blanks to blow out a squib?

[Camster]

I've only had one squib in my life -- on a FA 454.

I used a piece of 3/8 wooden dowel to push it out.

Didn't have a brass rod and would have had to figure out where to get one.

Dave

Only one for me too.First outing with a centerfire gun(strictly a rimfire guy up until that point),a brand new PC 27-7.
I was ear protection,using wadcutters,and had only fired less than a dozen rounds.
I came very close to continuing to shoot after the squib,thinking it just a very mild round,but something told me to pause.Glad I did.The bullet was midpoint in the barrel.Of course, a squib being a totally new experience for me,I did not have a rod.A wood dowel took care of it very easily...once I got home.Ammo was new,not reloads.

 

[arjay]

I had my first one about forty years in.Didnt feel or sound different at all [emoji32],but it tied up a new to me 586.Pulled the sideplate and everything looked fine so I took it to a smith [emoji57]They were very polite and didnt laugh lol.The next time it happened,I had a dowel with me [emoji4]

 

[fredj338]

Yeah, it probably won't blow up your gun. Probably.

But then, how much does a foot of brass rod cost vs. the cost of a barrel?

Well that is the point isn't it? The gun may not KB, but a bbl bulge or ring is possible, neither are good. Why some people want to reinvent the phricking wheel amazes me.

 

[bwxmas]

Hammer & Brass rod is the only safe way. Soak the barrel & Bullet in kroil over night.

Exactly..
Except mine only took 10 minutes with Kroil.

Love that stuff

 

[Ben_hutcherson]

Fortunately for me, my first(and only) one was quite obvious.

I was shooting a little I frame in 32 long, which is a pop gun under the best of circumstances. I had a round that sounded more like a BB gun, and fortunately stopped shooting. I looked down to see a Hornady XTP poking out the end of the barrel

 

[ChiefStealth]

Looks like S. Korea, somewhere.

 

[SMSgt]

Ask Jason Lee how clearing a squib with a blank worked out for him.

 

[varmint243]

Ask Jason Lee how clearing a squib with a blank worked out for him.

I believe you meant Brandon Lee
Brandon Lee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Murdock]

As a naval gunnery officer I had "short charges" available to clear projectiles lodged in the barrel of my 5-inch naval guns. Never had to use one.

Even before going into the service I had read Hatcher's findings on the subject and thought about them relative to using a short charge, hoping a short charge would work as intended should the need arise. A rod to knock a 72-pound HE round back into the breech was not an option, but with explosives slowly cooking in a hot barrel we would have done whatever was necessary. Hatcher's principles and methods of bore clearance probably would apply to both big and small bores, hence the short charges we carried.

Personally I have always used a wooden dowel or brass rod with my personal weapons. Works fine.

There is a current thread on this in the gunsmithing forum.

 

[firebyprolong]

There is only one word that applies here BOOM. Even if said squib was to clear and some how every thing held there is a high likelihood that your going to see nice ring in the bore. Take a junk 22 and try it if you don't believe hatcher. He saved all of us our eyes and fingers at the cost of a tremendous pile of blown up rifles. squib rod and a bench block is always the best idea. When I was much younger and I watched a buddy ring a nice ruger after I said " that's a bad idea" my take on hatchers finding was that it could be done in a Springfield but was a poor idea. Safe as to safer than haveing a rifle with a ringed bore is safer than no rifle in combat.

 

[loc n load]

Lodged projectiles

it's fairly easy ........
seen this stunt happen under rapid fire in a 10/22
was right around number 6 or 7 the shooter figured something was off.
the bore became a little interesting after that one, bulged at each impact point as they stacked up .... being straight lead I cleared them with mercury.
when possible, mercury trumps all methods as long as it can contact the lead.

Venom is correct - it is easy to do.....particularly when you have 12-15 shooter's on the line blazing away....and you may be tending to an issue with shooter #1 and not have eyes on shooter #12...also when you have 12-15 shooters blazing away...it may be hard to determine that one shooter is shooting primer only loads.....I don't work in a perfect world....for the poster that called my competency as an instructor into question - I instructed 5 seperate high risk ( meaning there is a potential of injury or serious bodily harm) use of force subject matter courses of instruction in LE for 30 years working with basic level academy students up thru specialized units that were performing life threatening activities ( warrant service - high risk details) everyday to high speed tactical units and SWAT (nation wide)....if I wasn't competent at what I do & ran my classes safely as possible......my agency / supervisor's would have NEVER entrusted/assigned me to train staff at the volume & level that I did....and since I have been retired I have worked as a "private contractor" selling my skill sets to companies that have a lot of highly skilled instructors to choose from....if I didn't have the goods, they would not be paying me to instruct. For the record, the incident I referred to with the NRA class occurred back in the 80's and was part of that "learning curve" that we instructors learn from and prepare to prevent reoccurences in future activities.

 

[Sclays]

A guy that USED to shoot with our group piled up six squibs in a 686.
Absolutely no damage to the firearm. We were all beyond amazed.
He now shoots somewhere else.
Another note:
Last night one of the regular and very experienced shooters in our group had a hot load go off and destroy a high quality revolver. Ripped open the cylinder and bent the top of the frame.
He was shooting some reloads given to him over ten years ago.
This most recent event is a reminder to all that safety equipment is vital.

 

[wlmccann]

I'm not going to claim to know it all or be the last word. However I've been messing with firearms for 50 years now one way or another. 37 years of that has been as a gunsmith. I would advise against trying to remove a squib by shooting it out. The brass rod method is the best. Wood dowels can work, but you can break a dowel and compound the problem. The comments on multiple squibs. Instructors can get tied up with another shooter and miss a problem. Multiple bullets lodged in a bore can be caused by inexperience, inattentention, or plain old ignorance/ stupidity. I think the worst example I ever saw was a 10-22 brought in by two kids complaining they couldn't hit anything. Cleaning rod went in the muzzle a few inches. After the barrel was pulled the cleaning rod went in the breech a few inches. When sectioned there was almost 6" of solid lead in the bore. They either had a hi cap magazine or had reloaded at least once. Since .22's mostly operate on blow back, all the pressure had to come out the breech and ejection port and had to have been impossible to miss. I blew a case head on a 1922 M2 once. The noise and ejecta were truly impressive being 6" in front of my face.

 

[ggibson511960]

All of these tales remind me of the officious army bayonet instructor and recruit.

"Gentlemen, if you ever bayonet your enemy and cannot pull the rifle and bayonet out because it gets stuck, just fire off a round and the recoil will dislodge the weapon."

The old country boy with more common sense than candor looked at the obviously inexperienced instructor, spit a wad of tobacco juice and opined, "Sir, if I got a cartridge in my shooter, there ain't gonna be no bayonet fighting."

So goes the logic of shooting out an obstruction.

 

[ironhead7544]

I'm a bit nervous about putting a steel rod down the bore. Depending on the length inserted and flex, you can still bugger the muzzle. I've seen steel cleaning rods, but I've always been hesitant to use them.

I don't like putting anything down the bore that is as hard as the barrel steel.

I use a bore guide at the muzzle for all cleaning. The rod shouldnt touch the bore. I only mentioned the steel rod as a last resort. You could also wrap the rod with electrical tape.