stuck bullet

[Calif Mini]

Getting here late but.............

Reading all the "drive out" ideas, I remembered using hydraulics to drive the bullet / case back. This should work even with the extra stuff left in there from previous expeditions.

Fill the barrel halfway and using the wood rod idea that is a close fit, drive it firmly and sharply. But only hit the captive oil and do not contact the debris. You will have oil squirting back at you around the dowel but I believe there is little danger as oil does not compress and will transfer most of the energy to removing the obstruction. You may need to refill the oil level as you wipe the escaping oil from your brow.

Oil will not damage the barrel and this is similar to removing dowels from a blind hole.
I used this method to change the pilot bushing on my chevy - blind hole with heavy grease and simply hammered in the input shaft. Pushes it right out.

[TKM]

Dry ice is fun to play with if you are trying the expansion/contraction route.

If the oil ram ( a really good idea I wish I'd had earlier ) doesn't work you may have to pass this particular low paying time consuming PITA to someone with a press.

The upside to removing the barrel is that you won't jack up the receiver or trunnion when you break out the big hammer.

If worse comes to worse, sandbag the whole mess and plug in the soldering iron you have leaning on the primer. Even if the barrel unzips itself, how much does a new one cost?

http://www.hkparts.net/shop/pc/PTR-16-G3-91-PTRK-Match-Grade-Barrel-9p2562.htm

[sarge1572]

I too read the hydraulics idea in the Kinks book, and am considering it along with the idea of cold application to the shell , if I isolate it enough. The existing wood dowel, and cleaning rod are the problem from the muzzle end. If I can remove the dowel, and drill into the cleaning rod I should be able to run a self tapping screw into the hole and will try to pull the rod out. My fear is, like in the example in the Kinks book, that the bullet end of the rod is either wedged between the bullet and barrel, or has mushroomed on top of the round against the barrel. It's one of the aluminum multi-piece rods, so I MAY be able to unscrew it using an easy out, which would give me the room I need for the oil/hydraulics suggestion.

Thanks to you all for your suggestions. I'd often thought of doing the work necessary to become a machinist (so I could do gunsmithing instead of armorying) but have decided I'm to old............... and lazy!!!

I'll stop short of damaging the receiver/barrel and/or blowing myself up.

TKM - I love blowing stuff up (did it in the military and was a post bomb blast investigator for several years) so don't think I'm not intrigued with your suggestion!!!!

Build a box, fill it with sand, sandbag the top and drop a weight with a firing pin onto the primer!!!! For everyone reading this in horror............. I'm not really going to do it.... but I thought about it!!!!!!!!! HA

[sarge1572]

Hermosa,

The threads on the muzzle end of the cleaning rod are stripped. If I can get a clear shot at it, once the wood dowel is removed, I may be able to get an easy out in there and unscrew the top section which would give me enough room to try the hydraulics suggestion.

I've had penetrating oil in the chamber covering the top of the shell/primer and in 24 hours it has not gone down so I think I have a pretty tight seal!!

[Ryan in SD]

Getting here late but.............

Reading all the "drive out" ideas, I remembered using hydraulics to drive the bullet / case back. This should work even with the extra stuff left in there from previous expeditions.

Fill the barrel halfway and using the wood rod idea that is a close fit, drive it firmly and sharply. But only hit the captive oil and do not contact the debris. You will have oil squirting back at you around the dowel but I believe there is little danger as oil does not compress and will transfer most of the energy to removing the obstruction. You may need to refill the oil level as you wipe the escaping oil from your brow.

Oil will not damage the barrel and this is similar to removing dowels from a blind hole.
I used this method to change the pilot bushing on my chevy - blind hole with heavy grease and simply hammered in the input shaft. Pushes it right out.

This is brilliant.

[sarge1572]

Ryan,

I agree. I"m going to try it in the morning IF I can make some room in the muzzle end.

[kendog4570]

Calf Mini is real close.
Try to find a smith in your area that has a hydraulic grease setup to push it out. It takes an industrial high pressure gun (> 7000 psi), not the homeowner hardware store type, and some very specific tooling built for this purpose. It is the safest way to get it out. Because it's an HK I imagine a receiver insert will have to be fabricated to push against.Too bad you are not close as I can help you.

[Calif Mini]

Is the barrel threaded? Everyone knows what I am thinking.

Make and adapter that screws on that will accept whatever device you induce the hydraulic pressure with.

Remember to cushion the primer end of the stuck cartridge - or - if it pops out and strikes the primer, you may get your bomb testing dream fulfilled.

I Like many of the ideas here and like the community interaction.

Damn, Calguns is great.

[kendog4570]

If hydraulic pressure is used, the primer will come right out and leave the case stuck. Might have to make a bore riding plug and push the whole mess out.

[wash]

Ooh, you could make a threaded muzzle to porta-power adapter...

[phrogg111]

1/4" steel rod is available from Home Depot in 3 foot lengths for under $10

Assuming you can pull the barrel or receiver off of the rest of the gun (I've never taken apart an HK91 before), then I'd go with some 1/4" steel and a rubber mallet. I wouldn't risk it with a firing pin touching the primer, though. If you can get the gun apart, then just keep whacking away until the round comes loose. It can't be in there that tight.

[sarge1572]

Thank you all for your perseverance and tolerating my musings about this repair. I am officially done, but am sorry to add, unsuccessful.

Today I took a fresh look at the "problem". Thinking about all of your suggestions I removed the flash suppressor which got me very close to the wooden dowel. In the dowel I found a broken drill! (It just gets better and better doesn't it.) Fortunately I was able to remove the drill, and the remainder of the wooden dowel with little difficulty. Approximately 1" into the barrel was the tip of the cleaning rod. A visual inspection of the "hole" in the rod, followed by a quick rake of the inside with an old dental pick, revealed all of the threads had been stripped out. Smooth and clean. Using an easy out, thinking that if I could unscrew this part of the cleaning rod extension, I might be able to see what ELSE was in the barrel. Unfortunately the rod is aluminum and I simply turned/cut the inside of it away with no movement. I was not comfortable drilling this hole deeper for fear of damaging the barrel (remember I have a limited shop). I re-read the gunsmithing kinks book and concluded that I needed more than 1" to create the necessary hydraulic "shock" to push the bullet out so.................. I'm done.

I agree with you that suggested pressing the barrel out, which will expose the base of the shell casing, SHOULD make it easier to remove the round. Certainly it will make it accessible enough to "deal" with it. I also agree that it might just be cheaper, and certainly more expedient, to simply replace the barrel. I only wish I could be there to "light off" the bullet so the old barrel can be disposed of safely!!!!

So, thank you again for your input. I am pleased to report that I didn't loose any fingers or eyes in this little experiment and no animals were injured. I am happy to go back to the simple life of being an armorer and not living the romantic, danger filled, exciting, exotic life of a "gunsmith"!!

I continue to be in awe of "real" gunsmiths and machinists.

Keep an eye out for this to show up in your shop!!!!!

[ar15barrels]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that this thread is directly related to the thread "projectile stuck in barrel" in the center fire rifles subforum.
Is the gun a Ptr91?

[TKM]

Seems to be two similar but separate posts.

I'm just happy it wasn't something that I had to deal with.

Although I am kind of bummed that we didn't get to see video of the mushroom cloud or anything.

[Wrangler John]

I was looking at the Kinks book, suggested to fill barrel with oil, use a fitted wood dowel into the barrel and hit it with a hammer. I would fill to maybe 3" from the muzzle and have the dowel about 6" long. You probably need to make it about an inch or so longer than the flashhider if you can't get that off. Everytime I read about some "pinhead" lusting after a 14.5" barrel and ignoring all the crap that comes with accommodating the ATF, I think of stuff like this situation or wanting to change something on the barrel....

I was going to suggest this as a solution to try. I used hydraulic pressure to remove stuck carbide grinder teeth from comminutors by removing the retaining bolt, filling the hole with oil and driving a close fitting punch into the hole with a single jack. Just wear face and hand protection because high pressure oil can jet back around the punch and cause injury. One impact blew the tooth loose.

A wooden dowel may not be rigid enough to do the job, so weigh the need to use a metal rod, such as an aluminum bar stock, versus causing barrel damage.