Stuck Bullet

Discussions covering the components and techniques of reloading for your handgun.
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Poppop
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Stuck Bullet

Post by Poppop »

Got to my 35th shot of 50 on my SR9c and then no ejection-manually ejected case then slide wouldn't close completely. Since SR9c's are easy to dismantle and remove the barrel, I noticed a copper looking obstruction in the barrel. Looking at my unfired bullets and seeing that the color was the same, I figured out that is was probably a bullet lodged in the barrel. So when I got home, I put the barrel in a vise muzzle up, squirted remoil in the barrel and proceeded to use a brass punch to tap on what ever was in the barrel. Sure enough when it dislodged and fell out it was in fact a bullet.
I will now be more careful and inspect when loading powder to be sure there is enough powder in the case.
Fortunately, the bullet was lodged so that another bullet wouldn't feed or I wouldn't be typing this with my right hand.
:oops: :oops:
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Re: Stuck Bullet

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

Fortunate indeed. Blow ups can be rough of the anatomy. Always check you bore after any unusually light discharge or failure to function. Depending on the primer and the bullet it is possible to have one driven far enough for the next round to chamber and the gun go into battery. Fortunately most sem-autos if not all will not fire out of battery. Revolvers not so much, over the years I've seen a couple of blow ups from just this situation, no powder but the primer drove the bullet clear of the cylinder the other was a light charge that didn't get all the way out.

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Curt.......makin' smoke and raising my carbon foot print one cartridge at a time +guns +guns
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Re: Stuck Bullet

Post by Ranch Dog »

I was brought a revolver with three bullets stuck in the barrel! Young fellow asked me what I thought. With three wad cutter compressed against each other, I told him there was not much I could or wanted to do with the beater 38 Spl. He threw it in my pond!
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Re: Stuck Bullet

Post by Poppop »

I was at my local reloading store this evening and purchased an inexpensive Hornaday G2 electronic scale.
I know it's cheap but I don't care about accuracy, I will use it to check weight of finished rounds to be sure they all weigh pretty much the same. If I find a 3-5 gr. difference, I will check further. This will allow me to complete the turret process without stopping.
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Re: Stuck Bullet

Post by Poppop »

Hey guys-here's another thought. Instead of the electronic scale I just wrote about, maybe I'd be better of with the Hornaday Powder cop for my turret? I can figure another way to decap-resize and prime.
Any thoughts?
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Re: Stuck Bullet

Post by Ranch Dog »

How about just lighting so that you can see the powder in the case before a bullet is positioned.
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Re: Stuck Bullet

Post by Steve »

RD has the best idea. A light so you can see what is happening.

3-1/2 gr difference with a scale can be the other components.

I have a mirror attached to my Loadmaster so I can check for powder every case. I honestly can't remember the last time I stuck a bullet from lack of powder. It had to be before I started using the Loadmaster.
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Re: Stuck Bullet

Post by Fyodor »

If you did not preselect cases on weight, this might give false results. Especially when using mixed brass, a difference in case weight of a few grains is not unusual.

I do the same as RD suggested, I put a light on my pro1000 and check every single case before placing the bullet. My club mates laugh at me for slowing down my progressive workflow, but on the other hand I'm the only one in my club who didn't have any squibs up to now. And I still make 200 per hour.

A few years ago on my first European Championship in cowboy action, I didn't reload by myself yet, so I used someone else's ammo. I was just about to finish my first "clean match", when the first round from my revolver felt unusual light, and the cylinder wouldn't turn. The bullet was lodged between cylinder and barrel, completely locking up the gun. Those five rounds where the only misses I had on this match, every round I fired did hit it's target.
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Re: Stuck Bullet

Post by GasGuzzler »

Ive' done that with .38 Special in a revolver that would still turn. I was smart enough to notice and clear it before firing the next one.
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Re: Stuck Bullet

Post by Poppop »

Ranch Dog wrote:How about just lighting so that you can see the powder in the case before a bullet is positioned.
See my quote at the end of my posts
If all else fails--look for the obvious
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