Dryballed - Issue with TOTW puller

[Griz44Mag]

Sooner or later, it happens.
I made the third breakin and load tuning run with the new Frontier (54 cal)
I got to talking and did not pay enough attention, and dryballed it.
No big deal - right?
Check the kit, dang, did not bring the screwdriver set so I could pull the liner.
Grab the CO2 discharger - oops, been meaning to get some cartridges. Dang.
SO - I use a 3/8" brass range rod for these sessions, and carry almost everything I need for just such occasions, this just happened to be the first time (with a 54)
I remove the jag, grab the ball puller which was still in the TOTW little plastic bag.
Put it in the rod, felt a little funny but OK, lets pull the ball.
Punched the rod down the barrel, gave it a bit of a tap to start the screw, gave it a couple of turns - it went limp....
I pulled the rod out, way too easy, and - NO Ball and No Ball Puller.
OK, no huge deal, must have stripped the threads on the ball puller, threads on rod looked OK.... Then it hit me - ball puller must have the wrong threads on it.
I checked the packet it came in, just a part number.
Pick up, go home, deal with it there.
When I got home I checked the part number, listed as 10/32 threads.
I taped a doughnut onto a smaller steel shotgun rod to keep it centered, slid it down the barrel and easily connected with the 8/32 threads on the ball puller. Gave her another round to drive it in.
After extracting the ball (an easy pull since I lube with mink) and examined the offending tool. Yup - definitely 8/32 threads.
Lesson in all this? When you buy new tools, parts and equipment - check to make sure it is what you need. Labels can be wrong. If this had been on a hunting trip, could have ruined a whole weekend.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Hmmm? Never owned a CO2 discharger but I have done DOZENS of pulls with a screw thread ball puller (of the proper thread to fit the rammer cap). I sharpened mine with a needle-file and make the first drop HARD to start the hole for the threads to grab. And then righty-tighty to make it grab the ball. ;-)

 

[Griz44Mag]

Hmmm? Never owned a CO2 discharger but I have done DOZENS of pulls with a screw thread ball puller (of the proper thread to fit the rammer cap). I sharpened mine with a needle-file and make the first drop HARD to start the hole for the threads to grab. And then righty-tighty to make it grab the ball. ;-)

That's worked for me too, as long as the threads on the rod and the puller match! (The ball doesn't care..)

 

[Many Klatch]

I keep three sizes of ball pullers in my shooting bags. I have often had to deal with the screws pulling out of the soft lead ball. I have one screw that is small and if that one works then that's great. If that one pulls out then it leaves a hole for the next larger sized screw that will normally do the job. If however the middle sized one pulls out the biggest one will do the job and there is a nice sized hole for it to fit in so that it gets fully seated.

 

[Grimord]

Sooner or later, it happens.
I made the third breakin and load tuning run with the new Frontier (54 cal)
I got to talking and did not pay enough attention, and dryballed it.
No big deal - right?
Check the kit, dang, did not bring the screwdriver set so I could pull the liner.
Grab the CO2 discharger - oops, been meaning to get some cartridges. Dang.
SO - I use a 3/8" brass range rod for these sessions, and carry almost everything I need for just such occasions, this just happened to be the first time (with a 54)
I remove the jag, grab the ball puller which was still in the TOTW little plastic bag.
Put it in the rod, felt a little funny but OK, lets pull the ball.
Punched the rod down the barrel, gave it a bit of a tap to start the screw, gave it a couple of turns - it went limp....
I pulled the rod out, way too easy, and - NO Ball and No Ball Puller.
OK, no huge deal, must have stripped the threads on the ball puller, threads on rod looked OK.... Then it hit me - ball puller must have the wrong threads on it.
I checked the packet it came in, just a part number.
Pick up, go home, deal with it there.
When I got home I checked the part number, listed as 10/32 threads.
I taped a doughnut onto a smaller steel shotgun rod to keep it centered, slid it down the barrel and easily connected with the 8/32 threads on the ball puller. Gave her another round to drive it in.
After extracting the ball (an easy pull since I lube with mink) and examined the offending tool. Yup - definitely 8/32 threads.
Lesson in all this? When you buy new tools, parts and equipment - check to make sure it is what you need. Labels can be wrong. If this had been on a hunting trip, could have ruined a whole weekend.

Was it a jelly doughnut, or a pumpkin glazed?

 

[45man]

I bought a Cream Right whipped cream jug and they sell big boxes of cartridges cheap. Nitrous oxide but the same pressures as CO2. I believe you can also get CO2 far cheaper. The last box I bought has 50 cartridges.

 

[Griz44Mag]

LOL, I prefer jelly filled (strawberry or blueberry).
This one was medical tape. (Not so tasty, but did the trick.)

 

[Col. Batguano]

That's a really good idea to have 3 different sized ball puller screw pullers. It indeed can be difficult to get them deep enough in to the ball to get sufficient purchase. Most of the time I clamp some vice grips tightly on the rod to be able to give it enough torque, as my handle spins on top of the range rod.

 

[Griz44Mag]

That's a really good idea to have 3 different sized ball puller screw pullers. It indeed can be difficult to get them deep enough in to the ball to get sufficient purchase. Most of the time I clamp some vice grips tightly on the rod to be able to give it enough torque, as my handle spins on top of the range rod.

My range rod is a brass one with a T handle. You can apply a lot of torque with it. Also makes it easy to tie off to a tree or post to pull the rifle off the ball. It's a lot safer that way.

 

[Stantheman86]

I usually just work some powder into the flash hole (if its big enough) and bloop it out

 

[Griz44Mag]

I usually just work some powder into the flash hole (if its big enough) and bloop it out

As I discovered with the Pedersoli, the liner does not drop directly into the powder charge. It has a small (very small) flash channel drilled between the liner and the main charge, very much like a patent breech. That fact coupled with my failure to bring 4f powder and a screwdriver to the range and exasperated with an 8/32 threaded ball puller stuck in the barrel led me to the decision to call it quits for the day and go home to clear it, which took only a few minutes with proper tools at hand.

 

[Stantheman86]

Some days the Gun Gods seem to tell you it's time to just go home

 

[Stantheman86]

I recently went shooting with a bag full of various "unmentionables " and my Lyman Plains Pistol. Every gun seemed to have some hiccup or malfunction and I realized the lube I brought for the Plains Pistol was too runny and contaminated my charge . So I had to force powder into the bolster and "bloop" the whole mess out, and I'm like, today is not the day, I went home and found something else to do.

 

[Daryl Crawford]

Having no experience with "blooping" the round out, how much 4f goes in and how well does it work? I have yet to dry load...knocking every wood item near me...but I know it is only a matter of time and my fuzzy brain.

 

[Ben Meyer]

The one time I did it, with my percussion Hawken, I unscrewed the set screw by the nipple, put in maybe 5 grains of powder, replaced the screw, shot into a cardboard target from 6ft away. Ball came out bounced off the cardboard! Maybe a 20 minute delay in shooting. My flintlock has a removable flash hole liner so I'd expect it to work the same.

My sons flintlock does not have a removable liner. When he did it, it was a pain. Took an hour getting enough 4f thru the flash hole, and several fires but it eventually came out.

Having no experience with "blooping" the round out, how much 4f goes in and how well does it work? I have yet to dry load...knocking every wood item near me...but I know it is only a matter of time and my fuzzy brain.

 

[azmntman]

I have gone shooting like 3 times in a row now w/o dryballing Somethins up??

 

[Flintandsteel]

You all know......there are two types of people in our great sport...... those who HAVE dryballed, and those that LIE about it!
I you play with these things long enough, it WILL happen.
Be prepared!

 

[Britsmoothy]

Having no experience with "blooping" the round out, how much 4f goes in and how well does it work? I have yet to dry load...knocking every wood item near me...but I know it is only a matter of time and my fuzzy brain.

Keep dribbling it in and when you think your done put the same amount in again. That'll save you starting over.
If you use lubricated patches like normal folk it'll come out. If you use a rammer like a pile driver and no lube try and get 1/2lb of 4f in there

 

[M. De Land]

Sooner or later, it happens.
I made the third breakin and load tuning run with the new Frontier (54 cal)
I got to talking and did not pay enough attention, and dryballed it.
No big deal - right?
Check the kit, dang, did not bring the screwdriver set so I could pull the liner.
Grab the CO2 discharger - oops, been meaning to get some cartridges. Dang.
SO - I use a 3/8" brass range rod for these sessions, and carry almost everything I need for just such occasions, this just happened to be the first time (with a 54)
I remove the jag, grab the ball puller which was still in the TOTW little plastic bag.
Put it in the rod, felt a little funny but OK, lets pull the ball.
Punched the rod down the barrel, gave it a bit of a tap to start the screw, gave it a couple of turns - it went limp....
I pulled the rod out, way too easy, and - NO Ball and No Ball Puller.
OK, no huge deal, must have stripped the threads on the ball puller, threads on rod looked OK.... Then it hit me - ball puller must have the wrong threads on it.
I checked the packet it came in, just a part number.
Pick up, go home, deal with it there.
When I got home I checked the part number, listed as 10/32 threads.
I taped a doughnut onto a smaller steel shotgun rod to keep it centered, slid it down the barrel and easily connected with the 8/32 threads on the ball puller. Gave her another round to drive it in.
After extracting the ball (an easy pull since I lube with mink) and examined the offending tool. Yup - definitely 8/32 threads.
Lesson in all this? When you buy new tools, parts and equipment - check to make sure it is what you need. Labels can be wrong. If this had been on a hunting trip, could have ruined a whole weekend.

I've made a few screwed ball pullers and prefer the courser thread (10-32) . I also came up with using a sheet rock screw soldered into a brass sleeve. The sheet rock screws are hard, very sharp and small in diameter so as not to swage the ball into the barrel wall as they screw into the soft lead. The course,small diameter screw spiral is far less likely to pull out than is the tighter pitched commercial offering, in my opinion.
Blooping is quite easy with percussion guns but less so with small flash hole flinters.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Having no experience with "blooping" the round out, how much 4f goes in and how well does it work? I have yet to dry load...knocking every wood item near me...but I know it is only a matter of time and my fuzzy brain.

LOL, yup, the time will come.....
My biggest issue is distractions from folks who like to use the range for social interactions.
I don't mind that, and am guilty of it myself sometimes.
But that is when I get off my rhythm.
I have found a way to "keep track" of where I am.
After every shot I place my measure and short started on the left side of the bench. That means they have not been used.
After loading powder, I place the measure on the right side of the bench, tells me I have loaded powder.
After starting a ball, I place the ball starter on the right side of the bench and ram the ball.
After the shot is taken, I immediately pick up measure and starter and move them back to the left side of the bench, start over.
I found that after a few times it becomes second nature and the incidents of dryballing become a non issue.
Last weeks dryball was a fluke, the "visitor" during the loading cycle was very attractive and like most guys under the circumstance, was distracted more than usual.
Just don't panic, have the right stuff there to clear it, and don't ruin the rest of the shooting session because of something simple.
And take Brits advice, don't load your projectiles dry or way too tight, or you will have a horrid time trying to extract the misload.