Dry ball removal

[gunpa]

I haven't used a ball puller in years and not because I don't dryball! I shoot them out or blow them out with compressed air. The only loose screws around my guns are me!

 

[M. De Land]

I live right?

Well yah know I hadn't thought about prayer for dry balling, I ask for every thing else from him, Great suggestion !

 

[Hermit Tim]

I've dryballed twice. The first time was a half stock .50. I used the ball puller and, with a little cussing, got it out without too much trouble. Last year it was my percussion .36 squirrel rifle. Don't have a ball puller that small so I tried the powder under the nipple trick. Took about three tries but it did work.

 

[Hermit Tim]

On the very rare occasion that I dry ball, I use a CO2 discharger, never has failed to expel the patched ball no matter how tight the patch is.

I had just posted that I've done it twice. I was wrong. Your comment reminded me of another time, back about 1997 or so, I dryballed a .32 CVA squirrel rifle. Had only been shooting BP for a few years and didn't know what to do. Took it to Medley's bait shop and Barry Medley had one of those CO2 doodads. He blew the ball out and it went straight down the middle of the store. Good thing it was after hours. It hit the Easton arrow display and penetrated the cardboard display box the arrows were in. Only time I've seen one of those in use. And was the first time he ever used one.

 

[azmntman]

That come out fast and hard most the time. A must have IMHO

 

[hanshi]

That come out fast and hard most the time. A must have IMHO

It turns a BP gun into an air gun....but still a gun.

 

[avesteve]

Larry (Omaha)
The shank end of a twist drill isn't hardened as evidenced by the burrs that are gouged up when a bit slips in the chuck. Only the fluted part is hard, and often not the entire length of that part either. If the shank were hardened the chuck would not be able to get a bite on it. It is easy to machine the shank with good tools.

 

[Des52]

I have the TOTW pullers for all the calibers I own, I think they are the best I have ever used. That said I usually do the shoot it out method.

 

[Howard Pippin]

We all have our own methods, mostly similar to somebody else's. But I did manage to stick a dry ball that I couldn't seem to shoot out, so I went home and took a 7/16 steel rod 9the muzzle loader was 50) and I drilled one in end of the rod and silver soldered 1/ 8th inch bit into it and then turn it around and drilled a hole in the other end of the rod and silver soldered in a sheetrock screw. I coated the rod with electrical tape, and then using a pair of vice grips at the very outside end I proceeded to drill a hole into the round ball. When I was satisfied with that I turned the rod around and placed a length of 1 inch pipe, about four inches long, over it and with the vice grips at the outside end. Using the vice grips, I screwed the sheetrock screw in almost through it probably, and using the pipe for a slide hammer against the vice grips it came right out. I've carried that tool to every muzzleloader shoot I've went to and have never used it again. The only thing wrong you would have to make one for every caliber, buying a rod that was small enough you could cover it with electrical tape.
Squint

 

[Mad L]

I admit, I too have dry balled, both flint and cap.
Forced a little powder behind it, popped it out, and continued shooting.
Shot out a couple brass brushes for friends the same way.

Yesterday I got a worm stuck, I had some Big 45 Frontier scrub wrapped on it (don't ask me why), I had forgotten that that particular worm needs a thread adapter, so it went down but only the rod came out!!

I already had the lock and vent liner out...no problem:
Q-tip to be sure breach was dry
Pour a bit of powder in breach
Put the liner and lock back on and went outside.
*Fffft Poof*
Retrieved the jag from where it bounced off the fence (OUCH!! That Big 45 Frontier HEATS UP AND STAYS HOT!!) - went back upstairs and finished cleaning...rifle back on the wall right now.

 

[Steve Wagner]

I need to invent a stealth method of dry ball retrieval so I don't have to endure the humiliation (when not if) it happens! I still hold the title of most dry balls in a single match, a dubious State Record at best! I'd like to blame it on old age but this happened 35 years ago while still a young man. Didn't drink, smoke or do drugs so I was in a pickle for excuse generation!
Count them................. five ,I kid you not in a timed fire Sihouette match where the pressure apparently turned by brains to Oat Meal for a bit.
I'd get off about five shots and things would be going like gang busters and then Murphy would show up with his Monkey wrench and pitch it into my gear box !
It sure slows you down that's for sure!
I can't seem to interest any one in attempting to take my record away from me !

The "stealth method" is to have an extra rifle on hand and just, nonchalantly, act like you changed your mind about using the one you dry balled. Just say it doesn't feel right and you won't be lying. SW

 

[Taevers]

We all have our own methods, mostly similar to somebody else's. But I did manage to stick a dry ball that I couldn't seem to shoot out, so I went home and took a 7/16 steel rod 9the muzzle loader was 50) and I drilled one in end of the rod and silver soldered 1/ 8th inch bit into it and then turn it around and drilled a hole in the other end of the rod and silver soldered in a sheetrock screw. I coated the rod with electrical tape, and then using a pair of vice grips at the very outside end I proceeded to drill a hole into the round ball. When I was satisfied with that I turned the rod around and placed a length of 1 inch pipe, about four inches long, over it and with the vice grips at the outside end. Using the vice grips, I screwed the sheetrock screw in almost through it probably, and using the pipe for a slide hammer against the vice grips it came right out. I've carried that tool to every muzzleloader shoot I've went to and have never used it again. The only thing wrong you would have to make one for every caliber, buying a rod that was small enough you could cover it with electrical tape.
Squint

I just cobbled together a ball puller to leave at the range where we have our monthly club shoots. Seems like about every other month a ball gets rammed without a charge. I bought track of the wolf screw pullers as they seem to be most likely to get ahold and wrestle a ball back out when others fail. I’m not a good ball pulling man, but several others are. I’m hoping this will help clear a dry ball at our monthly shoots. It’s just about dido of what was helpful for you.

 

[earlwb]

I have to admit that I have dry balled a few times so far. But I have had success with dribbling in a few grains of black powder and then firing that off. It worked nicely for me. I haven’t had any success with the screw in the ball and pulling it out.

My flintlock has a flash hole insert that I can unscrew and then I can dribble in a bit of powder. The percussion cap guns let me remove the nipple to dribble in some powder.

You others have all come up with some great suggestions too. No complaints from me.

Now if your gun allows you to, you can remove the breech plug and pound the offending ball out of the barrel. But some guns made that a major project though.

I had thoughts about as a last resort was to heat the barrel over a fire to melt the lead ball too. But that could get tricky though. Maybe heating it up enough to burn the patch out and expand the barrel could loosen the ball enough to pull out too.

 

[flatcreek]

I don't Dry Ball, I make hollow points.

 

[ZUG]

I make my own ball pullers out of sheet rock screws as M. De Land does. The sharp point and course threads bite into the ball and grabs hold of it and easily will bring the ball out of the barrel. The sheet rock screw will not expand the ball enough to enlarge it to force it into the bore and lock it in. The lead is soft enough that it conforms to the thread root of the screw. That "expanding lead ball from the sheet rock ball screw" is bunk!

I do a test run at home and load a tight lubed patched ball into my rifles and use my ball screw to pull the ball to get an idea of how much force I need to remove the patch ball. This method has taught me what will work at the range or during a hunt. BTW I use a steel range rod for this and if you ask "where do you keep the range rod during my hunt" - I keep it in the truck. I also carry a CO-2 ball discharger in my bag. If the CO-2 discharger fails then the ball screw puller does the job every time.

 

[airiest-falcon0n]

If at home (where I do most of my shooting), I’ve used the air compressor. Like the CO2 method, it packs a punch. You can almost see the ball as it flies, but still goes 15-20yds.

 

[Sidney Smith]

About 120psi on the air compressor, hold a rubber tipped air nozzle against the flash hole and let her rip. I've had balls fly across my street using the compressor. There's 22 acres of cornfield over there so no danger except to maybe a corn stalk or two. I lay the gun on a small table in my driveway facing the cornfield.

I've never dryballed thank God, but I've emptied the gun many times after hunting season ended and I didn't fire the gun. Never did this method, not work.

 

[Taevers]

About 120psi on the air compressor, hold a rubber tipped air nozzle against the flash hole and let her rip. I've had balls fly across my street using the compressor. There's 22 acres of cornfield over there so no danger except to maybe a corn stalk or two.

I've never dryballed thank God, but I've emptied the gun many times after hunting season ended and I didn't fire the gun. Never did this method, not work.

 

[Taevers]

First time I used my shop air compressor, I got startled at the force the ball had with 150psi! I had my barrel held in a bench vice and had a metal bucket placed over the muzzle to catch it. Big surprise. Didn’t wet myself. But close.