Stupid mistake

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LongshotFan

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May 3, 2025
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I went to the range to sight in my new M4 with Sightron 10-50. Was so excited. I started at 50 yards and slowly dialed in. My final group was 3 within 1/2 inch. I was like great. Let’s move onto 100 yards.

I fire my first shot and it’s no hole near the target. I’m confused. I load a second and nothing near the target. When I load my fourth shot it catches and I realize the pellets are stuck in the barrel. Sigh.

I get home and use some metal chopsticks to start pushing them out. The initial pellet that got stuck was a few inches from exiting but it was really stuck. I ended up needing to drill the initial pellet out before I could get the others out.

I have a few questions. Did I damage the barrel drilling it out? I don’t see any visual damage.

Second, I was shooting zan .30. Has anyone had this happen where the pellets deformed enough to stick in the barrel? Is there anything I should check before using the pellets?

Thanks for your advice.
 
LongshotFan said:
I went to the range to sight in my new M4 with Sightron 10-50. Was so excited. I started at 50 yards and slowly dialed in. My final group was 3 within 1/2 inch. I was like great. Let’s move onto 100 yards.

I fire my first shot and it’s no hole near the target. I’m confused. I load a second and nothing near the target. When I load my fourth shot it catches and I realize the pellets are stuck in the barrel. Sigh.

I get home and use some metal chopsticks to start pushing them out. The initial pellet that got stuck was a few inches from exiting but it was really stuck. I ended up needing to drill the initial pellet out before I could get the others out.

I have a few questions. Did I damage the barrel drilling it out? I don’t see any visual damage.

Second, I was shooting zan .30. Has anyone had this happen where the pellets deformed enough to stick in the barrel? Is there anything I should check before using the pellets?

Thanks for your advice.
Click to expand...
Aw that’s a pain indeed. When I was new to my M3 I had the same. Although double loading does almost never happen to me anymore.
Don’t know if you damaged the barrel. However, the good news is: it’s just liner. If you really damaged it it’s quite cheap to replace. So I wouldn’t think about it too much.
If you want to push out pellets, the best is to take a proper cleaning rod. I have one in carbon, that helps reduce the risk to damage the barrel.
 
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as long as the drill did not touch the inside of the barrel you should be good, i assume you did not use a drill that was the exact caliber size.


I have a few times clogged up my barrel too, with both pellets and slugs, but i have always been able to tap them out using the Carbonfiber ram rod i use for cleaning the barrel.

But if it is bad you for sure need to take the barrel out before you do that, there was a guy that destroyed his main body / receiver by just banging on the entire gun from the front of the barrel, that pushed it back further than it should be and so broke the pin that is used to index the transfer port part properly on that rifle.

I am not wise as to any kind of ammo, brand / type that could cause these kind of things, most often i think it is operator error and so loading more shots and fire them.

Most often my rifle will fire a double shot, at least with pellets ( .177 )

it is also fairly easy it seem to somehow get a pellet or slug to go the wrong way and fall back into where the pellet probe is, and below it other stuff that should not have to deal with lumps of lead.
I have found when that happen the cocking lever will not work properly, so it is imperative to not use force then, then take the rifle remove magazine - turn it upside down and pointing downwards, and then jiggling the cocking lever it should be possible to make the pellet / slug fall back out the way it fell in where it do not belong.

Some magazine have a tendency to do that especially if rifle are pointed up when cocking.

The impact magazine though should not be bad in this regard, but if you are out bird hunting shooting up in trees, i would cock rifle before you point it skywards to take a shot.

EDIT: this latter part, probably more of a thing with the 2 smallest calibres .177 - .22
 
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Peashooter said:
as long as the drill did not touch the inside of the barrel you should be good, i assume you did not use a drill that was the exact caliber size.


I have a few times clogged up my barrel too, with both pellets and slugs, but i have always been able to tap them out using the Carbonfiber ram rod i use for cleaning the barrel.

But if it is bad you for sure need to take the barrel out before you do that, there was a guy that destroyed his main body / receiver by just banging on the entire gun from the front of the barrel, that pushed it back further than it should be and so broke the pin that is used to index the transfer port part properly on that rifle.

I am not wise as to any kind of ammo, brand / type that could cause these kind of things, most often i think it is operator error and so loading more shots and fire them.

Most often my rifle will fire a double shot, at least with pellets ( .177 )

it is also fairly easy it seem to somehow get a pellet or slug to go the wrong way and fall back into where the pellet probe is, and below it other stuff that should not have to deal with lumps of lead.
I have found when that happen the cocking lever will not work properly, so it is imperative to not use force then, then take the rifle remove magazine - turn it upside down and pointing downwards, and then jiggling the cocking lever it should be possible to make the pellet / slug fall back out the way it fell in where it do not belong.

Some magazine have a tendency to do that especially if rifle are pointed up when cocking.

The impact magazine though should not be bad in this regard, but if you are out bird hunting shooting up in trees, i would cock rifle before you point it skywards to take a shot.

EDIT: this latter part, probably more of a thing with the 2 smallest calibres .177 - .22
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I think you nailed it. When I recall the events before the problem, the load had friction. It needed some force to push it in.
 
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airman_o said:
Aw that’s a pain indeed. When I was new to my M3 I had the same. Although double loading does almost never happen to me anymore.
Don’t know if you damaged the barrel. However, the good news is: it’s just liner. If you really damaged it it’s quite cheap to replace. So I wouldn’t think about it too much.
If you want to push out pellets, the best is to take a proper cleaning rod. I have one in carbon, that helps reduce the risk to damage the barrel.
Click to expand...
I was thinking the same thing. i was glad if i had to replace The liner it wouldn’t be the worst. Hopefully a lesson learned.

Thanks for your thoughts.
 
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In my collection I've learned to carefully monitor sidelever cocking of FXs, seems most prone to double-load. Metal to metal contact in clearing blockage can damage the barrel crown at muzzle, so wooden dowel or other non-metal surface is best. Recently acquired a long fiberglass-covered metal "whip" designed to hold an orange flag above a bicycle for extra visibility. Measured at .20 makes a perfect tool for removing ammo jams in my .25s and .30s.. WM
 
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Did the pressure in the tank of the gun get low when this happened? I have double loaded multiple times. Nothing happened except the velocity was reduced for the two pellets. I don't understand how you could stick them unless the pressure in the gun got really low (I am assuming you didn't turn the regulator down too low). As you describe it, if I understand what you said, you seem to have stuck one pellet and then fired several more into that stuck pellet. But why did the first one stick? Maybe a damaged slug or pellet could stick from a combination of a flattened shape leaking air and also being hard to force through the barrel, I suppose. Otherwise it seems like you waited too long to refill the gun.
 
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JimD said:
Did the pressure in the tank of the gun get low when this happened? I have double loaded multiple times. Nothing happened except the velocity was reduced for the two pellets. I don't understand how you could stick them unless the pressure in the gun got really low (I am assuming you didn't turn the regulator down too low). As you describe it, if I understand what you said, you seem to have stuck one pellet and then fired several more into that stuck pellet. But why did the first one stick? Maybe a damaged slug or pellet could stick from a combination of a flattened shape leaking air and also being hard to force through the barrel, I suppose. Otherwise it seems like you waited too long to refill the gun.
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No. I was at 225 bar. I’d only fired off one magazine.
 
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Have you checked the velocity or shot over the chrono maybe something is restricting the airflow or an internal part is off or broken ? has the hammer spring adjustment been backed off and so on lol . Just shooting off things to look for haha .
Also when I try a totally new ammo I am not familiar with I always push some through the liner with the barrel removed to check the fitment and measure with calipers to assure all is well . Have you noticed any shavings or heavy flakes when you removed the barrel to get them out ?
 
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I agree there is no need to go crazy looking for the cause but I would for sure check velocity if you want to keep using the ammo that jammed. My guns are not very powerful and they have always cleared a double load without difficulty. If the ammo is not going through the barrel well you should see it in the velocity. If the velocity is really low then I would check velocity with a different projectile. If both are low, then start checking the gun for why. If only one is low I would use a head size gauge on the problem ammo if you have access to one (they are about $50). I don't know how your barrel attaches but mine use grub screws (one on most of them and two on the Caiman). If they back out and the barrel rotates a bit, velocity could easily be lower. If the screws are tight, try adding hammer spring pressure to get velocity where it should be. If the gun does not react normally to increased hammer spring pressure I'm not sure where you go.
 
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rokonman said:
This brings up an FX liner question, are these liners tough enough to handle a double load or worse, firing onto a jammed double load without expansion of the liner? I would expect a heavy full barrel to handle such a screw up with ease.
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To answer your question in short I would say NO ! lol


There are alot of factors to this question that can determine the outcome or results . Is it maxed out to shoot slugs and max power ? plus caliber makes a huge difference in this scenario .This is less likely to occur with milder/less aggressive tunes and smaller calibers with a carbon stiffener .

I have seen visible bulges that are obvious and a couple blown out or split lol . It is not common but is possible . ;)💁‍♂️
 
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