Stuck my first bullet!

[WyoGunner]

Well, it finally happened. I stuck my first bullet. I was shooting my 1911 and I felt a very awkward low recoil round. I immediately check the bore and found a bullet stuck halfway down the barrel. It was a simple fix with a brass rod, but I am sure glad that I didn't pop one off behind it. Somehow I failed to put powder in the casing. I am assuming my powder drop got stuck in the upward position and never dropped any powder. How many others have stuck a bullet?

 

[Rclark]

Not yet ... knock on wood. But then I still load on a single stage and examine every case I put a bullet on.

Glad you recognized it before popping another round!

 

[powder smoke]

Not yet ... knock on wood. But then I still load on a single stage and examine every case I put a bullet on.

Glad you recognized it before popping another round!

+1 to all ps

 

[Dan in MI]

Stuck #2 in a regional championship silhouette match. Filled the bbl/cyl gap really nice. :x

Left the line, beat he bullet back into the cyl. Removed the cyl. Beat the now stuck case and bullet out of the cyl. Finished with 15 seconds left for the second bank. Ran back to the line. Click bang clank, click bang clank, click bang clank, click bang clank, click bang clank. Five for five. My spotter said I only 15 seconds from now on. :lol:

That fine piece of almost reloaded ammo sits on my bench just above the powder measure.

 

[mikld]

I did one in 1969. Learned not to watch TV and reload and to look in every case to make sure powder is there in proper amount.

 

[mattsbox99]

Its happens sometimes (not since I started with a progressive though...) I had a good one last year that about dinged my GP. I had no squibs from the whole batch, then one launched the bullet flush with the forcing cone, allowing the cylinder to rotate, the next one didn't leave the case thankfully! Finished off the batch with no more issues.

 

[nvbirdman]

The next one I stick won't be the first. Or second, or third.

 

[Motex66]

T stuck one a couple of weeks ago at a SASS match my first. Six inches from the end of the rifle barrel.

Know one had a heavy brass rod. All was not lost though. I had many offers of a loner to finish the match.

I did use factory ammo in the loaner. I didn't want take a chance with my reloads in another persons gun.

I put a three foot heavy brass rod in my range kit.

John

 

[Pal Val]

Stuck a bullet from a low-power batch I made for my wife. That taught me to be just as extra careful with light loads as with heavy loads.

 

[Larry from Bend]

I keep an LED flashlight on my loading bench and look directly into each case before the bullets are seated (I'm obviously single stage). When using a fast powder in a handgun cartridge I purposely double-charge one so that I KNOW what it looks like under the flashlight.

PS My double charge is done with a case that still has a spent primer. You (I) can't be too careful.

 

[don44]

Stuck a bullet from a low-power batch I made for my wife. That taught me to be just as extra careful with light loads as with heavy loads.

+10.... same thing happened to me.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

So far (knocking wood) I haven't actually stuck a bullet. I'm another of the confirmed single stagers who checks each case, but even so I've had one "squib" type load (wasn't even a light one, either) that fell just a few feet in front of the shooting station at the range.

I've had a few similar "just barely cleared" experiences w/ shotshell wads in reloads. Actually have stuck a wad in a shotgun once w/ a factory shell. I always load one piece wads, and trained myself to watch for the wad flying whenever something seemed unusually light.

Was out hunting doves once and had a shot which sounded funny, but saw "a" wad flying. Figured I was good, and racked another round in. Oops--that factory ammo used a two piece wad, and the overpowder section had caught in the choke. The sound of a banana peeling barrel is not a good one! Ouch.

Lesson from this is obvious: anything that doesn't sound or feel right should be investigated. Immediately.

Rick C

 

[mattsbox99]

I've had that happen with shotshells, my Remington 11-87 just blew the wad out without a problem. I was going too fast to notice I guess, now that I shoot Trap with my Krieghoff you can bet I won't let that happen again. Again, once I switched to the progressive press my problem went away.

 

[WyoGunner]

I figured this was a fairly normal occurrence. Even so, it was a bit of a wake up call. I am glad it didn't happen mid-match during a double tap.

 

[cellar701]

It's happened to me over the years. The one I remember most clearly I wasn't even there when it happened...

In my high school years I shot a lot through revolvers and reloaded thousands of .357 mag and light .38 spl plinking loads for my shooting. I went away to college and other jobs, leaving several hundred loaded rounds at my folks' house - the farmhouse where I grew up. On a visit back to the farm many years later I observed my brother's S&W "Highway Patrolman" model with a busted cylinder and bent frame. Turns out my teenage nephew had been shooting and didn't have the knowledge or experience to recognize the squib load issue and launched another one down the tube... Gives one a funny , sinking feeling as I am sure it was one of my old reloads from 20 or 25 years prior...

He wasn't hurt, but a lesson all of us can learn from.

 

[phonejack]

yep, me too, just like you described

 

[Donaldjr1969]

Grrrr, I have a potential to have that happen to me tonight... I was loading up some 44Mag loads using aa 240g LSWC over 13.5g HS-6. Well, I thought I charged 30 cases but somehow I ended up with 31. Not knowing if I charged an extra one or seated a bullet into an empty case, I tried to pull one in the suspect row along my loading block. Well, my crimp is too tight so I set that round aside. So tonight, I am going to hit the range and fire them to find the squib. I am only going to load one in the cylinder so that in case I do have a squib, there will be no successive rounds to fire and grenade the revolver.

If I did indeed have a squib, I know what I did to cause it. From now on, the stash of primed cases will be kept AWAY from the loading block once I charge my needed number of cases...

 

[Donaldjr1969]

Well, no squib. At least I got to shoot my SRH for the greater part of the session. The "Stuck Bullet Club" is a club I do not care to join! :lol:

 

[WyoGunner]

Its not a matter of if, its when.

 

[FlyerTom]

The following happened to a shooting buddy some years ago:
Testing his Model 700 with some newly loaded 30-06 cartridges, my friend noted that the bolt closed exceptionally hard. As a precaution he opened the action, and the case went spinning out, sans projectile, drooling powder on its way. "Huh", says he. "I think the bullet's stuck in the rifling. Musta seated it too shallow".
Here's where it gets weird...
He takes another cartridge, pliers out the bullet and inserts the charged case into the chamber with the intention of shooting the bullet out the conventional exit. This case also makes the bolt difficult to close, but he remains undaunted. He tucks the rifle under his left arm, his back to the muzzle, and presses the trigger. I took refuge behind his jeep. (Somebody'd have to drive him to the hospital, ya know).
Click. Nothin' No bang. No pfffttt! Nada.
"Huh", says he again. Examining the case, it was apparent that the firing pin didn't contact the primer. So what are we gonna do? Eyeballing the radio antenna on his jeep, he unscrews the shaft to use as a makeshift ramrod. Unfortunately, the ball at the top is too large to go down a .30 caliber hole, and he spies a fairly straight twig on the ground, roughly 1/4" in diameter. Pushing that down the barrel, the twig breaks off slightly below the muzzle crown with no hope of removing it with the only other tool he had - the Bullet Pulling Pliers. So, we gotta go home and handle this with more sophisticated equipment.
A pair of needle nose pliers from his garage quickly removes the twig (close to 15 inches long BTW), and inserts his cleaning rod into the barrel. The weight of the aluminum rod alone was sufficient to dislodge the bullet, and all was right with the world once again.
I learned to make DAMN sure my own loads were of the proper length, checking each one with dial calipers after they came off the press.

 

[sp]

There was an article in either Rifle or Handloader magazine some time back about how to deal with a stuck bullet and other stuck objects.

Among other things the article said to not panic and be patient and use time and oils such as Kroil.

I stuck a .308 150 gr. Sierra BT in the leade of my .30-06 (when I extracted a loaded round) but fortuately the range caretaker had a hack saw and rusty junked bed head board with approximate .264 rods. It worked but I worried about what the rusty rod did to the crown area of my rifle.

 

[capt.ruger]

Had it happen once about 25 years ago. Locked up the cylinder on a .38 special. I also had a KB on a 9mm but that is another story.

 

[Chief_10Beers]

Well, it finally happened. I stuck my first bullet. I was shooting my 1911 and I felt a very awkward low recoil round. I immediately check the bore and found a bullet stuck halfway down the barrel. It was a simple fix with a brass rod, but I am sure glad that I didn't pop one off behind it. Somehow I failed to put powder in the casing. I am assuming my powder drop got stuck in the upward position and never dropped any powder. How many others have stuck a bullet?

I ain't telling :wink: :lol: But I did buy a Flexible neck L.E.D. Flashlight, mounted right by my Turret Press........................................