A fun "repair" today!

[CJB]

I got a call from my boss (nameless to protect my job), who asked if I knew how to take a stuck bullet from a gun barrel. So I describe the procedure. He has no close fitting steel rod, and the "gun" is a Crossman .177 pellet gun.

So, I get on over to Brownells, and order up a .168 drill rod, which is as close as fits a .177 barrel (whose bore is about .172). It comes in, I get my five bucks back from him and hand him the rod.

He calls me back - no go. Hammering isn't working. So I ask him to measure using the rod from chamber and muzzle.

Reporting back - there are TWO pellets stuck. I asked how he knew. He said, the rod went in so far from one one, and another distance from the other, but there was a space between the two marks he made on the rod, so it must be two pellets.

How big a space? About two inches, he said.......

So I regret to inform him he has two inches of stuck .177 pellets in the barrel. On that, he said - you fix it!

So into work came the pistol, semi disassembled... bolt and associated parts out.

No go... there is a LOT of lead in there.

Back at my shop at home, I took the rod and got it into the barrel from the breech. Then... on the 12-ton shop press... I began pressing, and the rod started moving. Wonderful, except, the rod was too short, since it cut it to avoid it flexing. It was just long enough to go from muzzle to chamber, but not to the back of the action.

A variety of makeshift rod extensions got used, including various stainless screws that "just" fit into the action to push the rod.

What a worm of pellets came outta that gun... but then I started thinking... this press is under maybe six or seven tons of pressure, and its flexing a little.

I ran and got a pail, scooped about four inches of sand into it quick, and got it under the press. No sooner than I got it placed - kerrr-aaack! The rest of the pellets sprayed out the barrel, followed by the rod. Jeez man! Glad I was awake, glad I have my safety goggles on. The sand caught it all, and the rod stayed put too! Fortunately!

And, except for a little worn paint on the brass barrel - all is well in Crossman land. No bore damage I can see, no remnants or qweeb in the barrel...

A good repair!

And exciting.

And I learnt somethin!

So much for Friday afternoons off.....

[Bawanna]

Did he have any accuracy complaints prior to discovering his barrel was stuffed?

That could have gotten ugly real quick, I too am glad you were awake and quick on your feet and thoughts.

[skiflydive]

Good call. My first thought was to grind a facsimile of a drill bit in the end of the rod and chuck it in a drill press and woodpecker my way through the lead.

[Deano]

... this press is under maybe six or seven tons of pressure, and its flexing a little.
What do you figure the fps was on those pellets when they came flying out of there?

[CJB]

Fast enough that they woulda went thru my fingers as I was pullin' em off the end of the barrel.... it was about that time I thought... this aint good!

[CJB]

Did he have any accuracy complaints prior to discovering his barrel was stuffed?


There's a quip by Hatcher in Hatcher's Notebook about such an even... failing to see a bird (or rat or squirrel or something) get the least bit flustered at the shooting. WTF was he thinkin? He said he lent the gun to someone, and they did it, then they tried it a few times at his place.

~~

Drilling out bullets is usually the very last resort. I would have tried heating the barrel before that. In all my 40+ years of being a gun-crank, and dealing plenty with stuck bullets, I never drilled one out yet. Never fubar'd a barrel or rifling yet either.

~~

Speaking of which - Tony Pugliese bought Ruby's Colt revolver, that he shot Oswald with. He was shooting it at the range I worked at, when he got a squib in the barrel. This was because he was light loading bullets to be recovered for sale for $500 each, with a serial number and plaque and frame. I asked him for the bullet, he said "sure kid" and I kept it. I probably should have kept it, but last year, I gave it to the same guy (my boss) who got all them pellets stuck in the gun. Ironic.

[yqtszhj]

Whew that was close

[Bawanna]

Reminds one of Newtons Theory of Relativity, when one has 6 or 7 tons of pressure applied on one end of an object, something eventually is gonna have to give on the other end?

I'm glad it was you CJB and not me. I'd be here typing with a pencil held in my teeth while probably both hands healed from BB perforations.

Your typing with a smile on your face and song in your heart having once again dodged another bullet or BB as it were.

Your wiser than I and wicked quick too.

[CJB]

Lucky ol' man... I got lucky. Or more likely, the big guy upstairs has a real miserable fate for me. None of this chicken crap way to get busted up. I'll probably go with a flair...

[TucsonMTB]

Lucky ol' man... I got lucky. Or more likely, the big guy upstairs has a real miserable fate for me. None of this chicken crap way to get busted up. I'll probably go with a flair...
Could be. Certainly, you seem to have a lot of fun in your life! :)

[sas PM9]

[QUOTE=Bawanna;151570]Reminds one of Newtons Theory of Relativity, when one has 6 or 7 tons of pressure applied on one end of an object, something eventually is gonna have to give on the other end?

B:

I'm sure you meant Newton's Second law.
Someone else is credited with the Theory of Relativity.
;)

-steve

[Bawanna]

[QUOTE=Bawanna;151570]Reminds one of Newtons Theory of Relativity, when one has 6 or 7 tons of pressure applied on one end of an object, something eventually is gonna have to give on the other end?

B:

I'm sure you meant Newton's Second law.
Someone else is credited with the Theory of Relativity.
;)

-steve

Probably so, the only Newton I'm really familiar with is Fig and it's not really my favorite store bought cookie either.

[muggsy]

The next time that you run into this situation pour some Kroil penetrating oil down the barrel from the muzzle end and let it sit over night. It will take a lot less pressure to get things moving in the morning. Works a lot like Metamucil. :)

[Tinman507]

The next time that you run into this situation pour some Kroil penetrating oil down the barrel from the muzzle end and let it sit over night. It will take a lot less pressure to get things moving in the morning. Works a lot like Metamucil. :)

Or try a Fig Newton. Works the same.

[CJB]

Yah... you're right - any penetrant will help... but once I tried the press and it began to get goin'... the thought of a barrel enema skipped my mind.

The only Einstein I know are bagels....

[Tank]

The next time that you run into this situation pour some Kroil penetrating oil down the barrel from the muzzle end and let it sit over night. It will take a lot less pressure to get things moving in the morning. Works a lot like Metamucil. :)
+1 for the Kroil, that is amazing stuff. Not to be confused with standard penetrating oil.

I'd also like to note the use of drill rod, which is typically unhardened that CJB used for this. It might be tempting but don't use hardened drill blank for these tasks down a gun barrel. I don't want to insult the people that know the difference but wanted to point it out.