Stuck Round Ball

[Eddie2002]

Here's a thought, could you plug the hole in the stuck ball with a piece of all thread by screwing it in the hole in the ball then push a small powder charge into the touch hole and shoot the ball and all thread out. It's kind of risky but might work.
Or use a piece of all thread screwed into the hole in the ball and set up a slide hammer on the all thread that's sticking out of the barrel. Sort of the same idea as shooting it out but probably safer.
Sounds like you are making progress slowly but you are getting it out a piece at a time.

[GregLaROCHE]

In as much as there seems to be a hole through the lead, could a "L" shaped hook be used to catch the edge of the lead to drag it or part of it towards the muzzle?

That is one of the things I’m considering. It will still require a bit of fabrication. That’s why I’m thinking why try to blow or melt it out with BP.

[GregLaROCHE]

I haven’t posted about my progress in a while, because there hasn’t been any and I’ve not been motivated since a got an endoscope and got a real look at what was going on. The area around the ball was/is completely rusted solid. I have been able to drill through the rust and lead ball into the chamber, but there is no way that ball is coming loose easily.

I tried some HCl acid and it didn’t do a thing. I think it may be because the rust has become so saturated with penetrating oil and Ballistol, that the acid can’t really react with it. I don’t want to leave a strong acid like that in it too long.

After thinking about it for a while now, I think I will have to drill it out or maybe try electrolysis, that I’ve often heard and wondered about. I don’t think I’ll need to submerge the whole barrel, it’s in pretty good condition, but could simply submerge the end with the chamber. Does anyone else think it’s a good idea and could work?

[725]

Well, if the "L" shaped probe doesn't work, maybe just a long chisel type rod to whack away at it until it's largely gone. Sounds like the perimeter is fused to the barrel, so as long as the powder is desensitized, I'd just chip away at it. Good luck.

[flyingmonkey35]

In a good sot withe muzzel down range slowley heat the barrel with a torch.

Wit will melt the lead.

Once the barrel is cool again chore boy and elbow juice.

Shpuld be clean in no time


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[GregLaROCHE]

I’ve tried to chisel it away, but the sides are on an angle, so I think the chisel slips off. If I make a chisel exactly the same width as the barrel I might make some progress, but it is really hard stuff.

I’ve thought about meeting the lead out, but I will still have the significant piece of rust, that I am pretty sure will take more than Chore Boy to get loose.

[flyingmonkey35]

The choreboy is to getbthe melted lead out.

The its on with rust removers. And smoothing out burrs.

So far i have only had to melt out lead in one barrel.

You could also just buy a new barrel? If its beyond redemption.

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[john.k]

When I was a kid,the schoolteacher was a muzzleloading and old gun nut,and people would bring him all sorts of old guns.......he was also a church pastor,and Sunday afternoon ,all the kids would gather at his place ,and he would build a fire ,and put the loaded barrels in one at a time......and boom ,barrel one way ,shot the other ,masses of fire and smoke as all the coals and burning wood were scattered.....very spectacular for an 8 yr old.....Set me off on muzzleloading , 70 years later ,still going.......I realize now he was a bit eccentric ,to say the least,and not exactly a saint or role model either,but we wont go into that.

[Edward]

You might talk to an expert Bob Hoyt !/Ed

[owejia]

If rust is holding the lead ball in place maybe something like Evapo-Rust would soften it up enough to brush or wash the rust out of the barrel. If the rust is saturated with oil maybe acetone or brake cleaner could be used to remove the oil. May take several applications of cleaner to remove the oil from the rust. Evapo-Rust is user friendly and not toxic.

[rfd]

If it was my gun, and that would be a real long shot (pun not intended), I'd pull the bbl, pull the breech plug, and whack that damned ball out the bbl's butt. Then I'd get Bobby Hoyt to put it back to what it needs to be - a flintlock musket, as God and the French intended it to be.

[GregLaROCHE]

If it was my gun, and that would be a real long shot (pun not intended), I'd pull the bbl, pull the breech plug, and whack that damned ball out the bbl's butt. Then I'd get Bobby Hoyt to put it back to what it needs to be - a flintlock musket, as God and the French intended it to be.

I’m afraid that with what could be a hundred and fifty years of rust, I would twist the tang off before the breach plug gave way. Maybe if I already had experience unscrewing a breach plug on such an old gun, I would be more apt to try it. I can’t even get the nipple loose. Granted, I haven’t started using heat.

I already have one of the original flintlock versions of the gun and it’s one of my favorites. Part of the reason I bought this one.

[Battis]

I had a barrel relined by Bob Hoyt and he could not remove the breech plug without destroying it. He relined it with the plug in place. I also had a cleaning rod stuck in a barrel of a rolling block (don't ask) and I brought it to a local machinist who got it out for $20 in about five minutes.

[Buzzard II]

get a small rope, long enough that doubled, you can tie it around a tree. A larks head around the rod, working end around a tree and pull. Be prepared to land on your butt. Embarrassed to say how many times I've had to do this over the years!

I used para cord onto a stuck range rod and the bumper of my F250. I came out with a good pull.

[maillemaker]

So, for anyone following along, always try compressed gas before trying a ball puller. Once you drill a hole through the bullet you are out of luck using pressure (grease or gas) to get it out.

I would never try using heat to melt a bullet out. Not only do you risk damaging the barrel, but even centuries-old powder will explode.

Most of the CO2 dischargers will accept two different kinds and sizes of CO2 cartridges. The smaller sizes have threads and will thread into the unit. The larger ones have no threads but when you screw the outer cover on/over the cartridge it will push the cartridge head onto a spike that perforates the end and lets the CO2 out.

In the N-SSA we use CO2 fire extinguishers with a special hose with a grease fitting on the end. You put that offer the nipple and let it fly while pointed in a safe direction. Bullet will easily be moving hundreds of feet per second.

[seetrout]

I am going to vote for heat. make sure both ends of the barrel have a safe direction to fly should that old powder decide to go. I shouldn't have to say it, but don't be in front of either end at any time. A smallish camp fire with the barrel in it with the breech higher than the muzzle so the lead can run out. Even if the powder does go, you've said you already have a hole through the ball, so it likely won't amount to much of anything.
Once the lead is melted out, the copper chore boy ( and LOTS of elbow grease) should get the rest of the lead out.
Rust. The old school solution is naval jelly. It'll eat the rust off the steel parts in an old ice cream freezer in no time.

[Wilderness]

Greg - An interesting thread, and very impressed with your cautious approach.

I am not a muzzle loader, so these are no better than passing thoughts from left field:

I wonder what some internal pressure, and maybe some flexing of the steel/iron, as in a charge of black powder going off, might do to the bond between rust, ball and barrel.

At the same time, trying to budge a cemented in ball by plugging it, say with a screw (to plug the hole you have drilled through it), and shooting it out would seem to be inviting a pressure spike.

The alternative might be to fire a charge that was not pushing that ball at all, but rather just shaking up the lead/rust/iron bond around it.

This would start with a charge poured in through the hole in the old ball and fired with no projectile other than what is in there already. This might clean up the sundry oil etc. It might even move the ball slightly. Next shot would be a small charge of black with suitable non-compressible filler, enough to take the combined charge and filler above the lead collar, then a ball on top. This would have the advantage of shaking things up a bit without having to push the old ball through the cemented rust.

You might even be able to use the rifle that way for enough shots to loosen things up a bit.

Alternately, you could freeze the barrel so it contracts and squeezes the lead (not sure about the relative coefficients of expansion for lead and iron), followed by boiling water on the outside to bounce the barrel away from the ball. Breaking the bond is the objective.

Freezing the chamber with water in it, if it doesn't split the barrel (you would need to be monitoring diameter), might also break the bond between lead, rust and iron. Again, dipping in boiling water immediately afterwards might do interesting things. On second thoughts, note that frozen water used to burst the old galvanised water pipes, so maybe leave this one alone.

Just some wild thoughts.

PS Re lead pot heating and color changes - I get some really nice colors on screw heads etc by dipping them in the lead pot amid melted candle wax (to avoid lead sticking to the screw). SO ... melting out the ball would almost certainly alter the colors around the chamber.

[idahoron]

Thos video can't help now but I recommend you try this on pagev1 or something like that.

https://youtu.be/jCqp9odZISg

[FLINTNFIRE]

Has to have the right thread for the grease zert , nipples on new guns have a wide range and so do the old ones with some made to who ever cut the threads

[idahoron]

Grease zerks can be found that don't have threads at all. Those can be threaded with any size thread. Had the OP used a pinch of heat like I did the nipple would have came out. Then a zerk of the right size can be found or made with little issue. Taking a ball out with a hole in it is a big issue. The rifle that the OP has is likely to be never fixed.