Cylinder bound up

[amishjeff]

I took my NMBH .45lc out to fire today using my father in law's reloads. The very 1st round did not fire and now the cylinder will not turn and I am unable to extract it from the frame. The rod pulled free of cylinder and there is small movement to rotate out with the gate open but it will not come free. I can't see it well but possibly the primer backed out of the case??? Anyone have any experience on how to get cylinder out with this type scenario?

 

[rkrcpa]

Was it a dud or didn't fire at all?

If the cylinder gets a little out of alignment they can hang up sometimes also.

 

[Durango Dave]

Is it a squib load? Is the bullet part way in the barrel and part way in the cylinder?
If so you will have to pound it back into the cylinder.

 

[rugerguy]

so you are saying that it did NOT fire, and maybe the primer is backed out of the case??? usually only happens when it DOES fire,so bottom line the primer is sticking out and its live, did not fire, AND bullet is or is not out of the case ??,into the forcing cone ?? (it can be measured with a wooden dowel rod) not a good scenario, calls for two bomb blankets and wooden block, post or stump, and do this outdoors,,,,,,,,,,,my neighbor just had his second surgery on his hand when a 9 mm went off, the deputy and the hospital were very simpathetic, that his hand was out in front of the barrel , the gun laying on the bench.........so please be careful........

 

[contender]

Is it possible you have a bullet that "jumped the crimp" and is binding the cylinder? You fired one round,, and if the recoil caused a bullet to jump the crimp, and move forward,, it can cause the binding.

 

[kmoore]

Use a flashlight and look to see where it's bound up. front/ back of cylinder. Find a way to see or feel were. Then some one can give clearing advice.

 

[RoninPA]

In my opinion use a feeler gauge like you would be checking the front and rear cylinder gaps. That should tell you if the bullet or the primer is sticking out and binding the cylinder. Doing it this way would not do anything to the primer or anything else that might cause a problem. If you find one or the other is sticking out, THEN you have a problem and have to determine the safest way to get one or the other or both to a point where you can get the cylinder out. DO NOT put anything down the barrel and hammer on it UNLESS you can, without a doubt, prove the primer is not sticking out and even then think real hard before attempting anything..... you must be VERY CAREFUL.

 

[amishjeff]

So.........a lot of you had reasonable answers. Here is the rest of the story............ I ended up taking it to my gunsmith because I was concerned about the danger involved with the scenario. He found that the reload either had NO or LITTLE powder in it and there was enough of an explosion with the primer strike to dislodge the bullet from it's case and enter the forcing cone slightly and cause the binding issues. He did use a wood dowel to successfully push the bullet back into the case and get the cylinder to come out. Luckily there was no other damage and everyone was safe. It's knida nice to have a gunsmith 3 miles away for such an event and hopefully I will NOT need him for this type again lol.... On the upside, I learned a ton more about loads and reloads and how to shake and listen for indications of possible defects and visual examinations of crimp area and press depths of primers in casings.

Thanx to everyone who responded and I look forward to another 1000 rounds of .45lc in this NMBH.

 

[amishjeff]

so you are saying that it did NOT fire, and maybe the primer is backed out of the case??? usually only happens when it DOES fire,so bottom line the primer is sticking out and its live, did not fire, AND bullet is or is not out of the case ??,into the forcing cone ?? (it can be measured with a wooden dowel rod) not a good scenario,

It was good talking with you in Berea the other weekend and I was trying to message you about this before posting because I knew you have decades of experience but the site would not let me message direct for some reason. Your recommendation is SPOT ON as I expected it would be. I posted the results at the end of this thread for some insight to others that might run across this scenario. Have a great weekend RG.....

 

[Durango Dave]

Just as I thought, a squib load. Pay attention and you'll notice a pop instead of a bang. Some people will shoot another round into the bullet that's in the barrel. It's actually a good thing that the bullet was jammed in between the cylinder and barrel. That may have prevented you from blowing up your gun.

 

[Professor]

Reason I will not use anybody elses reloads.

 

[amishjeff]

I agree, but with my father-in-law doing his own reloads for 40 years I trusted them. He has passed away a few years back and maybe he was getting a little absentminded and missed one or two. But the other 350+ rounds I shot were ok.

 

[contender]

I'm glad to hear it's all corrected now. Without the gun in hand, it can be a bit harder to diagnose the problem. But as you have mentioned,, you were able to get a lot of great info here.

And you can see by the many pictures here,, guns do blow up. And sometimes they can take a bit of abuse before blowing up. Bullets stuck in the barrel, stacking up can truly be an interesting thing to discover. (I love the picture of the S&W with 8 slugs stuck. That means the shooter fired 6, reloaded, and fired at least 2 more. That shooter was clueless.)

I have a blown up SBH frame, I use in teaching. And I know a reloader who did a double charge & blew up a glock in his hand. He suffered an injury, but not too bad. He'd loaded 3000 rounds for competition on a Dillon 550 and forgot to rotate the shellplate once. He gave the ammo he'd loaded to a guy who was going to pull it all apart. He sold his 550 & bought a 650. (Auto-indexing.)
But reloading can be done very safely,, and has been for decades. But whomever is doing the loading needs to make sure of what they are doing, and pay attention all the time.

Glad it all turned out good for you!

 

[rugerguy]

Durangos pictures are spot on,,,, we had a Dan Wesson came in the shop same thing guys shot, shot after shot, even reloaded ( count the bullets in Durangos picture they RELOADED and shot some more ,,,,duh least he was fortunate it was a DanWesson, shrouded barrel set up so did NOT "blow up " ( Out) that S&W pictrue is somemthing else,,,,good strong steel in them barrels...........care is of the utmost and kinda "knowing? feeling?? sensing?? seeing the target NOT getting hit!!! wow, scary scenario
Amishjeff I will 'message you' (PM ,Conversation?? whatever the terminology is today.

 

[gnappi]

Just as I thought, a squib load. Pay attention and you'll notice a pop instead of a bang. Some people will shoot another round into the bullet that's in the barrel. It's actually a good thing that the bullet was jammed in between the cylinder and barrel. That may have prevented you from blowing up your gun.

Funny, a neighbor once did that with some plastic bullets (the kind you only a primer with) shooting at a black piece of cardboard over a box. He completely filled the barrel of his blackhawk jamming the cylinder. He brought it to me and I carefully whacked the column of plastic till the last one cleared the cylinder enough to remove the cylinder and push the rest out.

I told him to use a white target next time, he told me to go to Hades.

Did you make a snubby out of the Smith in the pic?

 

[Durango Dave]

Did you make a snubby out of the Smith in the pic?

None of those pictures are mine. They're from a google search.
I'd think both of those revolvers could be savaged with a new barrel.

 

[WanderLust]

One easy trick to remember is simply to weigh any 'suspect' reloads with a reasonably accurate digital scale. The light ones (missing powder) can be broken down and the components saved. Any heavy ones (double powder charge) should show up easily as well.

 

[Johnnu2]

As luck would have it, this very scenario happened to me this past Fall; and, they were my hand loads...... I was not as lucky because the projectile just barely cleared the front of the cylinder and I already had cocked the hammer for a second shot. Delayed brain reaction....then I stopped, and lowered the hammer cautiously; was able to remove they cylinder of course, and banged the projectile in reverse till it dropped free. I was amazed that after well over 50 years of hand loading and shooting, ALL these mistakes could happen to me at one time. Old age requires extreme vigilance in all endeavors....

J.

 

[GypsmJim]

Rule #1 = check every reload you make very carefully.

Rule #2 = never use anyone else's reloads.

After having reloaded several hundred thousand rounds over a 53 year period I have only encountered one single squib. I traced the date to a day that I was trying to teach a friend how to reload. Obviously, my mind was elsewhere.

 

[GypsmJim]

One easy trick to remember is simply to weigh any 'suspect' reloads with a reasonably accurate digital scale. The light ones (missing powder) can be broken down and the components saved. Any heavy ones (double powder charge) should show up easily as well.

There is a fallacy to that idea. Brass and bullets can and do vary in weight, although usually small. If you are loading something like a .38 wadcutter with a minimal powder charge, you may not catch the error.