Slugging Disaster

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Hondo 60

Hondo 60

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I recently purchased a Mosin-Nagant rifle.
In trying to slug the bore I ran into problems & fear I may have ruined it.

I used a soft .311" bullet & it got stuck about mid-barrel (going in from the end of the barrel).

So I turned it around & tried to tap it out from the bore.

Now I have wooden dowels stuck in both ends.

Then to really mess it up, I tried to use a bolt that had electrical tape wrapped around it so it wouldn't hurt the barrel.

The bolt started to seat itself inside the dowel, and then broke off.
So part of that bolt is in the barrel as well.

Can this be repaired? I'm not a machinist, don't have access to long drill bits, and don't care to even try to drill it out.
I know my limitations & this is definitely beyond.

It's a 1938 Tula Arsenal made rifle.
(In very good condition other than my screw-up.)

I'm just sick to my stomach over this & hope someone is willing to help.
 
The community will be along shortly to tell you all the things you would have known if you'd done your research ahead of time. . .

What you CAN do from here is apply heat. You're not working with a fine target barrel here, so applying enough heat (barely enough) to melt the lead and char the wood won't harm the barrel much more than you probably already have. Remove as much of the gun as possible, secure the barrel muzzle-down, and gently heat it; start with a heat gun rather than a torch. IF you cherry the barrel, you've probably rendered it unsafe.

Hopefully charring the wood will let it come free, same for the lead. Hopefully the steel bolt will come free once the wood's charred.

In the future: Brass Rod!
 
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Can you find some tubing (heavy wall that will slide over the dowel but no super loose) and clamp a double split set color onto the end of the dowel(s)?

Making an impact puller of sorts.

b7e37af1998429890a293d96eb7d5617.jpg

Not sure about the broken off bolt end, not sure I understand exactly what you did there. I suppose I would treat it like any other broken off bolt and weld a nut to it and back it back out.
 
Is there room at the chamber end to insert a cartridge? If so, I will tell you how to get the stuff out with no damage IF everyone else butts out and doesn't chime in with a lot of nonsense.

Take a regular cartridge. Pull the bullet. Repeat, pull the bullet.

Dump out about 2/3 of the powder charge. Fill the case with cotton wool to keep the remaining powder in place.

Now tie the gun to a tree or an old tire and tie a string to the trigger so you can fire it from a distance. Make sure the gun is pointing in a safe direction; that slug and pieces of dowel are dangerous.

Load the special round, and fire it.

Jim
 
I have done many stupid things in the past. Don't feel like the lone ranger. I would drill it out. You can get long drill bits at Harbor freight pretty cheap. I would wrap all but the end half inch or so with some tape so you don't scratch the barrel and carefully drill it out. I would twist it by hand and not even use a drill so you can "feel" what you are dong in there. If you go off to the side you will drill into the barrel and obviously ruin it. You can try the heat method but BE CAREFUL. And above all TAKE IT SLOWLY. It is going to take a while to heat the lead without overheating the barrel. Have the side with the least extra stuff (dowel, broken bolt etc) pointing down so the when the lead liquefies it has a place to flow and not just sit against the dowel that is plugging it. My guess is that you could find a reasonable gunsmith to get it out for less than $50 if you want to be really safe.
 
Jim K said:
Is there room at the chamber end to insert a cartridge? If so, I will tell you how to get the stuff out with no damage IF everyone else butts out and doesn't chime in with a lot of nonsense.

Take a regular cartridge. Pull the bullet. Repeat, pull the bullet.

Dump out about 2/3 of the powder charge. Fill the case with cotton wool to keep the remaining powder in place.

Now tie the gun to a tree or an old tire and tie a string to the trigger so you can fire it from a distance. Make sure the gun is pointing in a safe direction; that slug and pieces of dowel are dangerous.

Load the special round, and fire it.

Jim
Click to expand...
I wouldn't do this with a bolt broken off in there. You are liable to scrape the bolt into the inside of the barrel and ruin it.
 
And drilling it out, with the bolt causing the drill to wander off and chew up the barrel won't hurt it?

Jim
 
There's a gunsmith about 40 miles from me.
I'll contact him tomorrow & see what he says.

I'll post more after I talk to him.
 
Your limitations ended just the moment before you tried to slug the barrel. At least that's how it sounds to me. Have you ever slugged a barrel before?
 
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We have been warning about Not using wood dowel rods here in this forum ever since I became a member 9 years ago.

I'd guess we average a split & stuck wood dowel rod question at least every other month.

So, it wasn't a big secret.

rc
 
Even though I don't slug my barrels I know to use a brass rod. I find the easiest way to not harm a barrel is to size bullets to different sizes and shoot them to see which one works best. Haven't damaged a barrel yet doing this ;)

A pound cast tells you what you really need to know. Not a bore slug.
 
Suggest you follow #2 & #3 post suggestions unless you have a way to remove barrel from frame, make threaded adapter for the barrel and hydro press it out.
 
About that overheating. Lead melts at 621.43*F/327.46*C. Don't get it any hotter than that. If it were not for the steel bolt that's also stuck I would go with Jim K's method.
 
I admit that I have never blown out a steel bolt, but I see no reason it wouldn't blow out along with the other stuff. The OP says he wrapped it in tape. Now if it were threaded in, it would be a different story.

+1 for rcmodel. A wood dowel should not even be used for a cleaning rod, let alone for driving out an obstruction. In the old days, many civilian muzzle loaders had wood ramrods, but the wood was carefully selected for a uniform grain, straightness and strength. Dowel rods are made by turning sawn strips of board; the grain pattern goes all over and they can split at odd angles. Use dowel rods for plugging holes and such, not as cleaning rods or ramrods.

Jim
 
Your limitations ended just the moment before you tried to slug the barrel. At least that's how it sounds to me. Have you ever slugged a barrel before?
Click to expand...

That sounded a bit snotty.
Part of "The High Road" is being above that sort of attitude.

But to answer the question, "Yes, I have 15 handguns which have all been slugged, except for the 2 22lr. But this is the first rifle I've slugged, or tried to slug"
 
Edited:

If you do decide to do something that sounds less than safe be sure to be a good distance away and don't forget to video.
 
I took it to my gunsmith, he didn't sound very optimistic, but he said he'd try.
And he said he's pretty backed up, so not to expect it in the near future.
Might be a couple of months before he's done.
 
Let us know the result and ask if he will tell you how he does it.

Jim
 
Let us know the result and ask if he will tell you how he does it.

(I never told the customer how I got stuck bullets out; I just said it was a gunsmith trick.)

Jim
 
rcmodel said:
We have been warning about Not using wood dowel rods here in this forum ever since I became a member 9 years ago.

I'd guess we average a split & stuck wood dowel rod question at least every other month.

So, it wasn't a big secret.

rc
Click to expand...


I am a newer member. In Hondo's defense, I was unaware. There are many things I have learned on this forum that I would have learned the hard way.

When I search the forum, sometimes some results do not show depending on the search terms used.

Thanks for posting Hondo. This newbie understands what is needed to slug a barrel.

As I get older, I am amazed how little I understood about my firearms for years even though I took them out to the range a month before deer season.

Swanee
 
So I turned it around & tried to tap it out from the bore.

Now I have wooden dowels stuck in both ends.
Click to expand...

Hondo 60, I had to retrieve a few rifles the owner was more than concerned about ever seeing again. One of the rifles was returned with what was described as a cleaning jag lodged in the barrel. The rifle was chambered to 257 Weatherby. The owner was lead to believe the jag was all there was. I told him removing obstructions was not a problem.

When I measured the obstruction there had to be more to it than just a jag. The smith lost something while hammering on the jag, after that he attempted to drill out the obstruction with a .250 drill, with no clearance between the bore and drill it locked up and broke the drill bit. I called the smith in an attempt to get a straight answer. All the extra stuff in the barrel is something he said he omitted to tell me about but meant to.

I use a hydraulic cylinder similar to a port-a-power with a capacity of 10.000 psi to push stuff out of barrels. There is no saving the barrel. The owner built the rifle back in his gunsmith days. I understand his disappointment.

I slug barrels; I do not slug barrels like everyone else.

F. Guffey
 
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