Dry Balled for the First Time!

[Greg Walden]

I been shootin' muzzleloaders for 33 years, and I never once till today dry balled (no, I mean it, honest! :redface

I was trying out a new ball-patch combo to try to tighten up my 50 yard groups, and I just couldn't wait to get that .018 patch down there. Except I noticed that the ramrod went down way below the index mark. Uh oh! :shake:

Thank goodness it was a clean bore, and the ball screw pulled it right out. :relax: Though not at the range; I had to go home where I could sit down, think about it, drink a beer, and get more leverage. THEN it came out!

Will have to go back out to the range after church tomorrow and try again!

Greg

 

[musketman]

Will have to go back out to the range after church tomorrow and try again!

Try to what again???

Try to dry ball again or try to work up your load again... :winking:

 

[bob1961]

just once??? :shocking: :crackup:....i did it almost everytime when i go to the range....and i started in sept 2003.......bob

 

[KyFlintlock]

I did it once too, loaded it up for a buddy handed him the rifle (as I smiled )and he asked how it was supposed to go off without powder ::, I stopped smiling.

Glad it came out ok and good luck tomorrow.

 

[adkmountainken]

there are those who have dry balled, and there are those who will!!!!!!!

 

[Bushwhacker]

You're not alone on this one. Done it twice my self in the last 30 years. I have one to top that...... I was in a speed shoot once and shot my ram rod down range. Makes a purdy sound. TWANGGgggggggggggggggg :crackup:

 

[loojack]

I did it at the rifle range, couldn't find my ball puller. Had to go into the gun shop and buy a new ramrod, they didn't have a screw to fit my wiper stick!!!Live and lean, but HAVE FUN!!!!....loojack

 

Don't feel bad , Flinter . I shot muzzle loaders for 26 years before I dryballed for first time in 2001 . The next time I went to the range I dryballed again . As if that wasn't bad enuff , the next time I went to the range I shot my ramrod . All with the same rifle , a .32 cal. CVA "squirrel rifle" . I couldn't beleive it ! I made loading tubes out of plastic tubeing , that I stuck the ball in one end , put the powder in , then put a stopper in the other end . I also made a 3" red plastic disk out of a coffee can lid to slide on the end of my ramrod , so if I did leave my rod in my gun ,I would see the disk when I tried to aim . :thumbsup:

 

[Rat]

I have heard of just about everthing under the sun for lubing a ball and patch after it's been "dryballed", or a stuck jag and patch, to make it easier to pull on this forum...but never beer before.

Must be the bubbles.

:blah:

Rat

 

[Moonax]

I haven't done it for a while,but a'm sure I will again!

 

[flaming canvas]

there are those who have dry balled, and there are those who will!!!!!!!

I thought it was those who admit they've dry balled and those who lie about it.

 

[RussB]

there are those who have dry balled, and there are those who will!!!!!!!

I thought it was those who admit they've dry balled and those who lie about it.

Yep, My answer is "All the above", and that is my final answer.

Russ

 

HI, My Name is Bill Of the 45th parallel. It's been six months since I've dry-balled. I now talk to myself when I load. It's a simple mantra. Powder, Patch Ball, Powder, Patch, Ball :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :redthumb: I couldn't help myself :crackup: There's a twelve step program for everything

 

Yes, I have done this several times at the range and every time was when another shooter was talking to me while I was going though the loading procedure. That is what I got for being "neighborly" and tryng to answer questions like "Hey, whatcha got there -- a flintlock?" or "How do them things work, anyhow?" "Are you sure you can kill a deer with that?" Anymore I never talk to anyone while I am loading. I hold off until I have the ball seated and then answer. Sometimes I don't answer until I have fired. Last summer I had to ask a guy to stop talking to me unles he wanted me to talk to him while he was squeesing off a shot. I explained to him that his talking while I was loading was like talking to someone on the golf course during the persons back swing.

 

[amccall]

Hey bill I hope somewhere in that powder, patch and ball is the word "shoot" in that mantra. ::

 

[scott k]

It is amazing how much attention a fintlock will get at a range and how fast you forget were you were at in the loading process. Didn't do it yet but Got close. Then again i'm perrty newto this. :thumbsup:
Lehigh....

 

[Arkie]

Haa Haa
there is no more sinking feeling then when that ram rod pushes in an inch to far. :haha:

 

[HistoryBuff]

I did it my third time out on the range. I've always told myself I'm a fast learner and I certainly learned to use a ball puller fast. But I had to have someone hold the rifle; even with a .015" patch, it was stuck pretty good.

HistoryBuff

 

[Protrucker]

I hope somewhere in that powder, patch and ball is the word "shoot" in that mantra.

That's the word I forgot the time I double loaded!
I've never dry balled(yet) but I felt pretty stupid the time I forgot that I had already loaded & loaded it again. DUH!!!

 

[Carl Aldridge]

I know the feeling about being distracted. I had a friend talking to me while I was loading , and forgot the ball all together! The rifle goes bang, but there's no recoil and no hole in the target I still have yet to dry ball but I know it's coming.