I assume you mean an 18th century Ball Puller for a gun with a Wooden Ramrod? These were known as both “Ball Screws” (most commonly) and “Ball Pullers” (less common, but still used) in the period.
“Christiansbrunn, the 9th September, 1773
Most valued Friend Martin Baer,
At your request I have prepared [completed/finished] a good rifle and sent it over to Mr. John Hopson together with 4 pounds of Powder. The rifle is decorated [inlaid] with silver wire and well made, as well as tested and she shoots right well. It has a double trigger, so that you can fire with the triggers either unset or set. Between the triggers there is a screw with which you can make it lighter or harder to fire. There is also a
ball puller with which you can pull the ball out no matter how rusty she gets. She costs 8 pounds all together and with the powder @ 3 shillings per pound makes twelve shillings, for a total of L8.12.-. Because it is very good powder I have added two pounds more than you requested. I hope it will suit you well. You can write me a couple lines to let me know how you like it. Together with friendliest greetings I am your faithful
friend and servant,
Christian Oerter
Gunmaker”
http://flintriflesmith.com/WritingandResearch/WebArticles/1773 Letter from Gunmaker.htm
I have studied and actually owned 18th and 19th Century Ball Screws, but those were Military Ones and made for an Iron/Steel Rammer. I have never personally seen an original Ball Screw/Puller for a civilian gun with a Wood Ramrod, so most of this information relies on what others have passed on.
Though the below original Ball Screw is actually an early 19th century one, it gives an excellent view of the tapered screw found on the ends of period Ball Screws/Pullers. A tapered screw like this one holds the ball firmly and continues to get a better grip, the more you screw it into the lead ball. These are much, MUCH better than many of the modern style screws that have the threads at the same diameter down the length of the screw and will more likely strip in the soft lead of a ball.
http://thumbs4.ebaystatic.com/d/l800/pict/311401523716_1.jpg
I don’t know of an illustration of an original 18th century Ball Screw/Puller, so I hope you will pardon me for providing a couple of examples of reproductions.
Below is a contemporary made reproduction set of a Worm and Ball Screw/Puller for a wooden ramrod.
http://cabincreek.net/revspecs/tow-worm-ball-puller-set/
Below is a close up of another reproduction set:
http://contemporarymakers.blogspot.com/2013_05_01_archive.html
There is not much information on the set above, but it is listed in this link:
http://contemporarymakers.blogspot.com/2013_05_01_archive.html
Now, what is a bit harder to find is information on the Tips made for the Wooden Ramrod that these tools screw into. The modern threaded tips of uniform diameter and normally made from brass, were not what they used, but they are much more inexpensively made nowadays on machines.
As I understand it, the originals were often made of hand forged thin sheet iron in a sort of cone shape with a somewhat round “threaded nut” brazed into the cone on the end. The sheet iron was formed around a mandrel and brazed into a solid/open ended cone, IOW the cone did not have a point. To give you an idea what the “threaded nut” part looked like, think of a somewhat thin octagonal nut with the screw threads in it, but the originals were made with a rounded shape, though not perfectly round because they did not make them on a lathe. No need to go to the expense of turning that nut round on a lathe and they just hand filed them as round as possible. Now, these were normally attached to the rear end of the Ramrod that went inside the stock. They filed the end of the wood ramrod as close as possible to the inside shape of the cone. They may have used either hide glue or cutler’s glue in the period to help hold it on and they almost always would have drilled through the tip and ramrod, to insert an Iron Pin that was peened/riveted on each side of the Iron Cone. That Iron Pin really provided most of the ability to hold the tip on the end of the Wood Ramrod.
Perhaps someone else can find a link to one of these being made on the Internet. I have seen such a link, but can’t find it now.
Gus