From bad to worse.....story of a squib and a plea for help!

[tommyfeds 2]

HI All,

 

Was out at Ft Dix last night having a blast with the SKS and the new Tech Sights. Weather was brisk to say the least but it was awesome shooting under the stars.......ok enough with the romance.

 

Round 30 of some Tula I picked up from Dicks went click but no bang. I pull the bolt back and the casing comes out filled with powder but no bullet. I slid a cleaning rod down the muzzle end and got nowhere so that was the end of that. So last night I stripped it down, held it in a vice muzzle down, sprayed some PB Blast in the barrel in hopes to loosen things up and went to bed. 

 

As per many threads on the interwebz I went and got me a wooden dowel from the depot. Slid it in the muzzle end and gave a couple of wacks with a hammer. Maybe one too many as the wood snapped and now I have a stuck squib with a busted wooden dowel stuck to the business end of the bullet in the barrel. 

 

There was a knowledgable guy at HD who kinda laughed at the wooden dowel idea, he had two SKS's himself. He mentioned there was a device that had a threaded end that would screw into the bullet to pull it out? If that does exist it sounds like an opportunity to hurt myself Im thinkin. I may need to seek professional help at this point. Any advice? Or recommendations as to where/who I might take it to? I live in Freehold so Im pretty central. 

 

Thanks all, Im really kinda bummed about this one. I was really having fun with that rifle :-(

 

Tommy

[maintenanceguy 510]

I know I'm gonna get killed for sharing this but this is what I did once.   30-06 squib.  It was a family member reload.  Like you, bullet was stuck.  I used a brass brazing rod to try to push it out and I think I just made it worse by expanding the bullet when I pushed.   It was stuck!

 

I was able to reach the bullet with a very long (12", 18" ?)  1/4" drill bit.  I covered the full length of the bit with a couple or maybe even 3 layers of shrink tubing so the bit couldn't touch the side of the barrel and drilled out most of the bullet.  Once I had a hole in the bullet, the rest easily pealed away with the brass rod.

 

I'm not suggesting this because I don't want to be responsible for ruining your gun but desperate times call for desperate measures and I'm no stranger to some red neck engineerin'.

[intercooler 41]

get a brass or aluminum rod from tractor supply...you are NOT gonna set a screw in the front of the bullet and it will expand the rear when it screws in and make it even more stuck

OR

[matty 810]

buy a brass rod or al rod, something softer than steel, long enough and whack the pooh out of it.

or throw it over the wall:-)

[matty 810]

bad lots of tula out there, had the same thing happen to me,but had a rod with me, bullet came out easy

[tommyfeds 2]

The bullet is only about 3 inches from the breech and there is a wooden dowel stuck on the muzzle side. So going in the muzzle is not going to happen. You think a brass rod from the breech end? Seems like it would be too long of a ride to the muzzle. 

[matty 810]

wha? How much of the barrel is clear from the muzzle end? Remember, you are fighting the rifling all the way up from the breech end, plus you would have to pull it out of the stock and remove the bolt & carrier, at least, even then t may not line up right from the back of the rcvr to get a long enough rod on there. If the muzzle is blocked to the end by wood, THEN you can use the scrfew trick to screw into the wood & try to pull out

[tommyfeds 2]

Its 1 1/2 inches in, that's all. I can't believe how stuck this nothing is!

 

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[intercooler 41]

I would knock that out from the muzzle into the chamber

[matty 810]

OK, that's the breech end, you really want to go all the way up the barrel from there? What does the muzzle end look like, stick and all? Is the dowel broken right at the end of the muzzle?

[tommyfeds 2]

No I definitely don't want to go from this end. The muzzle end has a broken dowel in it. And its a splintered break an inch or so down, so screwing into that to pull it out isn't going to work.

 

I really did it good this time. I thought maybe some WD40 down the muzzle might loosen the dowel from the bullet but then again it may absorb into the wood and expand and make it worse. If I can figure out how to get the wood out I would try again with a brass rod. But if not I'll need to bring it to someone.

 

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[Heavyopp 167]

How about picking at the wood dowel with a pair of forceps from the muzzle --  Get as much splintered wood out of there that you can.

 

Maybe you could then get a screw into the dowel and pul it out.

 

I would definitely work on that dowel before trying to push that bullet all the way thru the barrel --

 

NO liquid on the wood -- don't want it to soften and swell

[xkon 0]

I thought squibs can be cleared by firing another round?

 

 

 

Completely kidding...What about a brass rod to knock into the wooden one?  I guess the lesson is learned but if there is a next time, definitely go with the brass rod first. I have cleared several with them and had no issue

[tommyfeds 2]

Side note.....where to get a brass rod? HD in Howell didn't have any. Not sure who does or what area the check.

 

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[pjd832 146]

Side note.....where to get a brass rod? HD in Howell didn't have any. Not sure who does or what area the check.Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

I found the brass rods at lowes....in the same smooth/threaded rod section like Home Depot(except none of the depots near me sell the brass rods)

[intercooler 41]

tractor supply has brass dowels...stick it in from the muzzle end. The splintered wood from the dowel isn't gonna do anything to the barrel...too soft. get the rod and a 2 lb hammer..preferably a brass hammer or a dead blow hammer so if you hit the crown it will be ok

[henrym 19]

McMaster Carr has brass bar stock.

[junkmanted 54]

use an aluminum cleaning rod ,,it will be garbage when your done but easily replaced .

 

has worked for me. If you need use a steel rod , all the force is going to the bullet 

[Njbanshee 9]

Can you hook up an air compressor to the muzzle end and blow it back?

[tommyfeds 2]

If wacking it with a wooden dowel and a hammer didnt do anything, Id be scared of the amount of air pressure Id need for that! Not to mention how to connect the hose? Plus it may create some kind of new weapon that Id be arrested for in this state. 

 

It seems the consensus is to bang the sh* out of it with a brass rod, wood and all.

 

So no suggestions on a professional? :-|

[Krdshrk 3,877]

I have a Carbon Fiber cleaning rod I would use... 

[matty 810]

It's an SKS, it can take it

 

 

It seems the consensus is to bang the sh* out of it with a brass rod, wood and all.

 

[Smokin .50 1,907]

You really want to try to get the wooden dowel out of the bore?  Use a heavy-duty brass rod with a screw mounted to it and get it out like a stuck patched round ball in a black powder rifle.

 

Then go back in with the brass rod and pound the bullet out.  I'd put a good schmere of ATF or other really slimy lube behind the bullet (before attempting the extrication) so the lands behind the round are well lubed.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Dave

[leadunderpressure 52]

Best thing you can do here is take it to a professional.

 

The procedure to remove a jacketed bullet from the bore will require.

 

 

1) remove the barrel.

2) chuck the barrel in a lathe or other drilling setup.

3) carefully drill a hole straight through the center of the bullet being careful not to damage the bore.

4) lube the bore

5) get a brass or nylon wrapped rod that just barely fits in the barrel. If you have a long way to go, use several rods of gradually longer lengths, not segments screwed together.

6) tap the bullet out using the rods. Be sure to push it towards the muzzle end not the breach.

7) check for any damage and reassemble.

 

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[kman 56]

How about get a long drill bit and drill the lead core out from the back of the bullet from the breech end.  Once the bullet is hollowed out it will be easier to loosen with pounding from the muzzle end.  Lead is soft enough you might be able to do it with regular drill bits hand turning the bits with your fingers or needle nose pliers working your way up from smallest drill bit to the largest.

 

If you can't get a long enough bit to clear the action parts, since the back of that bullet is exposed lead, you could get some mercury and pour it into the breech, and let it sit and dissolve that lead bullet till it is just an easily removable copper jacket. 

 

Not exactly ecologically acceptable but something that would work that would have been done decades ago. 

 

I don't know what it would do to the heat treating (probably nothing but who knows?) but a propane torch to the back of the bullet with the barrel aimed up vertically might melt the lead right out of that jacket and drip it out of the gun, and then the empty copper jacket could be easily removed with forceps or just banging it out from the muzzle end.

 

Back in 1992 it would have been an easy fix - remove and replace SKS with $99 replacement unit.

 

You might also want to complain to Dick's and see if you can get them to foot the bill for a gunsmith, being as how ammo they sold was at fault and could very well have injured you had you not been vigilant.

[tommyfeds 2]

Well, I picked up a 1/4 inch brass rod last night and proceeded to wail on it with a 4lb handheld sledge and NOTHING!

 

I can look into a gunsmith but I'm not sure where who or how much even that's going to cost me.

 

I may try to drill it out myself if I can find a long enough bit. I figure I'll wrap the heck out of it in electrical tape to not scratch anything.

 

I do like the idea of mercury melting the lead. I know nothing of this sort of thing nor do I even know where one buys mercury? Then of course I'll just dump it unto my septic in hopes it makes its way into my well water ;-) but seriously, if that would work I would go that route.

 

I may reach out to tula I guess but um not really sure that's going to get me anywhere. I was discussing this with a more knowledgeable friend and I'm thinking it may not even have been an issue with the powder but with the bullet not being seated properly in the round at all. I never heard the primer go off, just a click. He seems to think it was the force of the bolt that slammed the high seated bullet into the chamber.....maybe , who knows.

 

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[ogfarmer 138]

dude, stop making it worse and take it too a gunsmith. Your only mushrooming out the lead projectile.  This is a job for a professional thats what they are for.

[Displaced Texan 11,742]

I don't know how true this is, and I have no experience with it myself, but someone once told me they poured copper solvent down the bore and let it sit for a few days.

The bullet was easy to remove from the bore after that.

[beachwhistle 28]

Can you get some heat on the lead maybe with a small soldering torch.

Might just melt it enough to loosen it.

[usnmars 136]

If its a yugo, chinese, or russian you are lucky that they are the easiest gun to rebarrel.  A 22mm wrench a few pin punches to remove the rear sight base and a bench vise is all you need.  Numrich had new barrels for $29 last time I got one from them.  But before going that drastic I second banging the heck out of it with a brass rod.