What do all you real gunsmiths do when you get a revolver that acts like an inertia bullet puller? I have one that, after three rounds,the bullets in number four and five chambers were sticking out the front of the cylinder and it would not rotate OR swing out. Now what.....

Crimp them harder!

What MR said, it is a bullet problem and not a gun problem.

I am not a gunsmith, but did work in a couple of shops with them. Each smith had his own ideas...and I am not saying one is better or that even these two methods are "correct" or not, it is just how I saw it done.
The first smith used a small jewelers saw and cut the nose of the bullet flush with the cylinder...the second one use a penetrating oil over the front of the shell, and chamber and then waited a day or so for the oil to, hopefully, kill the powder and then tapped the bullet back in the case until he could get the cylinder open.
But once you get that done, you need to take a look at your crimping...sounds to me like you are not getting enough of a crimp. If properly done, there should be NO WAY for the bullet to jump forward like that. If the crimp is good, check the dies to make sure they are not oversized and not sizing the case down far enough.
I don't know what caliber you are shooting, but I have shot from 38 special to 500 Maximum, and when properly crimped, have never had a bullet jump like your description. Good luck.

p.s. when I started this reply, no others had replied yet, so just wanted to make sure you didn't think I was being a "parrot" and repeating what others had said.

Hey Congomike,

Not only are you not parroting previous information, you also figured out the post was not only about why did the bullets creep out but also what to do with a stuck gun!

Hopefully bshooter can press or lever the bullet back in, or perhaps carefully lever it the rest of the way out with an icepick. I would suspect all you need to fix is the bullet jamming the gun, then you can open the cylinder and remove the others.

I understand, "crimp them harder" but I was shooting factory ammo. 357 mag. 158gr swc out of a 340 S&W that weighs 12oz. I'm going to try some different ammo and see what happens. Thanks.

Did you get your gun open easily then?

Mark, I clamped it up side down in a padded vise to relieve stress off the crane and with the cylinder even with the edge of the pads, I used a 3/8 wooden dowel and just pushed the bullets back in place and unloaded it. I don't know how dangerous this was/is, but it was really easy. Hope I never have to do it again.

bshooter....now that you told me what gun you have, I have another suggestion. I know that when a friend bought a S&W 329, the ultralight 44 magnum, that the factory said not to use above 200 grain bullets, due to heavier bullets tending to "jump" and lock the cylinder up...sounds a bit familiar....so look in your manual or call S&W customer service and see if they have a bullet weight limitation for that particular gun...might save a lot of headaches in the future.

Congomike, On the side of the barrel it says: "NO LESS THAN 120GR BULLET". In the manual,this problem is addressed but my head slipped up where the sun doesn't shine and I forgot to check on the bullets on the maiden voyage. Kinda weird but I would have thought that the lighter bullets would stay put better. I'm going to try some different loads and see. Thanks for your input.

I had that kind of problem years ago with a Charter Arms Bulldog, in 44 Spec. It pulled a bullet from factory Rem 246gr lead load. I fixed the problem by selling it.

When revolvers are too light of weight this will happen. Making them this way it a BAD IDEA. I sold mine because it proved itself unreliable to bet my life on.

You might try +P 38 Spec or even regular 38 Spec. If you still want to carry it. Just because it has a deep chamber does not mean you need to fill it all the way.

Keith