Dry balling - why won't it come out??

[8 BORE]

Yes - the self-assured overconfidence of someone who risks nothing if his advice is followed and something goes wrong. I see this quite a lot with certain people and it is unsavory and quite disturbing.

Sticks and stones
Just pull the breech plug

 

[Britsmoothy]

I'm not pressuring anyone Brit. Yes, I am making a few assumptions, like 'everyone' else here. Maybe I take it for granted that a breech plug removal is not a hard, difficult, or dangerous to the gun, job because I do it as a matter of course all the time. I wish him only the best results in whatever path he takes that leads him to a satisfactory solution.
Robby

Thank you for your kind reply.

 

[Black Hand]

It is our obligation to give people the options that are the most likely to succeed. Yes - removing the breechplug is an option, but is not the first or best option I would give the average shooter. The gun involved and subsequent posts suggest/confirm the OP is a beginner in this hobby, so I start with the easiest. Telling a novice muzzleloader shooter to remove the breechplug and stating it as the first and ONLY option is irresponsible, as people on this site may be viewed as "experts" (when some are not and some are), leading the novice to take the statements at face value and get in a bind, as they don't know what they don't know.....

Caution is the best approach. Don't suggest using a sledgehammer when one isn't necessary and the task can be accomplished without brute force.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Well said. For me that would be desperation method after all the less aggressive methods have failed.

Sometimes I pull the ball after a hunt so I don't have to fire or clean the rifle. I don't have a CO2 discharger and use the rifle's rammer. It's a skill worth knowing and practicing. I have five muzzleloaders kicking around and none of them have had the breech plug pulled. Last time I tried was 1979ish - with the proper T/C barrel tool - and I buggered up the breech. Pissed me off so much to look at it I eventually sold the rifle and a year later bought one just like it (which I still have).

Once bitten . . .

 

[Robby]

Put the rod in the vice, put your foot against the vice, grab the barrel and pull with all you got. It will either come out or the threads will tear out. If it doesn't come, pull the breech plug and simply tap it out. With all the time spent so far you could have done that and been shooting again.
The grease gun is effective but messy, the cleanup will take longer than than pulling and reinstalling the plug.Its really not a big deal, happens to everybody, if not, your not shooting enough, hah!
Robby

It wasn't my first suggestion either. The way I taught my kids was that when your car dies along the road, don't pull the motor, first check the gas gauge, but I also taught them to be self sufficient, and don't be afraid to fail.
Robby

 

[Black Hand]

It wasn't my first suggestion either.
Robby

No one suggested it was.

 

[Stumpkiller]

PS - you think a lead ball is hard to get out of a barrel? This is a Lyman Deerstalker with a sheared breechplug and the threaded portion remaining.

Oh poop. They are not a "user maintenance" item in traditional muzzleloaders. I'm sure you can pull 100 and never have this happen. Just like you can load 100 times and never dry ball. ;-)

 

[S.Kenton]

I just pull the nipple and dribble some powder in the drum, replace the nipple, seat the ball and fire the ball out. Now most likely you'll have to do stump killers method using the grease zerk, which is TERRIBLY messy.
Not one time in all of my 25 years of muzzeloading have I ever pulled the breech plug for a dry ball. As others have suggested...dry out the breech area, remove nipple,dribble some powder in, reseat ball and try and fire it out. That's my number one go to remedy for dry balling.

 

[PluggedNickel]

Good advice here. I took the advice of a member and ordered one of the CO2 ball blowers from Dixie with a recent order of round balls, I already have a ton of CO2 from AirSoft, and pellet guns. Figured I'd need it at some point. I haven't found a ball puller I like yet, most, like the one I have for the 1861 Springfield are just a wood screw. If you have one that your really like post a picture or link please. I'd like a .69 caliber brass button on it, so it starts in the ball center, not cocked from being too small for the bore. I can make a brass button for one if need be though. I'd like to use worm, puller, etc on steel ram rod that came with my Charleville. It looks like I'd need a thread adapter though. I need to size the thread on the factory Pedersoli ram rod. I've got screw in type gauge to do that. Been meaning to actually. I'm guessing it's metric. Actually, I'm kind of glad it's winter, I don't hunt anymore, and the Holidays and family affairs have had me very busy. Otherwise, I would have been in a big hurry and rushed to shoot my first Flintlock and smoothie. Rushing, is when I start screwing up! And, trust me, if I'm tired I can do it just as well, in a hurry or not. Brain farts suck! But, they are a fact of life for most of us.
I Iiked that tip on doctoring up your ball puller Stumpkiller!
You guys feel our pain! Appreciate that! For most, you have BTDT, or at least had or seen a bud do it!
I got to say, if in the OP's position, I'd have already let loose with some of Ralphie's dad's working on the furnace language by now! Golden Retriever would go to her out of the way, dad must be watching the news again spot! LOL

 

[PluggedNickel]

PS - you think a lead ball is hard to get out of a barrel? This is a Lyman Deerstalker with a sheared breechplug and the threaded portion remaining.

Oh poop. They are not a "user maintenance" item in traditional muzzleloaders. I'm sure you can pull 100 and never have this happen. Just like you can load 100 times and never dry ball. ;-)

Oh yeah, that would be one of my from bad to worse ideas for sure! I've already learned, when asking for advice on this forum, wait for a number of replies, BEFORE, settling on the best method. Stumpkiller, killed it with this picture! And, I was thinking, yeah, you can pull that breach plug, no worries! Uh, maybe not!

 

[PluggedNickel]

A good ball puller is a joy forever. I "doctored" mine up with a needle file to make sure it had a sharp tip and good threads. Works with the rammer under the barrel or I find one that does.

There is one "desperation act" for cap guns. A Zirk fitting (NOT the tapered/self-tapping kind) has the same threads as some nipples (like T/C - I believe 1/4-28). Pull the nipple, put in the Zirk, and pump in grease until the ball pops out. Messy but it works.

I have had good luck with a hard wood dowel, remove cone, drive out ball, being careful to not get into threads, but that is on a Walker Colt. Not so easy or quick on a RNA. Still, with the grease gun, hydraulics will push it out for sure, no matter how tight, that is the path of least resistance, now if it buggers the threads, (hopefully on the Zerk fitting and not the cylinder!) that bugger is tight! LOL

 

[Zonie]

William:

I might have missed this suggestion but in any case, I'll mention it.

Remove the nipple and put it in your pocket. Take it to a auto supply store and tell the guy you want to buy a grease zerk fitting with the same threads. He should be able to get something that fits or has threads that are close enough for the job at hand.

If you own a grease gun buy a cartridge of cheap grease while your there. If you don't you might want to buy a low cost grease gun and some grease to go with it.

Before you buy the grease gun ask yourself, is there a Jiffy lube or gas station that can do lube jobs around here? If there is, skip buying the grease gun.

Now, go home and remove the barrel from the stock. Now, USING YOUR FINGERS ONLY, screw the new grease zerk into the nipple hole. Do NOT use a wrench to tighten it but screw it in as far as it will easily go.

Using your grease gun or the local lube place pump or ask them to pump grease into the zerk.

Eventually, the grease thats being shoved into the breech will push the patched ball out of the muzzle.
Now, your only problem is getting the grease out of the bore and flame channel.

 

[8 BORE]

Redundency must be a virtue

 

[Black Hand]

Redundency must be a virtue

As is correct spelling.....

 

[Zonie]

Redundency must be a virtue

Some things bear repeating.

 

[8 BORE]

As is correct spelling.....

Remember you are on the ignored list.

 

[Baxter]

Well...I hope that somewhere in this string, the OP found a useful suggestion. It made me take a close look at my rifle's ramrod, which I have never used. I note some feathering pattern and I need to replace it with a good, straight-grained hickory rod.

 

[Black Hand]

Remember you are on the ignored list.

And yet, you still reply...
Don't you actually mean ignore list? Because a list doesn't really care if it's ignored.

 

[Ames]

Well. Now that we all got our grease zerks in a twist..............Did the original poster get the ball pulled today? He had only 22 posts and came here for our help after all. It started as help, and, well...... went to bed last night and woke up to a sandbox of..............

 

[Preacher]

I took my ML to the gun shop after my apt with my oncologist (close by). I don't have the stamina like I used to, but after reading some suggestions I did soak it in hot/soapy water. When the carbon was cleared out of the cavity the nipple screws in to (not sure what it's call) I think that was one of my problems not able to get more BP in the cavity. I'll learn from this. Thank you all for your suggestions & comments. Sorry to have stirred things up with my stupidity...