DON'T ACTUALLY DO THAT... even though I would... FOR SCIENCE!

All honesty, just buy a new barrel. Swap it out and move down the road. They are cheap and available in 300 blk.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rookie, shoobe01, SRPowah and 1 other person
So I am all for the new barrel but if the end of the barrel is threaded you could spin up an adapter to go from the barrel thread to a 1/8-27 NPT grease zerk, pop a bullet in from the muzzle side, and use a grease gun to hydraulically force (about 10000 psi) the bullet and jackets out the chamber (Maybe? Or really jam things up!) I would try it for the hell of it and then get a new barrel for piece of mind...
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Eddystone, spife7980 and powdahound76
Last resort try a cleaner that dissolves copper. May hurt the barrel but you have nothing to loose.

Or just replace the barrel as suggested

Kinda sucks to replace the barrel as the current one is so accurate it’s literally stacking one round on top the next 🤪
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: GPtuners, RTH1800, WATERWALKER and 12 others
Were both shots similarly (identically) under-charged ("sub-sub sonic" in the OP) ?

If so would you still expect the 2nd to impact the 1st with enough energy to cause a bulge?
 
The point of the 2nd bullet impacting the base of the first would definitely create some serious friction.
I would go the Kroil-heat and repeat option a few times. If both rounds were unpowered, the barrel is likely undamaged ( at least from the bullets)
 
I would drill a 1/8 inch hole and then tap on it.

Gives the metal a place to go but leaves enough to work with.

I removed a lot of fasteners of all types . I did this for 35 years and the old school way never failed me.

This was at times on totally non replaceable items.

For the barrel dissasembly would make for easy work but a properly sized bushing would work without a lathe.

The only hard part was having a chicken shit boss that would not run engineering staff off while I did my work.
 
While were all throwing crazy ideas out, might try to plug and fill the drilled out bullets section with epoxy and then bang it all out.
 
nikonNUT said:
So I am all for the new barrel but if the end of the barrel is threaded you could spin up an adapter to go from the barrel thread to a 1/8-27 NPT grease zerk, pop a bullet in from the muzzle side, and use a grease gun to hydraulically force (about 10000 psi) the bullet and jackets out the chamber (Maybe? Or really jam things up!) I would try it for the hell of it and then get a new barrel for piece of mind...
Click to expand...
This would probably work.
With muzzle loaders, I have, and have used, an attachment on the end of the rod that is simply a coarse threaded screw that you screw into the ball then pull the ball out. I think a similar thing could have been done to the jacketed bullets but maybe not and not now anyway.
I have only used this thing once, because I learned that if you don't put the powder in first, the ball don't eject out the end of the barrel when only the flash pan goes off. That little faux pas was the reason I bought this attachment. My brother has NEVER let me forget it....he always asks if I poured some powder down the barrel EVERY SINGLE TIME we go shoot muzzleloaders, but he's a dick. I taught him almost everything he knows.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: SRPowah, nikonNUT and Snuby642
Baron23 said:
I would also try the Kroil as a step before getting any more aggressive with it.

If it will loosen the fore end nut on a 70 year old Model 12, it may well penetrate and help.

Bit of a heat gun with the Kroil in there helps also.
Click to expand...
There are quite a few studies, albeit of questionable science, that shows Kroil (I love the stuff) is not as effective as several other penetrating oils. One that seems to always be at or near the best is a mixture of acetone and automatic transmission fluid. I know I'd try a few of these but, at the end of the day, just how much time and effort is equal, monetarily, to just buying a new barrel?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nebulous and Baron23
Seems as though a copper solvent would work to loosen em up??? Otherwise I think I'd still try to find a screw thread just the right size to thread into the jackets and pull them out.
 
This is a good time to re-iterate that when dealing with supersonic ammo you work up to the desired velocity whereas with subsonic ammo you work down to the desired velocity.

It prevents this shit from happening.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RTH1800, SRPowah, 2aBaC̶a̶ and 3 others
Two methods.

In Black Powder shooting, a screw attachment mounted to the rod is inserted in the bore, and screwed into the bullet remnant. All of the ones I've seen are .50+ caliber.

How much does a replacement barrel cost, and is it worth it to avoid the rest of the anguish that's coming on down the road with this issue?

BTW, maybe the barrel you have is too long for the application.

I'm preparing to do reloads for a 44RM Carbine. Handloading sections for this application stress maintaining a higher velocity to prevent this particular problem. It may be that the velocity you need to prevent the problem is too fast to produce a good subsonic load. I would give serious thought to shortening the barrel to remove the problem.

The idea is to utilize enough pressure to accelerate the bullet to a subsonic velocity in as short a distance as possible, while limiting the barrel length to curtail the maximum velocity it can achieve before emerging. This increases muzzle pressure, so a good suppressor is a must. Shorten the barrel in increments until the higher pressure load still emerges at a subsonic velocity.

Greg
 
Last edited:
Best bet is check if it is bulged first, if it is, you are wasting your time

I have had success with a slightly larger brass jag. Sand it down so it barely fits. Cut off the thin part so you have a flat brass plug that screws into a steel rod. Slide down barrel and tap put with a hammer. It sometimes takes force and the steel cleaning rod is trash.

.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RTH1800
nikonNUT said:
you could spin up an adapter to go from the barrel thread to a 1/8-27 NPT grease zerk, pop a bullet in from the muzzle side
Click to expand...

I watched someone trying to do this on YT, probably Johnny's Reloading Bench, and it didn't work. Someone made a 5/8-24 muzzle "cap" that had a male adapter threaded in for an air compressor hose. Then the barrel was filled with oil, turned the gas block 180 to seal the port. Hit it with air and since you can't compress liquid, out the bullet went.

I've removed bolts from crankshafts (to remove the harmonic balancer) by setting the cylinder for TDC and filling it with water then putting the spark plug back in. Once you start compressing that water, that crank won't turn.
 
  • Like
Reactions: wayno1
Mike_in_FL said:
I watched someone trying to do this on YT, probably Johnny's Reloading Bench, and it didn't work. Someone made a 5/8-24 muzzle "cap" that had a male adapter threaded in for an air compressor hose. Then the barrel was filled with oil, turned the gas block 180 to seal the port. Hit it with air and since you can't compress liquid, out the bullet went.

I've removed bolts from crankshafts (to remove the harmonic balancer) by setting the cylinder for TDC and filling it with water then putting the spark plug back in. Once you start compressing that water, that crank won't turn.
Click to expand...
Ah, did you mean “it did work”?
 
Baron23 said:
Ah, did you mean “it did work”?
Click to expand...
No I did not. The zerk fitting didn't work as he had a leak and couldn't build up enough pressure. I'm not saying it wouldn't, I'm saying it didn't but don't know if the guy actually knows how to use a grease gun.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nikonNUT
I'm going to guess this is a 300BO.

I've also never seen a barrel that has had bullets 'stacked' in it NOT be bulged or have some kind of deformity. Best case, your accuracy is going to be all over the place.

I wouldn't even worry about slamming them out of there. I'd either have it cut down and SBR it, or its time to look for a new barrel.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nikonNUT
Mike_in_FL said:
No I did not. The zerk fitting didn't work as he had a leak and couldn't build up enough pressure.
Click to expand...
Ah, I saw this and was confused....actually, I'm still confused! haha

So, I see you are talking about two different incidents....Johnny and the grease gun (didn't work) and "someone" with an air compressor and a barrel full of oil (did work).

Sorry, I read too fast and it appeared to me at first glance that these were one and the same incident.

My mistake. Thanks
 
How in the heck did a round not have enough energy to push the projectile out the bore and yet still completely cycle the action? Are you not telling the whole truth OP? :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: westsidecamper
stefan73 said:
Following,

I would probably try heat then a brass rod. If I couldn't catch an edge with a brass rod I would try slugging the barrel in hopes that would catch the jackets. If that coupled with heat didn't work I would try freezing but try to figure out how to localize the freezing to the jacket as best as possible.

Just a thought

I'm sure somebody with a lot more experience/knowledge will provide some advice. I am no gunsmith, just saying what I would probably try doing if it were me.

Good luck

.
Click to expand...
I'm not a gunsmith either, but could you spray the cold refrigerent into the barrel to chill the jackets? Asking for a friend
 
  • Like
Reactions: lash
Mike_in_FL said:
No problem. LMAO, I remembered it wrong. He had a leak with a 90 degree zerk and then went with a straight fitting and it worked. His wall will never be the same though!

Click to expand...

LOL...just watched it....well, half way until he popped it out and oiled the inside of his house! haha

Actually, on consideration, I think I would rather just buy a new barrel! hahaha

Cheers
 
  • Like
Reactions: Greg Langelius * and Mike_in_FL
NoDopes said:
Ok. fucked up and I knew better.. I got two bullets (sub-sub sonic apparently) stuck at the end of a 16" barrel. 300BO, pistol gas system.
Charge was enough to cycle, but not push bullet all the way out... so I'm assuming the barrel isn't bulged.

Tried oak dowel, and aluminum rod, but they were wedged pretty hard.. (ELD-X 220g)
I've drilled out with successively larger bits until now I just have basically a couple copper jackets in there wedged.
Not sure what to try now to remove those and not damage the barrel.
Either a perfect fit copper rod, heat, freeze or BT Eliminator soak?
Click to expand...

Is there enough bullet left to tap them and insert a threaded rod? Seem like a perfect 1/4-20 situation
 
  • Like
Reactions: akmike47
Not sure on your machining capabilities but see if you can machine a grease insert on to the pulled barrel and try to use a grease gun to blow it out.... don’t know if it will work, but worth a try
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
CLR and barrel etching, finish damage - photos, links
Replies
10
Views
3K
ZiaHunter
ZiaHunter
LANCER
Gunsmithing LMT MWS .308 Excessive carbon in barrel/LC-LR pulled brass neck sealant?
Replies
0
Views
427
LANCER
LANCER
S
Suppressors How to remove stubborn carbon?
Replies
14
Views
2K
Mike Casselton
Mike Casselton
K
My quick and dirty load development for hunting this year
Replies
15
Views
2K
KnowNothing256
K
Namekagon
Seating Depth differences between different bullets
Replies
7
Views
673
918v
918v
Top Bottom
Back