Wooden dowl stuck in barrel

[bboswell]

If the bullet is out, why not pull the bolt, use your bore guide, cleaning rod, jag, patch and push it out the front of the barrel? Am I missing something because it sounds like you guys are making it harder than it needs to be.

step 1 - bullet was stuck so I put dowel in from muzzle to tap out the bullet, the bullet was stuck much worse than I imagined and the dowel broke inside the barrel about 3" from the muzzle.

Step 2 - I threaded a rod into the base of the bullet and used a small slide hammer to pull the bullet from the breech end

Step 3 - inserted another dowel from muzzle to push out the broken dowel.


Apparently the 1st dowel flared where it contacted the bullet point causing it to jam and the force of trying to push that out caused it to also flare and jam where the 2 dowels met inside the barrel.

The oven heat trick allowed me to move the dowel about 4" toward the breech and then it stuck again. This was enough that I could grab the end of it with vise grips and pull but it pulled into in the chamber instead of pulling completely out.

 

[Pdvdh]

Good job.

It think this quote was used by Bill Murray in the movie Caddyshack; There is no problem that can't be solved by the proper application of high explosives.

 

[AZShooter]

You made some progress. I don't understand where you are at this point. You said: '' I could grab the end of it with vise grips and pull but it pulled into in the chamber instead of pulling completely out. ''

The chamber is larger so why can't you continue to pull it? Or is it the second piece? Can't you drive it out with a METAL dowel?

 

[Pdvdh]

I thought you got it out. Now I see it's still a work in progress. Blowing it out with primers/pressure would be a lot better than boogering up the bore rifling with any steel shaft or tools. If you can shoot a bullet out the barrel, you can surely shoot a wooden dowel down the bore, with any reasonable discretion. But if it's now stuck in the chamber, that option may no longer be available.

 

[C.O. Shooter]

Maybe try freezing the barrel and tapping it out with a cleaning rod.

 

[bboswell]

Maybe try freezing the barrel and tapping it out with a cleaning rod.

It spent 2 hours in the freezer today, tried driving the dowel out with aluminum & then steel rod. Didn't budge.

There is not enough dowel in the chamber to grab but too much to chamber a primed piece of brass.

I let it soak in lighter fluid for an hour or so and now have stainless steel .270 diameter candle burning in my shop...

 

[450hunter]

You should pic of that candle!! Good luck getting it out.

 

[Korhil78]

It spent 2 hours in the freezer today, tried driving the dowel out with aluminum & then steel rod. Didn't budge.

There is not enough dowel in the chamber to grab but too much to chamber a primed piece of brass.

I let it soak in lighter fluid for an hour or so and now have stainless steel .270 diameter candle burning in my shop...

Man...I'm sorry for your bad fortune but when I read the last sentence, I couldn't help but crack up laughing.

 

[Laelkhunter]

Is the rim of the .270 and the .308 Win the same size? What about resizing a .308 Win case in the .270 die. Then make the "squib load" with the shorter case (since you can't chamber a regular .270 case). Or maybe a shorter case of a different caliber that would chamber as a squib load. As a last resort, cut the shoulder off of a sized .270 case, and make the squib load, unless that would even be too long to chamber. Even a .45 acp case might chamber enough to get the squib load to work.

 

[IdahoCTD]

Did you get the other piece out that broke off of the second dowel? It sound like you had pieces wedging against one another and the more you tried to beat it out the worse it got. Your candle making trick is probably going to be your best bet.

I was going to suggest cutting a case down until it just closes in the chamber and trying the primer or small charge of powder thing but with the dowel in the chamber already but that might get messy.

 

[Varminator 911]

I don't think you'll be able to burn the wood. That would require oxygen around the wood. In that confined space I think it will only burn the lighter fluid or wood at one end. I don't see it burning thru the wood for any distance into where it's tightly jammed. But maybe you could burn the part exposed in the chamber and then shoot the rest out.

 

[Scottytuned]

Place a nut large enough to easily pull the dowel through while also sitting on the crown. place a fender washer over the top of that and run a long screw with a diameter small enough to clear the bore easily. When you turn the screw in, the dowel will pull through the nut allowing you to grab with pliers, etc. Simple puller.

For what it is worth, this is the best suggestion I've seen. If it is closer to breach, you could go that way too. To ensure you drill it straight in the dowel, you could use a "pilot" of sorts to help direct it. The pilot would have a center drilled hold to guide the screw to the center of the dowel, and be slightly smaller than .270 (would look like a donut).

Crude, but this is what I'm picturing:

It is the same principle that stuck case removers use when you get a case stuck super hard in a die.

 

[rcoody]

I woud say heat is your friend. Not fire but heat. If you can reduce the moisture level in the wood it will shrink. Might take a little time but the wood should just fall out when it shrinks enough. Pounding or drilling will most likely do some lasting damage to the barrel. If it takes drilling out best to take to a gunsmith that can put it in a lathe.

I certainly would not put any liquid in the barrel. Then the wood will swell and you will never dry it out.

 

[Wedgy]

Take a brass rod slightly smaller than the bore and shape the tip like a drill bit them bore the dowel out.