Comments on: Stuck Bullet? Solve Problem with Drop Rod

By: Dan Turman

Dan Turman — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:12:00 +0000

I use a wood dowel. That way I know I’m not going to do any damage to the barrel or crown.

If a bullet is too stubborn seems like you could use a nail or tack (whose head is slighly smaller in diameter than the dowel) in the end of the dowel to keep it from deforming if you need to use more force.

By: Editor

Editor — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:58:42 +0000

Wood Dowel fails despite repeated tries
EDITOR: FD — You’re right a wood dowel will often work if the bullet isn’t stuck too hard. But just a couple weeks ago I was helping a PPC shooter. Because of a measuring error, his bullet was seated about .020″ longer than he thought and it jammed HARD.

First we tried pushing the bullet out with a Dewey cleaning rod. No Dice.

Then we tried pushing the bullet out with a wooden dowel. Didn’t work. We then tried tapping the dowel with a plastic headed hammer. Didn’t work. Next we tried inserting only a few inches of the dowel and then letting it drop straight down. Didn’t work–the bullet was STILL stuck in the bore.

Finally we dropped a piece of copper rod down the bore and the bullet dislodged. Lesson: When a bullet is really, really stuck–a dowel may not necessarily work. The dropped copper rod had enough kinetic energy to do the trick.

By: f d shuster

f d shuster — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:08:06 +0000

Been using the appropriate sized wooden dowel for years, purchased at my local hardware store for less than One Dollar each. No damage to bullet tip of rifling, usually comes out with light finger pressure only. There are too many “specialty” tools out there, most of which are not needed. Some day we’ll look back on all these “things” and wonder ” why did I buy that?”

By: Brad Sauve

Brad Sauve — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:48:51 +0000

I drop a .22 caliber bullet down the bore to dislodge a stuck bullet.

By: Tiny68

Tiny68 — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:26:17 +0000

A well known BR shooter was seriously injured last week when his rifle exploded after using these and forgetting to remove it. I am sure details will follow from others.