Dry ball idjit

[Tannehill]

Well, hadn’t happened for a while, but I did it. Pushed a patched round ball down my 45 Hawken w/o powder. Tried pouring some powder behind the nipple and blowing it out no dice. My ball puller has a brass ring on it for a 59, so that don’t work. Filled my handy dandy air can with 100 lbs of air and blew out to within an inch of the end of the barrel and won’t budge. So any suggestions, besides focus on loading?

 

[Bob McBride]

Take the nipple off, pour a few g fine powder down (it should be easy now the patched ball isnt blocking the way, put the nipple back on, run the ball back down against the powder and pew.

 

[mooman76]

Sometimes the powder under the nipple thing takes more than one try. push the ball back down and retry. Maybe spray a little lube on the patch to help it.

 

[Stantheman86]

+1 best option. Cram as much powder into the bolster as you can , ram that ball down and bloop it out.

I wonder why that last inch of barrel was just too much for the air compressor, it should have just blew it out .

 

[hanshi]

I always dryball once most every week just to keep my skill from atrophying.

 

[Tannehill]

Well I screw a deck screw into the ball chucked the screw up in my Vice, braced a foot on the bench, gave a couple hard yanks and it popped right out. Thanks for all you advice. First time in a long time since I’ve messed up like that.

 

[mhb]

Any ML shooter who says he's never forgotten to load powder before ramming a ball... probably lies about other stuff, too.

mhb - MIke

 

[ord sgt]

Now you have a new skill set. Store it away and bring it out the next time that you get ahead of yourself in the loading process. Once you break through the aawww man! threshold, you may need to use this skill again. It's just a question of time.....

 

[Stantheman86]

I usually shoot military type muzzleloaders with paper cartridges, and it's almost foolproof unless you really try to remove the bullet from a paper cartridge full of powder and ram it down

 

[russellshaffer]

I like Stan's "almost foolproof" coment. I could screw it up somehow.

 

[Carbon 6]

Sometimes the powder under the nipple thing takes more than one try. push the ball back down and retry. Maybe spray a little lube on the patch to help it.

Yep, pick it in the hole slap the gun to make it flow, I think my record was 7 tries before the ball came out.

 

[Stantheman86]

It would be hard but it can be done

 

[mooman76]

Yep, pick it in the hole slap the gun to make it flow, I think my record was 7 tries before the ball came out.

One time I was trying to get one out and kept doing it over and over but to no avail. I was getting frustrated because I was on my way to work and didn't want to leave it in until the next day. Come to find out at one point it actually did come out and I didn't realize it. It was always quite noticeable before so not sure why I didn't notice this time.

 

[Ames]

Good job stickin with it. Did you remember to order a 45 ball puller yet?

 

[Carbon 6]

One time I was trying to get one out and kept doing it over and over but to no avail. I was getting frustrated because I was on my way to work and didn't want to leave it in until the next day. Come to find out at one point it actually did come out and I didn't realize it. It was always quite noticeable before so not sure why I didn't notice this time.

I had the same thing happen once. I also tried to pull a ball that wasn't there once too.
Muzzleloading is so much more fun and interesting than regular guns. There is always something to laugh at.

 

[Ajgall]

After the first time I forgot powder I told myself I’d never do it again that I had learned my lesson and be more careful .... I have of course done it again several times.

 

[Tanker]

I went years with out doing it. I would see people talking about it. Thinking to myself that will never happen to me. I pay attention. So let me set the stage for you. My son and I are out for a day of shooting. It was going to be his first time shooting a flinter. We are talking having a great time. I stressed to him how when loading to pay attention so you don't mess it up. Told him all about dry balling. I then shot and started to load. As we are talking he said dad did you just dry ball that? At that point I realized that I did. With a big smile on my face I said I did. He laughed his ass off. So I am more humbled now. On the bright side I got to show my son how to pull a ball.

 

[Grenadier1758]

There was a thread on here from someone who was looking for help in removing a ball. Ball pullers wouldn't grab. Compressed air wouldn't blow it out. All sorts of suggestions went on for several pages before someone suggested that he run hos ram rod to the breech to see if anything was in there. Apparently the first try shot it out but there was only a little bit of smoke and no noise.

I know I was helping a new member to my club with a dry ball. We put the powder under the nipple, about 4 grains volume measure. It didn't sound like much more than the cap going off. He was concerned that the ball was still in the barrel. I suggested that he fire a cap at a clump of grass to see if the barrel was clear. It was.

The difficult problems are when a ball gets stuck half way down the barrel. We've spent several pages trying to get that stuck patch out. That one needed the push from a grease gun and a barrel full of grease. Sometimes it requires pulling the breech plug and driving the offending object out.

 

[M. De Land]

You can also take the stock off and melt a stuck slug out of a barrel. I've had to melt lap slugs out many times that got stuck in the bore. You do not need to worry about changing anything as far a metallurgy if you only use a propane torch or two and it usually won't hurt the blue or brown either.

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

Well, hadn’t happened for a while, but I did it. Pushed a patched round ball down my 45 Hawken w/o powder. Tried pouring some powder behind the nipple and blowing it out no dice. My ball puller has a brass ring on it for a 59, so that don’t work. Filled my handy dandy air can with 100 lbs of air and blew out to within an inch of the end of the barrel and won’t budge. So any suggestions, besides focus on loading?

What BPTV suggested. Here you go.......