Barrel damage from pulling a bullet?

[Richardhardison]

I had a bullet "stuck" and could not fire: so I pulled it with a extractor screw. All sounds fine, but it seems it does not fire as accurately now.

Could I have damaged the barrel?

 

[tenngun]

Do you have a bore light? You may have scratched the rifiling with the ball screw. However I would think not.

 

[B.Habermehl]

If your ball pulling screw had a brass collar it is highly unlikely pulling the ball did any harm to your barrel. BJH

 

[Vaino]

Did the ball puller have a brass collar to avoid marring the bore?....Fred

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

could somebody please correct me, but I was under the impression that a puller is made out of a softer steel than what your barrel is made out of?

you may have bumped your sights pulling it?

also, consider Dutch Schoultz' accuracy system, as there are a wide number of factors that could be throwing your accuracy off.

 

[jethro224]

It's possible, unlikely but possible, that you could have damaged the crown if you used a steel range rod and didn't pull it exactly straight back. :idunno:

 

[Dr5x]

Dear mister Connoli,
The ball pullers I have seen were often made of brass with a steel metal screw used to be screwed in the ball thus spreading the lead into an even tighter fit.
The ball pullers I have experience with are probably the quickest way to give yourself a hernia in the comfort and privacy of your own home.
Somewhere in the literature you recently received you should find a description of how, if at all possible you can introduce powder BEHINFD the stuck ball by way of the touch hole on a flintlock or the nipple on a percussion rifle and gently blow the d--n lead cork out of the barrel.
It's a tedious process but then so is a hernia.

Read all the stuff or ask me directly.

Dutch

 

[coloradoclyde]

"Bullet"?

Your puller should have a brass centering collar and your rod should have a brass or poly muzzle protector. The rod should be "stout" not flexible.

I've pulled dozens of projectiles and never had an accuracy problem afterwards.
Usually I just shoot the dry balls out.
Once it took six tries before she went bang.

It is possible that you might have caused damage to some part of the barrel but unlikely...you may also have lead fouling in the barrel if you are shooting and pulling conicals.
A thorough inspection and more detailed information is required.
pictures help too.

 

[necchi]

unlikely but possible, that you could have damaged the crown

That's the thing I was thinkin, the OP should look very-very closely for a nick or dent.
It could be the sights got a little knock with the sometimes struggling moves made while pulling a ball.
Could be just needing a sight adjustment.

 

[Vaino]

Where are you?

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

thank you, I do not feel as it is my place to quote anything directly from your system as it is your hard work that went into it; I do however feel very comfortable recommending it to other people :hatsoff:

will that section on damage control you were referring to also work for a squib?

 

[Brokennock]

Did you try to get powder behind it and shoot it out? If so, more details would be helpful as I'm wondering if damage was done prior to use of the ball pulling screw.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Let's not forget that his perception of the accuracy loss could just be subjective....

Until he actually finds some damage.... :hmm:

 

[Rifleman1776]

Let's not forget that his perception of the accuracy loss could just be subjective....

Until he actually finds some damage.... :hmm:

I gotta start getting up before you. Just wat I was going to say. :wink: Unlikely he did any damage. Even a scratch wouldn't affect accuracy.

 

[Dr5x]

Mr. Cannoli,

What is a squib?

Is it that thing that looks like an octopus?

Dutch

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

What is a squib?

The Italian in me wishes it had something to do with squid...A squib is when, for any number of reasons, the charge is not powerful enough to propel the bullet outside of the barrel and instead creates a barrel obstruction. on a modern center fire or traditional percussion revolver, firing another round into the squib bullet obstruction would over pressurize your barrel, rupture it, and create a lethal catastrophic failure. I was wondering if a squib could be cleared from a muzzleloading rifle in the same manor as clearing a dry ball since you are not putting a full charge behind it? Assuming that the initial squib did not deform your barrel? thank you

 

[coloradoclyde]

I gotta start getting up before you.

The trick is to stay up later than me..... :haha:

 

[Richardhardison]

Gentlemen

Thank you for all your responses.

The problem occurred when after loading I realized my ball was not seating all the way down, I thought I had just lost a wad and couldn't retrieve it earlier, and was afraid to fire it if the bullet wasnot seated. So I soaked the powder and later pulled the bullet. I am smaller than most and after securing the bullet I hit the ramrod repeatedly with a soft mallet to start pulling the Minie. Suspected I did enough stupid to damage something because the next day I was all over the target and sometimes not even on it . I'd say groupings of 20"! I just bought a light to check for lead or something messing up the twists. I am new to this and in this instance a classic example of controlled panic and not thinking.learning the hard way.

 

[Dr5x]

Mr Cannoli.
Thank you for the definition of a squb.
A squib is a powder charge that is so small that the ball only goes partway down the barrel.
You would treat it the same as no powder charge at all.
Importantly, if, somehow, you knew that you created a squib it would be easier to insert more powder in back of the squib via the touch hole on a flintlock or the hole in the nipple holding snail on a percussion rifle.
More important, once you have inserted the powder you should be sure to now reseat the wandering patched ball back down on the powder before firing the former squib down range.

Under no circumstances should you ever fire a rifle without having the ball nicely seated on the powder charge whatever its size might be. Because that is how we can create an interior bulge in our now quite useless gun barrel.

If its actually a squid in your rifle barrel you have gotten your sports confused.

Dutch

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

Thanks Dutch :hatsoff: