Stuck ball puller came unthreaded, help

[Cowboy_Dan]

I went to the range a few days ago to try some loads in my caplock. Loaded up a patched round ball over some pyrodex, capped the nipple, pop-no boom. While there, I tried cleaning out the nipple and even adding a little powder through the drum. Still no joy.

Brought it home and tried the CO2 method but couldn't get a seal between the nipple and device. When my ramrod extender arrived yesterday I decided to try the ball puller. Screwed it into the ball without the guide on it since like everything else it was made for .50 cal and I have a .45. When I pulled it would just tear out little pieces of ball and thread itself deeper into the rod. So, I ground the guide down a bit so that it made a tight fit in my barrel and tried to pull again. This time, the rod came out but the puller did not. And now I can't get the ramrod to thread back on to the puller. I noticed that the ramrod extension female threads do not come all the way to the tip. Is my best bet to grind off the tip of the rod until the threads are at the end and try to catch the puller that way or to rig up a way to use air pressure to pop everything out? I might be able to wrap the nipple with rubber and clamp my dad's compressor onto that since it has an alligator clip-type nozzle on it.

[Geezer in NH]

Zerk fitting same thread as nipple. replace nipple with it then usea grease gun and pump the ball out.

[bedbugbilly]

Been there, done that . . . and trust me . . . swearing doesn't help! Geezer has a great idea - might use a little grease and require some cleaning but should get it out with the "hydraulics". Good luck . . you'll get it!

[triggerhappy243]

You could try shooting some gear oil in to the powder and re-apply some air. A rubber tipped air nozzle works great.

[docone31]

Is there something blocking the flame front from the nipple to the chamber?
Might look there for something. A piece of crud will block the flame front from igniting the powder. If you get that cleaned, then try the powder trick.
I got a ball out in a rifle that had a ball in the barrel for 30yrs and a stuck puller. It had a piece of hardened crud in the flame channel. The powder was hard in the chamber. I used a small rod to break up the powder in the nipple hole, and put in new powder. Several times. The third was the charmer. Oil in the chamber contaminated the powder, and a piece of crud blocked the flame channel.

[Cowboy_Dan]

Not sure if it is blocked fire channel or bad powder. It was humid that day and it had rained earlier while the rifle and powder were in the car. Add to that the fact that the rifle and powder flask are stored in the cool basement and I think we may have wet powder in the bore.

I may try to get some powder out to test before trying shop air. If the air doesn't work I'll have to look into getting a greese gun.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

You could get piece of brass or aluminium tubing that will go down the bore, and if necessary sharpen the edge with the bevel on the inside. When you have got it running over the threads on the detached bullet puller, plug it with tissue about an inch or two down, and put car body repair epoxy in the tube. Let it harden with the bullet puller threads inside, and with luck you will be able to extract the puller, and perhaps even the bullet. Without luck, you would be no worse off than you are now.

If the bullet stays there minus the puller, I would epoxy a drill bit into the tubing, and drill into the bullet, either large enough to reduce the bullet to a shell or smaller to give an improved grip to the bullet puller. The chances are that you could get a firmer grip on it by filing the threaded end of the rod until you come to complete threads.

Alternatively if you are in a location where you won't endanger the neighbours or make them crack their dental bridgework, you could hang up the barrel in a safe place over a gas flame, beat a hasty retreat, and leave it until it cooks off the pyrodex. I believe heat would degrade it enough to give considerably less propulsive force (and pressure) than when normally ignited. But if this worries you, leave the nipple out. Just think of the fun you would be having! If the pyrodex burns off without dislodging the bullet, just keep heating till the bullet melts. With care you can do this at a temperature that won't damage bluing.

[rfd]

been there sorta like you as i just had that happen to me with a .58 flintlock musket. dry patched ball jammed tight to the breech plug, forgot to put in the powder. worm puller was a sick joke to use as all it did was expand the ball tighter to the patch to the chamber walls. tried to work in some 4f to shoot it out, no good as the patch was tight to the breech face and no room for any substantial amount of powder, which resulted in a volcano flash out the pan. bought and tried a co2 discharger - another sick joke that totally failed to even budge the ball.

finally i mustered the courage to pull the breech plug.

pulled off the pinned barrel, shot some wd40 down the tube and over the breech/tang, let it sit overnight. scribed a witness mark on the breech plug and barrel for lining up when the plug gets screwed back on, padded the barrel with thin aluminum from a soda can in vise, used a large pipe wrench on the tang (also padded with aluminum strips as i didn't have a correct crescent wrench), add in a bit of arm muscle and once the plug moved i used a small open end wrench to unscrew the plug right off, easy peasy. pushed out the patched ball, cleaned out the chamber and breech threads, reassembled with anti-seize lube (for the next time the plug needs pulling). i've since acquired a reed rcorp 18" flat jawed wrench, to better be prepared for the next time, as i'm sure it will happen again.

http://i.imgur.com/sD0l4cu.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/G0pEDvf.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/x3l024A.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/i2GHncS.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/GIrNVc1.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/gBXPeNA.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Igsnky2.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/kjYFthS.jpg

[kungfustyle]

Great Idea. You gotta love this site.

[Jeff Michel]

A little late to the party, I've had the best success remove stuck muzzle loading projectiles by making a small tube, one end threaded to match the threads for the breech where the nipple is screwed. The other, threaded for a grease zerk (usually 1/4x28). Screw your appliance in the barrel and start pumping the grease gun. It works just as well with flintlocks if they have a touch hole liner. If it doesn't have a liner, your probably stuck pulling the breech.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Flintlocks close some of the options. But heat is pretty sure to work, by melting the bullet or charring the patch. If you have a soft soldered key lug near the breech, wire it in place.

[Pyro&Black]

Pyrodex has the least resistance to humidity. Plus it has the least resistance to rusting after-the-shot.

I lost faith in this powder in the 1990s and never looked back. Use real blackpowder or Blackhorn were it fits in your line of ML rifles owned.

[mooman76]

Did you try adding powder and shooting the ball out more than once? Sometimes it takes a few tries.

[fouronesix]

Measure the loaded charge with a ramrod to make sure there is powder under the ball. Even though it's a well known fact Pyrodex is hard to ignite and susceptible to such ignition problems it should still ignite with a "primer" added under the nipple. Get some FFF or even FFFF real blackpowder. Remove nipple, clean out flash channel under nipple with a nipple pic or small wire from wire brush, trickle some real blackpowder into flash channel, replace nipple- fire downrange.

Clean muzzleloader correctly. Use real blackpowder.

[starmac]

I don't want anybody putting a flame on my barrel, and sure do not want them melting the ball in it.
If you can't shoot it out by priming it, and compressed air will not get it, the grease zerk method will positively do the trick, and they come in both standard threads and metric, noooooo problem.

[oldracer]

I was surprised to hear your CO2 discharger did not seal as mine works very well. I have two of them, one I bought from Buffalo Arms and appears is no longer available and one I bought from a bicycle shop and it came with two adapters one for Schrader valves and the other for the Presta valves (European style). The Presta one is much smaller and fit tightly over the nipple (#11 as #10 is too small). You might try that route and as a last resort drill the ball with a long drill bit.

If you try the drill bit, use one like a 1/4 inch and put sleeves around it so the steel does not hit the sides of the bore. I did this many years ago and used my drill press with the table rotated 90 degrees and the vertical barrel clamped in a vise with aluminum jaws. The biggest issue was finding a drill bit long enough and I took the barrel to a supplier that sells all sorts of machine tools and such and they were interested in the whole idea. Once the ball was drilled, I screwed in a broken tap extractor attached to a drill extension, tapped it in slightly and the ball pulled right out.

[Cowboy_Dan]

Finally got the ball out and the rifle cleaned up!!! I tried air, before I realized that the compressor only pushed 75 PSI, not enough even with a good seal. It took a grease gun idea to do the job, but fortunately I found one cheap at an estate sale on the way to buy one along with the fitting. I was surprised that the grease (generic crisco) did not push out the powder. I had to chip it out with a variety of tools, but I can now blow into the muzzle and it comes out the nipple. A patch smeared with bore butter after drying out my breath moisture and a dry patch after that and I think it is ready for short term storage.

Now that that is over, what is the best way to make sure that doesn't happen again next time? I am thinking clean out the bore butter then make sure the bore is dry. Then, pop a cap before I leave for the range to ensure that it pushes air out the muzzle. Finally, when I get to the range, redry the bore and you're ready to go. Sound good to everyone? I love this site!:cast_boolits:

Edit to add:

The problem was definatly Pyrodex contaminated in the barrel. Powder extracted from barrel before grease was applied merely fizzled. An equal amount from the flask burned with much greater energy. The culprit was either humidity and a cold barrel or my previous cleaning procedure. I had used regular gun oil without thinking and didn't think to remove it before loading.

[triggerhappy243]

Well I do not know what cleaning method you use. But when I resort to boiling hot water with a bit of dawn dish washing liquid mixed in... drawing it in with a patch and cleaning rod, I will pump this hot water solution in and out as rapidly as I can. the velocity of the water rushing out of the drum with the nipple removed will evacuate any powder fouling toot sweet. Dry the bore with cotton flannel patches and oil the bore with your favorite rust preventative. I know there will be several guys here that will say hot water is taboo, but it works. Glad to hear you got the ball out.

[triggerhappy243]

Also, I use a bronze bore brush to scrub out the breech end of the barrel between shots as well as while I do the end of day cleaning.

[Cowboy_Dan]

My cleaning method so far has been to scrub the bore a few times with a patch saturated with TC solvent. Use the same patch and pump it up and down with a slotted jag. Then run a brush up and down a few times. Dry patch with the sloted jag until they come out clean. Then rust preventer and a dry patch. Before the stuck ball I had used regular gun oil, this time it was bore butter.

The patch lube I used was Moose Milk, should I put a patch or wad or something between the powder and ball when using this? The formula I found with the search function is 50% water and it was loaded for about 5 minutes while people who arived 5 minutes after me set up targets.

[triggerhappy243]

Sounds like you killed the powder with water.... Not good. I use t/c bore butter that has dried a bit. A wad of some sort between the patch and powder would offer a little protection. Your cleaning method does not address any fouling in the drum.... This is also not good.

[rfd]

fouling control and cleaning are two diff'rent tasks.

one patch with a 6:1 ratio of water and water soluble oil takes care of my fouling control for both front loaders and bpcr (and one added dry patch for ml's, and a dry chamber mop for bpcr). ml between shot action cleaning (for me) - for flint that's cleaning of the pan/touch hole/frizzen/flint, for cap that's cleaning out the nipple and maybe the drum.

paying attention during ml loading is also mandatory, which means avoiding distractions to prevent a dry ball load.

cleaning ml's (for me) means jagging down water/oil patches down the tube 'til they come out clean, pulling the lock and cleaning the internals with water/oil, cleaning out the touch hole/pan/flint/frizzen or nipple/drum. a final patch with some clp like break free down the tube completes the task.

if at all possible, i now pull any ml breech, touch hole liner, nipple, drum, drum clean out screw, and coat the threads with anti-seize lube to make their future removal easier.

ymmv.

[Cowboy_Dan]

I can see that my cleaning after the previous outing neglected the drum. This time I did work a pipe cleaner through the nipple hole into the barrel, so that's at least something. As I plan to shoot the gun tomorrow, I will probably use the soap and water method to clean for the time being. There is a cleanout screw in the drum, but it is frozen until I can get some kroil or something. Once it's out I can clean out the drum directly with a q-tip.

So back to the matter at hand, what should be my ritual to ensure that powder contamination does not happen in the future? I am presuming that I must have had fluid in the barrel and that killed the powder.

[triggerhappy243]

The old addage... Keep your powder dry.... is top task for me. When it comes to actually loading the rifle to shoot, I do dot use any product that contains water. Some guys here swear by these moose milk concoctions and have been using them for 50 years without a stitch of trouble. I have never in the 30 years of shooting black powder, did what you did with your rifle. All I have ever used is T/C bore butter for a patch lube. I use cotton flannel patches for cleaning.... because they are so absorbent. THIS IS KEY.

I run 1 dry patch down the bore with a flat end cleaning jag to make sure there is no puddles of any kind of liquid. i then load as normal. The drum/nipple area must be bone dry. You will do just fine with this. Enjoy.

[rfd]

.... So back to the matter at hand, what should be my ritual to ensure that powder contamination does not happen in the future? I am presuming that I must have had fluid in the barrel and that killed the powder.

imho, wipe after every shot (IF possible) and clean the gun (barrel, patent breech if ya got one, muzzle, lock, nipple, drum) after every session. cleaning means a patch comes out *relatively* clean, then a few drying patches, then a patch with some kinda oil for rust prevention and put her to bed 'til the next sesson. don't much matter what's used to wipe and clean, everyone seems to have their own favorite concoctions. the idea is to do it religulously.

[mooman76]

After cleaning store your gun muzzle down for at least a day or two. You still need to oil the barrel good after cleaning or you get rust. I and others have put WD40 down the bore after cleaning and before oil to help dry out any residual moisture. It's also a good habit to check your gun a few days after cleaning to make sure you are not getting rust. This helps excess oil drain out and not puddle up in the chamber area. I also pop a couple caps before my first load so if there is some residual oil, it should dry it up. When you load your powder tilt the gun to the side and tap the chamber area with your palm to get powder to the drum area. Don't forget to have fun!

[triggerhappy243]

As far as your powder goes, Keep the container lid screwed on tight at all times. I do not know what humidity levels you exposed to your powder to, but Pyrodex is HYGROSCOPIC. MEANING IT NATURALLY ABSORBS MOISTURE... FROM THE AIR. I live in a dry climate, so I do not have this issue to deal with.

[pietro]

.

IMO, your powder contamination is most likely due to cutting the Moose Milk with water.

Also, cleaners & lubes originally intended for smokeless powder arms are not the best choice/practice for cleaning & lubing muzzleloaders.

I've been using straight Moose Milk (T/C Bore Cleaner) w/o any powder contamination issues, since it was first introduced about 40 years ago - but it's not the only thing I use.

The 1st thing I've always done is to prep my frontstuffers for E-Z-Peazy maintanence , using T/C products.

That means applying a little T/C Bore Butter 1000+ to the nipple threads every time it's R&R'd during cleaning, and seasoning the clean/warm bore with the BB - which works for storage as well.

After a day's shooting, I remove the nipple & pour some Moose Milk downbore until a little runs out of the nipple seat.

I then run tight, Moose Mike soaked, patches through the bore until the black crud (fouling) is history, followed by dry patches.

I re-install the nipple after it's washed clean with a piece of pipe cleaner run through the interior, under a hot water tap - which heat helps speed up drying the nipple as the water's blown dry, also applying a bit of Bore Butter on the threads.

Lastly, I run a loose patch, loaded with rubbed-in Bore Butter, once down the bore, then out - which has protected my bore's against rust since I started using the stuff.

( the bores of my rifle still look pristine, after decades of use every year/season)

I do no bore cleaning prior to loading the rifle for shooting/hunting, and have yet to experience powder contamination (I use only FFFg Holy Black) - although my rifles aren't used during hot weather, just during the Fall hunting seasons ( which are not warm enough the melt the Bore Butter during long carry intervals of being loaded & not fired).


.

[rfd]

for longer term storage, aside from pulling the barrel and lock, and cleaning/oiling everything (if ya have a patent breech, don't forget a brush with/without patch to clean that bugger out good), i soak a patch with wd40 and run it down the barrel and leave it in place against the breech.

[rfd]

it's all good as long as it works, gets the job done, and makes you and yer gun warm 'n' fuzzy.

i like to keep fouling and cleaning of guns as simple and effective as possible. i most typically use modified dutch's moose milk (just 5% ballistol and spring water, nothing else needed) for both fouling control and cleaning of all my black powder guns, both muzzle loaders and bpcr rifles. one part murphy's oil soap to two parts water works just fine and probably easier and cheaper than the moose milk. i get the patches really wet and the pumping action of the patched jag helps clean out the touch hole, drum, nipple, patent breech, etc. after drying it all out, all that's needed is a good cleaner-lube-protectorant like break free. not a lotta stuff and surely not rocket science, and muzzle loaders don't have brass to clean either. 8-)

[StolzerandSons]

Just as a side note that you can file away for later...I never try to pull a ball unless I have drilled it first. The reason is pretty simple, if you just thread the ball puller into the ball the lead has to go some place and it expands the ball and makes it tighter in the bore, whereas if you drill it first you remove at least some of the lead and less pressure is put on the bore/ball surface.

Hope that helps in the future.

There are only two kinds of muzzleloader shooters, those who have gotten a projectile stuck in the barrel and those who will.

Colin

[rfd]

... There are only two kinds of muzzleloader shooters, those who have gotten a projectile stuck in the barrel and those who will. ...

the absolute gospel truth!

as mentioned, if at all possible remove the breech plug and reinstall with anti-seize lube. failing that, colin's comment about predrilling the ball before using a screw puller is spot on. this will mean fashioning a long rod with an appropriate sized bit welded or set screwed or pinned to the rod's business end (some enterprising person should take note and offer these for sale). doing a test run by drilling a ball and screwing in a puller will help to suss out the correct size drill bit and screw puller - take note of the ball size prior to drilling, after drilling and after screwing in the puller.

[Cowboy_Dan]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I should have better luck tomorrow, did I mention the stuck ball was the first one I loaded that day?[smilie=b:

[El Bango]

Hot soapy water,scrub with bronze brush,wipe with clean patches until clean,rinse with boiling water, dry the area of nipple with q-tips, squirt wd-40 down the bore.It is a rust preventative not an oil.Use oil on the outside of the barrel.At the range dry the bore and pop 2-3 caps to dry nipple.You're ready to go.

[Toymaker]

Dan, go with Geezer's suggestion. I've seen that work several times. In fact, at the NMLRA range if the compressed air bottle on the lines won't blow the charge they take it to the gunsmiths and that's the method they use.

[skeet1]

I had this happen to me once and had no way to get the ball out. I removed the nipple and directed air into the hole with a nozzle on my air compressor
at around 100 lbs. The bullet shot out with some velocity you want to make sure the barrel is pointed in a safe direction.

Ken

[Toymaker]

AT THE RANGE I pop a cap downrange and another cap at a bit of grass, leaf, etc. to see it move and know the channel is clear. Then a damp (D A M P is not W E T) patch down and out, load and fire. I wipe with a damp patch between each shot. After a cease fire I pop a cap downrange before loading to fire again. Don't need a misfire messing up my concentration in a competition. Won't say it never happens, but they're few and far between.
Now, excuse me ... I need to go find some wood to knock on. [smilie=1:

[6bg6ga]

Reviving an old thread.

Neighbor across the street is trying to recruit me to remove the ball stuck in the barrel of a gun owned by a new neighbor. Apparently the neighbor put the ball down the barrel without any powder behind it. Don't know anymore than its a black powder rifle. I can only assume its a newer kit built unit. Should I lend a hand or simply pass on it?

[rfd]

Reviving an old thread.

Neighbor across the street is trying to recruit me to remove the ball stuck in the barrel of a gun owned by a new neighbor. Apparently the neighbor put the ball down the barrel without any powder behind it. Don't know anymore than its a black powder rifle. I can only assume its a newer kit built unit. Should I lend a hand or simply pass on it?

try the simple method first - put a ball screw worm on the end of the ramrod, drive it into the ball, screw it in, and attempt to retrieve the rod and ball.

lacking the ball screw worm, powder can be forced in behind the ball. if it's a cap gun, remove the nipple and trickle in the powder and/or remove the "clean out" screw and trickle in the powder; cap the nipple and pop out the ball. if it's a flint gun, and the touch hole liner can be unscrewed, do so and trickle in powder, replace the liner, add powder to the pan and blow out the ball.

some will use compressed air to blow the ball out via the cap gun's nipple. there are similar devices that will clamp on to a flinter's touch hole. these methods can have varying results.

if all of the above fails, remove the barrel, unscrew the breech plug, put the ramrod down the muzzle and push out the ball. you will need proper tools to pull the breech plug and if the gun was not new and had been fired a lot there is always the possibility of dealing with a frozen breech plug.

good luck.

[bob208]

after years of working on m-l rifles I have never owned a ball puller. you did good getting it out. some things I will strongly recommend. first use real black powder. also get a real barrel vise they are not hard to make one can be made from a old plumbers pipe vise also make up a tool to fit the breach plug . those two items will save a lot of grief . I have made most of my own tools.

[rfd]

think smart about dry balling a muzzy, and be prepared. we all will dry ball eventually. and if we shoot a lot, sometimes we do this dry balling over and over again, particularly as we advance in years and decline in smarts - guilty as charged am i.

if yer in the field and do a dry ball, you will be smart if ... a) you have a Good ball screw worm, and b) you have practiced using said device. there is no pressing need for breech plug removal tools if you've practiced ball retrieval with a rod and ball worm. with any ball diameter, use as small a thread ball screw as possible - the large diameter and coarser thread kind will make ball retrieval harder to impossible as their size will over compress the ball lead into the barrel, acting as a wedge. some folks have taken to making a rod with a 3/32" or so drill bit at one end, to pre-drill a hole that will greatly lessen a ball screw worm's ability to compress the ball lead into the bbl.

there are two kinds of breech plug removal tools - make-shift and proper. mine are all of the proper kind, they will not mar the steel, and i've removed/replaced many Many dozens of breech plugs over the decades, of all types and sizes. again, if yer prepared to use a ball screw worm, and done yer homework, it will work just fine for the most part. i will add, for the guys that are loading *TIGHT* patched balls, you will have a Far greater chance for requiring breech plug removal.

[6bg6ga]

Since this is going to be a one only time thing I'm not going to invest in a lot of tools. I did however just order a ball puller off Amazon actually (2) of them from different vendors. I'll try them tomorrow when they arrive and see if they work and if not it will be disassembly time and the new neighbor will owe me a favor.

Since I have a home made cannon I thought it relevant to have a ball puller on hand.

[megasupermagnum]

At no point is a stuck ball ever worth pulling a breech plug. If a ball puller fails, you can put powder under the nipple and fire. If that fails you can try compressed air. If that fails you can put a grease zerk in place of the nipple and push the ball out with grease. That wont fail.

[rfd]

At no point is a stuck ball ever worth pulling a breech plug. If a ball puller fails, you can put powder under the nipple and fire. If that fails you can try compressed air. If that fails you can put a grease zerk in place of the nipple and push the ball out with grease. That wont fail.

not at all true unless you qualify yer talking strictly about a cap gun - flinters are a totally different story and there WILL be times when pulling the breech is required. which brings up the point about using anti-seize lube to anything threaded into a muzzy barrel.

[megasupermagnum]

Why wouldn't compressed air or grease work on a flint lock? I guess I could see on a flintlock without a touch hole bushing, but every one I've seen had one.

[rfd]

Why wouldn't compressed air or grease work on a flint lock? I guess I could see on a flintlock without a touch hole bushing, but every one I've seen had one.

dry balling can be, and usually is, more of a problem with a flinter than a cap gun. if a flinter employs a chambers white lightning touch hole liner, there is no way to easily remove such liners. for liners with slots or hex holes, there's the matter of thread size for a special screw-in bushing to use with compressed air or a grease gun, where all the offshore ones are metric. there is, or was, a device for flintlocks that clamped over the touch hole and a CO2 device was used. it was a pain to attach and typically required pulling off the barrel. this device didn't work at all for me and so wasn't worth the investment. with a flinter, using a ball screw worm on a rod works well as long as the patched ball isn't loaded *tight*, however pre-drilling a ball screw pilot hole would probably help in that matter. having any special paraphernalia on hand to pull a patched ball is also a concern when yer out afield or at a match. for cap guns, dry balling is fairly easily taken care of with a powder blow out via the nipple or "clean out" screw.

[725]

Not knowing how messed up the rifle in question is, after an attempt with the ball puller, I'd use compressed air. POINT IT IN A SAFE DIRECTION ! It will come out with some authority. If that doesn't work, I'd go with the grease jerk and just accept that I had a cleanup job afterwards. It's one thing when I screw up. I know I didn't put some smokeless powder down there and it didn't fire. Some folks just don't know as much as you do and put all sorts of powder in the loading process. In a nice way, I don't trust anybody. Some know what they are doing, some think they know what they are doing. Good luck.

[waksupi]

For flintlocks I just use a ball inflator with the end cut off. Stick it in the hole, and let 'er rip.

[megasupermagnum]

I hope I'm not pulling this thread too far off course, but is there any reason why a touch hole liner would be made without some kind of means of removal?

[6bg6ga]

Granted this weekend when the ball remover tool arrives will be my first go at it I can hardly make myself think that compressed air is going to work when someone was fool enough to forget the powder charge and load it with only a patch and ball. Granted my cannon isn't the same thing but it is close in that it uses powder, ball, and some type of patch material and when the ball and patch are rammed in there hard its going to distort the ball in a manor in which the ball can't help but be a closer tighter fit.

Hydraulic pressure by the means of screwing a zerk in and injecting grease will certainly work as I have removed many pilot shaft bearing in the end of a crankshaft by filling them up completely with grease and then walloping them. I'm not concerned about the mess in the barrel since my function is only to get the ball out and the owner can clean his rifle and learn an important lesson to keep his mind on what he is doing.

Now, if a ball and patch were inserted in the barrel and not rammed then compressed air would certainly work. For the sake of argument I will try compressed air first and when that doesn't work I will move on to more tried and proven ways.

[dondiego]

Granted this weekend when the ball remover tool arrives will be my first go at it I can hardly make myself think that compressed air is going to work when someone was fool enough to forget the powder charge and load it with only a patch and ball. Granted my cannon isn't the same thing but it is close in that it uses powder, ball, and some type of patch material and when the ball and patch are rammed in there hard its going to distort the ball in a manor in which the ball can't help but be a closer tighter fit.

Hydraulic pressure by the means of screwing a zerk in and injecting grease will certainly work as I have removed many pilot shaft bearing in the end of a crankshaft by filling them up completely with grease and then walloping them. I'm not concerned about the mess in the barrel since my function is only to get the ball out and the owner can clean his rifle and learn an important lesson to keep his mind on what he is doing.

Now, if a ball and patch were inserted in the barrel and not rammed then compressed air would certainly work. For the sake of argument I will try compressed air first and when that doesn't work I will move on to more tried and proven ways.

That "fool" would be EVERY shooter who has fired a muzzle loader very much.

[dondiego]

Granted this weekend when the ball remover tool arrives will be my first go at it I can hardly make myself think that compressed air is going to work when someone was fool enough to forget the powder charge and load it with only a patch and ball. Granted my cannon isn't the same thing but it is close in that it uses powder, ball, and some type of patch material and when the ball and patch are rammed in there hard its going to distort the ball in a manor in which the ball can't help but be a closer tighter fit.

Hydraulic pressure by the means of screwing a zerk in and injecting grease will certainly work as I have removed many pilot shaft bearing in the end of a crankshaft by filling them up completely with grease and then walloping them. I'm not concerned about the mess in the barrel since my function is only to get the ball out and the owner can clean his rifle and learn an important lesson to keep his mind on what he is doing.

Now, if a ball and patch were inserted in the barrel and not rammed then compressed air would certainly work. For the sake of argument I will try compressed air first and when that doesn't work I will move on to more tried and proven ways.

That "fool" would be EVERY shooter who has fired a muzzle loader very much.

[waksupi]

I hope I'm not pulling this thread too far off course, but is there any reason why a touch hole liner would be made without some kind of means of removal?

They are not intended to be removed except for replacement when the vent burns out.

[waksupi]

Granted this weekend when the ball remover tool arrives will be my first go at it I can hardly make myself think that compressed air is going to work when someone was fool enough to forget the powder charge and load it with only a patch and ball. Granted my cannon isn't the same thing but it is close in that it uses powder, ball, and some type of patch material and when the ball and patch are rammed in there hard its going to distort the ball in a manor in which the ball can't help but be a closer tighter fit.

Hydraulic pressure by the means of screwing a zerk in and injecting grease will certainly work as I have removed many pilot shaft bearing in the end of a crankshaft by filling them up completely with grease and then walloping them. I'm not concerned about the mess in the barrel since my function is only to get the ball out and the owner can clean his rifle and learn an important lesson to keep his mind on what he is doing.

Now, if a ball and patch were inserted in the barrel and not rammed then compressed air would certainly work. For the sake of argument I will try compressed air first and when that doesn't work I will move on to more tried and proven ways.

An old friend was an expert at dry balling, and I used co2 to remove a couple dozen balls from his flinter. As I said in another thread, if the hole is completely through the ball, seat another well lubed patch and ball to make a seal, and they will come out You need a lot of pressure to do it, so a half full co2 tube won't do it. I don't know how you would get an air compressor attached to do the job, but it's probably possible.

[rfd]

I hope I'm not pulling this thread too far off course, but is there any reason why a touch hole liner would be made without some kind of means of removal?

they offer a direct and unfettered (no slot or hex relief) access to the chamber, and are well coned on their insides. these liners come in both stainless and iron, where the iron blends in quite well with the barrel steel to better emulate an 18th century touch hole.

https://www.flintlocks.com/images/t_hole.gif

stainless white lightning as i installed it on my kibler colonial ...

254570

254571

254572

254573

[megasupermagnum]

Oh, whatever. I've forgot powder before. I guess that means I shouldn't be allowed to mow my lawn.

[Schreck5]

Now I have an excuse not to mow my yard. All my muzzleloaders are flinters and yes, I have "dry-balled" a load many times. Anyone who shootes a mzldr WILL evetually do it. Show me some one whoes says they have never done it, and I will show you a liar.

[triggerhappy243]

Now I have an excuse not to mow my yard. All my muzzleloaders are flinters and yes, I have "dry-balled" a load many times. Anyone who shootes a mzldr WILL evetually do it. Show me some one whoes says they have never done it, and I will show you a liar.

pretty bold statement from someone with only 134 posts. Knock on wood............ have not dry balled............... yet.

[rfd]

pretty bold statement from someone with only 134 posts. Knock on wood............ have not dry balled............... yet.

you will. it's inevitable IF you shoot on a fairly regular basis, particularly in the company of friends and/or other shooters.

actually, it's a rite of passage and means "you have arrived". looking forward to having you join the club. :popcorn: ;)

[dondiego]

pretty bold statement from someone with only 134 posts. Knock on wood............ have not dry balled............... yet.

The post of 6bg6ga was the bold and and most arrogant post. Schreck5 is correct!

[6bg6ga]

Ladies its a little sarcasm.

[waksupi]

I'm a firm believer that if you can't keep your head in the game you have no business owning guns or reloading. Some shouldn't be allowed near any power tools or lawn mowers.

I've dry balled enough times over the years I figure I've probably saved ten pounds of powder.

[triggerhappy243]

you will. it's inevitable IF you shoot on a fairly regular basis, particularly in the company of friends and/or other shooters.

actually, it's a rite of passage and means "you have arrived". looking forward to having you join the club. :popcorn: ;)

well, thank you. rfd. I guess that because I rarely am distracted by others around me, has kept me focused on the chore at hand. Not bragging, but I guess you could say I am completely aware of what I am doing while loading. I will admit, that getting distracted is the #1 cause.

[country gent]

Dry balling is like cross firing in a match. There are those that have and those about to LOL. The big thing is when it happens is to know what to do and how to do it. At a match or in the field hunting the grease gun isnt really a viable option. A handled rod with screw type puller or co2 set up is better suited.

Sometimes pulling the nipple will allow you to work some powder in thru the flash hole channel and fire the ball out. Every possibles bag / kit should have a nipple wrench, appropriate ball puller, And other accouterments in it.

[triggerhappy243]

all I can say.

[bob208]

one match I dry balled 3 times. I shoot a under hammer so no problem pull the nipple put some powder in shoot it out. although one did say this was a muzzle loading match not a breach loading.

[KCSO]

For flinters I made a modified C clamp with an air nozzle for a compressor and for percussion I use a modified nipple. For a rod puller I make a one piece unit with wood screw on one end and the other turned to 10-32 and a brass centering collar. My rod for these is a slide hammer type and I pre drill the ball so the wood screw won't expand the ball.

[Plate plinker]

Zerk fitting same thread as nipple. replace nipple with it then usea grease gun and pump the ball out.

This!!!!

[Road_Clam]

I'm not proud (but honest) in stating that i'm a multiple offender of dryballs. I get together with 3 other bp muzzleload guys at my gun club and we just have SO much fun. Very light hearted shoot. And while you try your best to stay focused on the tasks at hand, at some point throught distraction steps get forgotten ! Its all good.

[45workhorse]

This!!!!

What he said. THEN point barrel in trash can, use compressed air to get the grease out!

Welcome to the dry ball club!