Sucess!

[am44mag]

A while back I managed to get a ball and wad so stuck in my 45 cal muzzleloader than I couldn't get it out. It was well lubed, and there was a powder charge behind it, but I could not get it to touch off. I tried removing the ball with a bullet puller (the screw thing) and the ramrod. No success in that. Almost broke the ramrod trying to pull it out. Tried pneumatic air behind the ball, and again no success. I tried putting a little holy black behind the ball too, but even know it would touch off, it wouldn't ignite the original powder and it wasn't strong enough to force the ball out.

Well, I cleaned it as best I could, set it aside, and started looking for new ways to dislodge the ball. I was about to give up and take it to a smith when I gave it one last try. I got some kind of anchor screw (pointed, course thread on one side, fine threads with flat point on the other, maybe about 1/4" in diameter) and a 3/8" steel rod. I welded the screw to the end of the rod, covered the rod in masking tape, and stuck it down the (oiled) barrel. I got it screwed into that ball as much as I could, and clamped the part of the rod sticking out to a work bench, and started pulling. I had to have someone sit on the table, and then I had to also put my foot on it to keep it from moving, but eventually that ball started sliding down the barrel. That thing was STUCK but I finally got it free.

Feels good to have that problem solved.

[jcren]

Last ditch for the future, replace the nipple with a grease zerk and push it out with a grease gun. Pain to clean but will push out any stuck projectile without damaging the bore.

[Wayne Smith]

TOW has really nice ball puller screws. I dryballed my new 40, took it home, ran the ball puller in, screwed into the ball, clamped the end of the rod in my vice and pulled the rifle. Out it came.

[jdfoxinc]

Instead of jerking and pulling, make a slip hammer. Small frequent impacts are much more effective, and will not strip out the screw. Use a brass rod.

If you have to use the grease gun fill it with lard or shortening.

[Thin Man]

For my first effort at removing a stuck ball I welded a coarse screw onto a section of all-thread. From the other end of the rod I dropped a pair of flat washers wider than the muzzle onto the rod followed by a pair of nuts. Pressed the rod down the barrel onto the ball and gave the other end a few taps with a rawhide mallet, not too heavy on the taps. After this I drizzled a bit of Kroil into the barrel and allowed it to flow to the ball. I ran the nuts down toward the muzzle and stopped about an inch above it. After locking these nuts against each other, I turned them (and the rod) into the ball. Once the screw was well embedded into the ball I separated the nuts and turned the one closest to the muzzle down against the washers. As I turned that nut I could feel the rod and ball start moving and continued turning the nut until the entire assembly came out of the muzzle. I still have that all-thread assembly in the shop waiting for the next time it will be needed.

My second effort involved a ball that was seated in a barrel without a powder charge. The rifle was a side hammer percussion design. I removed the clean-out screw from the boss and drizzled 3F powder into the back of the barrel, replaced the screw, set a cap on the nipple and fired off the charge. I was using very small charges of powder and repeated this activity 4 or 5 times before working to fill the void with all the powder it would hold. On the last effort, when the hammer fell I heard the sound of the cap firing, then a brief pause, followed by a muted "boom" and then the sound of the ball striking a target backer. No damage to the rifle.

[lightman]

A stuck ball can be really frustrating! Glad that you got it out without damaging your barrel.