Squib round/Stuck 5.56 bullet

**markm** · 12-13-21, 17:27

I don't know if anyone here has had to try to get a rifle bullet un-stuck, but it is a world class pain in the ass.

I made the foolish mistake of firing a sketchy round (instead of just pulling it down) which got a 60 gr (I think) bullet stuck about a half inch into my 10.5 SBR barrel. This turned into a complete goat rope. You can't just tap tap taparooo a bullet out of a rifle barrel.

I ended up having to completely tear the upper apart down to the barrel. Busted a few punches getting the tight taper pins to finally break loose. Still couldn't get the bullet to budge with the barrel stripped.

Ended up having to dismantle the bullet by drilling it out, and finally drilling completely through. After getting rods stuck in the jacket material, I eventually thought to flare the end of a slave rod wide enough to get the bearing portion of the jacket pushed out.

**gaijin** · 12-13-21, 17:50

That’s a recurring nightmare of mine. It’d be easy for me to eff up a barrel.
I’d heard of using a grease gun to remove a stuck case, but have no first hand experience. Glad you were successful.

**markm** · 12-13-21, 18:02

It took several days of thinking and weighing the risks of drilling out the bullet. Getting those taper pins out was a bonus kick in the nuts. Got to shoot the barrel Saturday, and it seems to be fine, and the RDS was nearly at zero after re-assembly.

**Clint** · 12-13-21, 18:12

well, at least it wasn't a 300BO stuck in there...

**Inkslinger** · 12-13-21, 18:41

I’m surprised you didn’t mix up a low powered blank to try to blast it out.

**Disciple** · 12-13-21, 19:11

Originally Posted by Inkslinger

I’m surprised you didn’t mix up a low powered blank to try to blast it out.

That's the first thing I thought of but I assumed I was ignorant of the reason not to do it.

**Inkslinger** · 12-13-21, 19:15

Originally Posted by Disciple

That's the first thing I thought of but I assumed I was ignorant of the reason not to do it.

I mean, the average “bubba” probably shouldn’t try it. After reading years of Marks reloading posts, I’m pretty confident he could pull it off.

**jbjh** · 12-13-21, 19:45

That looks like a pile of suck. Glad it worked out.

I just picked up a used 14.5” BCM P&W upper cheap on another forum because the owner had a boresnake stuck in the barrel. Got more stuck by trying to pound it out with a rod, which just jammed it in harder. Oil swelled it up extra tight. Notched brass rod picked it out piece by piece until the pressure released. Just took time and patience.

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**T2C** · 12-13-21, 21:36

I've run into this with handguns a few times. The bullet was not coming out with a punch and hammer and I had to drill the center of the bullet to relieve enough tension to tap it out.

When I run into this, I make a sleeve that fits over most of the drill bit and bears on the rifling. That way the flutes on the drill bit don't touch the rifling.