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I've never understood why people try and knock bullets back down the barrel

I helped my Dad reload since I was a little lad and I've been doing my own .38/357 rounds for 14 years. I now use a 4-hole turret press and attach a small light on the side so I can see the powder in the case before I proceed to seating the bullet.

I also reload a lot of 9mm for my SGC lever release. With that rifle there are certain sounds and vibrations as the action operates so it is easy to tell straight away if there is a problem (such as a spent case bouncing back into the action when using a brass-catcher).

Going off on a slight tangent, I wet tumble which leaves the insides of the cases nice and shiny. It does make it much easier to spot the unfilled cases in a loading tray...

AlieN

HH1 wrote:I've never understood why people try and knock bullets back down the barrel

because it is quicker with underlevers

do you attempt to tap it back with a cleaning rod while on the firing line

or empty the mag tube so it can be taken off the line, then fully strip the rifle's mechanism to remove the bolt (henry henry's excepted) to enable you to tap the bullet out, then rebuild it all. bearing in mind the range is not the best place to strip a rifle, especially withsmall screws and springs.

bradaz11 wrote:

HH1 wrote:I've never understood why people try and knock bullets back down the barrel

because it is quicker with underlevers

do you attempt to tap it back with a cleaning rod while on the firing line

or empty the mag tube so it can be taken off the line, then fully strip the rifle's mechanism to remove the bolt (henry henry's excepted) to enable you to tap the bullet out, then rebuild it all. bearing in mind the range is not the best place to strip a rifle, especially withsmall screws and springs.

Good question !

I am awaiting upon a sect 1 Chiappa 1887 shotgun before I start competing in our clubs Cowboy action shooting. I already have owned my Marlin 1894 .357 for 14 years and for me, the gun comes before competition points. I've only ever had one bullet stuck up the barrel and ironically that was from a few rounds that were given to me to try by someone who does most of the clubs reloading. I'm so used to taking off the lever and removing the bolt (to clean the gun after every session) that I'd never dream of trying to remove a stuck bullet other than from the breech end.

If it's very close to the breach, it probably seems the easier way to clear it.

HH1 wrote:I've never understood why people try and knock bullets back down the barrel

HH1 wrote:

bradaz11 wrote:

HH1 wrote:I've never understood why people try and knock bullets back down the barrel

because it is quicker with underlevers

do you attempt to tap it back with a cleaning rod while on the firing line

or empty the mag tube so it can be taken off the line, then fully strip the rifle's mechanism to remove the bolt (henry henry's excepted) to enable you to tap the bullet out, then rebuild it all. bearing in mind the range is not the best place to strip a rifle, especially withsmall screws and springs.

Good question !

I am awaiting upon a sect 1 Chiappa 1887 shotgun before I start competing in our clubs Cowboy action shooting. I already have owned my Marlin 1894 .357 for 14 years and for me, the gun comes before competition points. I've only ever had one bullet stuck up the barrel and ironically that was from a few rounds that were given to me to try by someone who does most of the clubs reloading. I'm so used to taking off the lever and removing the bolt (to clean the gun after every session) that I'd never dream of trying to remove a stuck bullet other than from the breech end.

if your club does proper cowboy rules, IE no mags, just load max 2 with shotguns, you will want the load two lifter. and you will also need some sort of wrap on the lever, it is a long heavy throw and I found mine painfull without one.

I assume then that the marlin is like a henry, screw out of the lever pivot, lever out, bolt straight out backwards?
my 1873 requires taking pretty much everything out mechanism wise to get to split the bolt and remove it to enable rearward access.

I am awaiting upon a sect 1 Chiappa 1887 shotgun before I start competing in our clubs Cowboy action shooting. I already have owned my Marlin 1894 .357 for 14 years and for me, the gun comes before competition points. I've only ever had one bullet stuck up the barrel and ironically that was from a few rounds that were given to me to try by someone who does most of the clubs reloading. I'm so used to taking off the lever and removing the bolt (to clean the gun after every session) that I'd never dream of trying to remove a stuck bullet other than from the breech end.[/quote]

if your club does proper cowboy rules, IE no mags, just load max 2 with shotguns, you will want the load two lifter. and you will also need some sort of wrap on the lever, it is a long heavy throw and I found mine painfull without one.

I assume then that the marlin is like a henry, screw out of the lever pivot, lever out, bolt straight out backwards?
my 1873 requires taking pretty much everything out mechanism wise to get to split the bolt and remove it to enable rearward access.[/quote][/quote]

You have a guy that re loads ammo for the club and he gave you dodgy ammo and he is still re loadng for the club I find that very disturbing.

I've seen it happen with a lever-action in a practical match where you're obviously shooting very quickly and unable to use a 'normal' range type safety procedure (i.e. waiting 30secs before opening the gun). He put a squib load through and then 2 rounds on top of it (.357 but loaded to .38spl power). He bulged the barrel slightly but its still as accurate as it was previously! As a result of that he had to pull 500rds and there was only 1 more squib load

It would be interesting to collate the statistics on such events, base them on discipline, cartridge, age of shooter etc. I do wonder if there would be any underlying trends.

I've only had one squib round & that was .17hmr, luckily the bullet wasn't too far down the barrel so I tapped it back into the breech.