eightbore:
The reason they use ash and not oak for baseball bats is it will shatter when stressed. You MAY be able to get the broken end of the dowel out with a worm used for removing charges from muzzleloaders and then start over. However; Perhaps someone else has another idea.
Sorry for the rotten luck.
Jim
Recently, during the cleanout of an old gunsmith's estate, the folks doing it found a small bottle of mercury.
Talking to other friends who do a lot of gunsmithing it turns out mercury was the cure for removing jammed bullets. The prescription is to pour a couple drops down the bore to where it will contact the bullet, cover the open end (fumes), place the barrel vertically in a quiet corner such that the mercury is atop the bullet and come back in a week or two. The mercury should dissolve into the lead and soften it sufficiently so the wooden dowel from the other end will be able to push the bullet out.
Good luck finding mercury to use, though.
