Think I will pass on hammering a rod down the barrel lol
Why LOL? That is the correct thing to do and it's safe unless you have the bolt closed.
Remember, the cartridge doesn't contain the pressure, the barrel / chamber steel do that, the cartridge case is just a high pressure gasket. with the bolt open, even if the cartridge does fire (which it won't), it'll just blow the back of the case out through the action, it won't send the bullet, or the rod, out hard enough to be a problem.
