live round stuck in the cylinder!!!! HELP !!!!!

a older gentlemen brought me a 38 special. And it has a live round stuck in the cylinder. He asked me if I could get the round out of the cylinder? Looking at the nose of the bullet it looks as if he tried to use a punch or something and tried to knock the round out. The round is stuck... I thought about trying to shoot it but I'm not sure if thats the safetiest way to remove the round. Got any ideas?????

I would say dip the entire cylinder in gun oil and let it soak for a long while. Then try to push it out.

Never try to push a round backwards,live or otherwise. It will become more lodged as it looks like happened in this case. I would have a professional Gun-Smith do it. I just like my fingers too much to mess with live ammo. JMO

I didn't say beat it out, once it has soaked I am hoping it will push out fairly easily.

Is it a .38 special round?
If it is, and the weapon is in good condition, I say shoot it out and then work out the empty cartrige with a brass punch.

The problem with that is if the guy tried to hit it out before. If he did he may have pushed the bullet into the brass which would shoot the pressure through the roof, and could cause the cylinder to fail.

I would not try firing it. Like helomech said, the pressure would be much greater due to the condensed powder.

what about this........GENTLY........i repeat GENTLY get a drywall screw 1' 5/8" long preferably, screw it into the bullet, slowly so not to create heat, providing its a soft bullet, use the screw to extract the bullet out of the cartridge case i.e. claw hammer/pliers, after u get the bullet dump the powder out, then u just have the primer to deal with, come from the other side set it off.. i.e. nail/punch, with a good pair of welding gloves on and eye protection.....then get as ruff as need be to get the case out........ I didnt get the call sign Redneck Messiah for nuthin

I think that is a pretty good idea.

If that doesn't work right away I would say take the same concept a step further and drill a hole very slowly through the bullet. You could start with a small pilot size hole and graduate in bit size until the powder will pour out. Drill very slowly and with a new sharp bit. Wear protective everything.

I might add that I would make sure that the bullet is very soft lead and very unlikely to spark. Also, this should probably be tried after the oil soaking to see if that worked first.