Barrel full of bullets...

[Clipper]

...Some friends, my wife and myself were blowin' up some ammo yesterday, and one of my buddies brought his 20-year old son for his first non-airgun shooting experience. One of the guns he brought was his late father-in-law's old service revolver from the Phila. PD, an old 4" nickel plated Smith, looked like a M-10. He loads up some handloaded ammo he's had for a LONG time and his son is shooting, when I heard what sounded like a squib load, and I yelled for him to cease fire. Well, he'd have had to anyway, as the cylinder, and by extension the whole gun, was locked up, with a bullet partly in the chamber and partly in the barrel. OK, so we took a rod to drive it back into the cylinder, when we found the barrel was plugged with another bullet about 1" from the muzzle! The previous bullets (lead RNs & SWCs) were making a 'normal' ammount of noise, but since I was not watching the proceedings, loading up for my own shooting, I didn't see a lack of bullet-related activity downrange...So anyway, we must reach the assumption that there are maybe 3 or 4 slugs stacked up in that barrel (amazing there are no signs of distress apparent from the exterior of the gun), and the only answer I can come up with is to remove the grips, clamp it in a vise with soft jaws, and drift the whole mess slowly to the rear until the bridged bullet clears the cylinder gap and allows it to open so the other slugs can then be driven out.

And definately get rid of that old ammo...

Any other bright ideas out there?

Thanks.

 

[mete]

One of my old books has a drawing of a revolver that had six bullets in the barrel .You've prooved it again !! Don't try to drift them all through the barrel , just drill them out with GREAT CARE to not harm the barrel. I would use a piece of tubing that would fit inside the barrel and over the drill bit .That will center the drill bit and protect the bore.

 

[1911Tuner]

Plugged

Stand the gun with the muzzle up and dribble a thin oil into the muzzle...Rem-Oil is good. Let it stand for a couple of hours, and use a close-fitting brass rod to tap the bullet back toward the breech. When it meets resistance offered by the other bullet, stop, and stand the gun up, muzzle down. Dribble oil in around the cylinder gap and let it stand, repeating a few times to insure that the oil gets in. Every hour or so, tap again, and try to open the cylinder.
As the first bullet is pressed back into the case, the cylinder will start to develop a little sideplay. Use a little force to see if it's in far enough to shear the tiny bit of lead at the nose. If it will, it may open. Then tape the forward bullet out. If it won't, you may have to tap both bullets into the case far enough to open the cylinder. It'll be a slow process, but usually works out pretty well.

 

[Novus Collectus]

Would sticking it in the oven at 500 degrees to soften up the lead hurt the metal of the gun?

 

[1911Tuner]

Cookin'

>>Would sticking it in the oven at 500 degrees to soften up the lead hurt the metal of the gun?<<
******************

Probably. The oil should do it.

 

[Clipper]

Thanks, guys...

...He drilled them out. The barrel was packed solid for about 3". He's going to make a bronze pick to the width of the lands and work the last of the lead out...

 

[mrmeval]

Electronic cleaner?

http://www.lovemyguns.com/

I've not tried it but am interested in it.