Nicked my rifling. Dumb Dumb Move

[fourdollarbill]

Just a quick question to ask. I pulled a dumb move this weekend. Had a squib load on a 38sp 642 airwieght and the copper coated bullet stuck in the barrel half way. Lucky to catch it before the next shot but i did not have the proper tool with me to remove it and I wanted to try the rest of my new recipe with 125 grain rainiers so I used a screw driver and held it very steady and whacked it. Well the bullet come out BUT I nicked the rifling. I cleaned the bore and I can feel the nick with a pick. It looks as if it will be okay but I wanted some opinions on Safety, Accuracy. Note: I did shoot a flat nose bullet into gel and found the bullet is scratched but it did not tear the copper plating.
Any thoughts?

PS: I have been reading these forums for a long time, this is my first post.

 

[Funderb]

You are probably safe, unless you managed to gouge halfway through the barrel. I certainly hope not, and doubt it.

as for the effect on accuracy? You really can't know until you shoot it.

Next time, if ever, I recommend the wooden dowel rod.

 

[rcmodel]

Mercy! Mercy! Mercy! :banghead:

It probably won't hurt anything except tear chunks off your cleaning patches.
Which you will probably need to use more often to keep fouling at bay now!

You might want to review your reloading procedures though.
There is just no excuse for a squib load in the first place.

BTW: "Next time" use a brass range rod, never a wooden dowel rod.
If you splinter a dowel rod beating on a bullet, it can become wedged in next to the bullet and really make a mess!

Better yet, review your reloading procedures and you won't have squib loads to worry about in the first place!

rcmodel

 

[floydster]

I carry a brass rod 12" long in my range bag-just in case, but I don't plan on using it.
Floydster

 

[fourdollarbill]

Thanks Funderb, it is just a nick - lucky.

rcmodel, here is my thought on the squib, see what you think. I used for the very first time a "treated" corn cob media to clean the brass. After the squib I went home that day and looked at the same batch of brass in the rcbs tumbler media remover. I looked inside of every single brass (120 or so) and found each one had a slight haze like a waxed car ready to polish. One of the brass had more than a little hazy oily film in it from the "TREATED MEDIA" from Lyman. I swabbed it out with a q-tip and it was oily. ??? It looks as if i'm going to have to go back to "untreated media" or find a way to clean out this film from the treated media. I believe the oily film damaged the powder obviously because I could see all of the fouled powder when I opened the cylinder to discover the bullet stuck in the barrel.

That is a serious learning experience!!

Thanks for replies,

 

[fourdollarbill]

Have you ever used the treated corn cob ? I wonder what others are doing to clean their cases after tumbling?

 

[Walkalong]

I shot a bulged .45 barrel for years before I replaced it with a Firedragon barrel. It was bulged about halfway down. I turned the outside of the bulge down to match the rest of the barrel and it shot just fine. Match quality? Not, but pretty good. You could look in the barrel and see the spot where the bore got bigger! You could REALLY feel it with a patch.

 

[indiandave]

I carry a brass squib rod and a wooden mallet in my range bag. I've had just a couple of squibs in my life. They were easy to clear. Hope for the best and
prepare for the worst.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

I had a squib years ago with a friends fathers reloads. I just cut off a sapling branch and pushed the wadcutter back into the case. After that I disposed the rest of his ammo.

 

[krs]

I can't imagine that Lyman produces and sells oily tumbling media, but I can imagine that any media could be contaminated either inadvertently or with the best intentions.

I used to add a little kerosene to my tumbler as an aid to cleaning. It worked great for years until my wife decided that an empty kerosene can made a good place to put lamp oil..

 

[presspuller]

Chances are you raised a burr, that is what you are feeling with the pick. That is something the bullet is gonna have to drag itself over to get out the barrel.
You probably gonna have to shoot a lot to get that burr off of there, once you do then the accuracy should come back but I think you will see a noticeable difference in accuracy with a gouge on the bullet.

 

[rcmodel]

had more than a little hazy oily film in it from the "TREATED MEDIA" from Lyman.

That is what I have been using for the last couple of years.

It does leave a waxy film when it is fresh & new, but I can't imagine it ruining the powder. Least, it hasn't ruined any of mine.

You didn't by chance add any extra case polish or car wax to it did you?

rcmodel

 

[AKCOP]

You might see a dip in accuracy beyond 75 yards but in the 10 foot to 10 yard range you probably won't see a difference...