Stuck ramrod

[Boz330]

Yesterday I was helping clean some guns for a buddy's widow and got a rod with patch stuck in the bottom of the barrel. This is an original English SXS ML. I suspect that the bottom of the barrel is rough from what ever. The patch went down pretty easy but it sure won't budge coming out.
Some of my thoughts are to try and blow it out with a compressor but I'm not sure it will even move, this thing is tight. Second thought was try and get a grease fitting in the nipple hole and use a grease gun to force it out. Last was to try and get some powder through the nipple hole and shoot it out, but I hate to do that. This is a Damascus barrel and looks really good but I'd sure hate to ruin it. If anybody has done this I'd sure appreciate some suggestions.

Bob

[scattershot]

I have shot a stuck ramrod out, it only takes a couple granules of powder. I can understand your reluctance to do this with an antique, though. Have you tried clamping the ramrod in a padded vise and pulling it out? Better leverage and purchase that way.

[bubba.50]

a grease gun has worked for me on both a stuck rod such as yours and also on an infamous "dry-ball" and is not nearly as messy or hard to clean up as it sounds. if ya try this method only put the fittin' in finger tight as the threads are pitched threads. and in the case of the rod, once it starts movin' then you can pull it out. luck to ya & have a good'en, bubba.

oh, and when it starts movin' take the grease zerk out so ya don't create a vacuum when ya start pullin'.

[standles]

I have used the grease gun method with success

[johnson1942]

if their is room around the ramrod to pour a liquid down the bore, pour some anti freeze for cars down the bore slowly and keep doing it until it will takes no more. let sit upright for quite a while and using a pliers to grab the end of the ramrod, pull it out, should come out.

[Boz330]

I have shot a stuck ramrod out, it only takes a couple granules of powder. I can understand your reluctance to do this with an antique, though. Have you tried clamping the ramrod in a padded vise and pulling it out? Better leverage and purchase that way.

Tried that and couldn't even twist the rod. The rod is not original, it is fiberglass and there is a thick patch on it with Balistol.

Bob

[Col4570]

the Bottom end of muzzleloaders usualy roughens up with Powder residue and can hold the cleaning rod until cold water is poured down and allowed to soak past the cleaning patch.Short pulls and pushes later might eventualy dislodge it.Hot water will dry the Fouling as the barrel dries and compound the problem.An Hydraulic Pump as used by Auto Body repairers,connected to the Nipple hole might do the trick.

[OverMax]

Someone else's firearm. Grease.

[Outpost75]

The greasegun trick is safest. But if the ramrod is fiberglas and not the original, if it has a brass ferrule fitted to the end, try drilling an 1/8" hole through the ramrod and ferrule, so that you can insert a large nail or piece of drill rod through the hole, as in a tap handle, then as you pump grease or oil into and around the end of the ramrod and stuck patch, GENTLY twist the ramrod with your improvised handle, alternative wioth light hammer taps to break it loose.

A modern fiberglas ramrod is expandable. An original wooden one which is period correct to the piece is not.

[carbine]

All these are goo sugestions. I use CO2 and have machined a nylon fitting for the nipple so it is a good fit. OR one of those ramrod puller plier devices

[Boz330]

the Bottom end of muzzleloaders usualy roughens up with Powder residue and can hold the cleaning rod until cold water is poured down and allowed to soak past the cleaning patch.Short pulls and pushes later might eventually dislodge it.Hot water will dry the Fouling as the barrel dries and compound the problem.An Hydraulic Pump as used by Auto Body repairers,connected to the Nipple hole might do the trick.

No fowling, the gun hasn't been fired in more that 18 years. My Buddy passed almost 2 years ago and I was trying to make sure his guns were oiled good till the family comes to grips with what to do with them, since he isn't taking care of them anymore. I think this gun had a roughened area where the powder would reside and just latched onto the patch with a vengeance.
This shotgun could have some collector value so I sure don't want to compromise the integrity. The top rib is already loose at the muzzle and I don't want to do any harm.

Bob

[nekshot]

the joys of front end loaders!!!! but its fun, right?

[johnson1942]

now i want to hear how you get it out. never had one that stuck and ballistol is the best and cant get better than that. please keep us posted so we can all learn from this.

[bubba.50]

if yer at all unsure of yer own abilities it might be a good time to take it to a professional.

[swathdiver]

If anybody has done this I'd sure appreciate some suggestions.

Tie a pipe hitch knot onto the ramrod and tie the other end off to a car door striker, trailer hitch or the like and give it a good yank while keeping it straight. Works every time.

[Boz330]

Found a Zerk fitting that screwed right in and as soon as the rod moved 2" it pulled right out. In cleaning with a proper 12ga jag my suspicions about a rough powder chamber plus it was oversize were confirmed. The larger bore down there allowed the patch to completely invert when pulling back out. That wasn't a problem until I hit the powder section. With the original rod and a really thick patch it was just jammed tight.

Bob

[bubba.50]

glad everything worked out okay & ya didn't have to ruin the "widder-lady's" gun.

[Boz330]

Me to.

Bob

[idahoron]

Glad you got it out. I have used the grease gun method on a couple of my friends barrel. One was this winter. It works like a charm and you don't have to fill the barrel as you found out. It only has to move a pinch.