Ever shoot a stuck ball...what happened?

[Okurok]

When I was a kid with my first muzzleloader, I bought some conicals to shoot in it for some reason. After shooting a few I got one stuck about halfway down. I broke a wooden ramrod and an "unbreakable" synthetic ramrod trying to get it down. Finally got mom to drive me to Max Keller, our local gunsmith. He just took the barrel off, put in vise and used a steel ramrod and drove it down with a big hammer. I still remember him saying big hammer, light taps instead of small hammer and beating the soup out of it. He drove the bullet down on the powder and told me to take it home and shoot it out. I did just that and stuck to patched round balls after that. I never had a roundball stick like that bullet did.

 

[Ed C.]

Try seating your patched ball with a moistened patch on your jag. I do this and I actually flip it (for the next load) use both sides. While seating the ball, you’ll push some fouling down on the powder charge, and when you withdraw the moistened patch you’ll be surprised how much fouling you’ll pull out. And, your barrel will be in the same condition for each shot.

I like that idea and actually tried it when I was experimenting with too many things at once. I am now happy with a 60g load, 5:1 damp water/ ballistol .015" patch, and damp swab, dry swab every other shot. I am going to try your suggestion next time out and if I can maintain accuracy and ease of loading while reducing swabbing I'll certainly go with it.

 

[Vtmountaindeerhunter]

Wow God dam . I will probably never need to try that ****

 

[Ed C.]

Try seating your patched ball with a moistened patch on your jag. I do this and I actually flip it (for the next load) use both sides. While seating the ball, you’ll push some fouling down on the powder charge, and when you withdraw the moistened patch you’ll be surprised how much fouling you’ll pull out. And, your barrel will be in the same condition for each shot.

Thank you! Thank you for reminding me of this. I went out today and did exactly as you said and shot 12 shots at 50 yards in a 3" hole and then 4 more at 100 yards. Every ball up to the last one loaded easily with one or two steady strokes.

 

[Will]

I finally did it. I used my short starter to load my ball and then the wife showed up to have me go to the barn to check on the horse. When I came back to shoot the T/C New Englander I then added the cap and shot from the bench. My ball hit about 3 foot low and I thought,"What the heck." Then it dawned on me, I forgot to ram the ball home before the wife grabbed me. The barrel is ok after shooting with 80 grains of 3F but I bet I will never do that again.

 

[Tasbay]

You probably will

 

[UndeadPoet]

First time out, ball maybe 3/4 of the way down the barrel.
One of the Good Old Boys said SHOOT IT.

What is the last thing a redneck hears before he dies? “Betcha can’t.”
What are his last words? “Hey, y’all, watch this.” Lol

 

[Will]

You probably will

Lol, what's the matter, no trust in your fellow man ? I hate to say it but you are probably right. I wish I didn't even have to use a short starter to get the ball going.

 

[ETipp]

Thank you! Thank you for reminding me of this. I went out today and did exactly as you said and shot 12 shots at 50 yards in a 3" hole and then 4 more at 100 yards. Every ball up to the last one loaded easily with one or two steady strokes.

I seldom shoot consecutive shots, other than when squirrel hunting, but the next time I do I think I'll give that a try.

 

[büchsenmacher64]

It didn't take me long being lazy and not swabbing the barrel often enough between shots to get a ball stuck halfway down the barrel. The delrin ramrod was too flexible to move the ball even with a "T" handle and hammering. I figured I'd break the hickory rod so I didn't even try using it. No steel range rod or ball puller so I took a chance and shot it out. 50 grains pushing a .490 ball with a 12" air gap. Fortunately for me it seemed like a normal discharge and the gun still is a great shooter. I don't want to take that chance again so I now have a steel rod to be used for an event like that. And I've decided that in the long run it's easier to swab every other shot. Probably helps accuracy also.
So I'm wondering if anyone done something similar and what happened?

So I’m not an expert but I do reload. Very few cartridges are compressed loads. There’s a considerable air gap in some cartridges. Even if the load’s compressed most people don’t load the bullet touching the lands and I’m sure pressure increases when it makes contact. Isn’t that similar?

 

[Buckskinquin]

When I was starting off with Muzzleloaders I think I got a ball stuck about halfway down a T/C barrel on about 4-5 occasions with 80grains of FF in the barrel. Just pointed the gun in the air Cringed and pulled the trigger. I`m still here and the gun`s barrel is in pristine condition 30 odd years later.
Where I live it was learn by yourself and no guidance as I knew of no one with a muzzleloader of any sort. At the time it had never occurred to me to swab the barrel between shots. I had no internet back then.

Do us all a favor. Point your gun down range or towards the ground when firing, not in the air! Search, “Amish girl killed by muzzleloader.”

 

[Ed C.]

So I’m not an expert but I do reload. Very few cartridges are compressed loads. There’s a considerable air gap in some cartridges. Even if the load’s compressed most people don’t load the bullet touching the lands and I’m sure pressure increases when it makes contact. Isn’t that

So I’m not an expert but I do reload. Very few cartridges are compressed loads. There’s a considerable air gap in some cartridges. Even if the load’s compressed most people don’t load the bullet touching the lands and I’m sure pressure increases when it makes contact. Isn’t that similar?

I don't know for sure. My guess, and only a guess, is that in a close seated ball the powder starts to burn, the pressure starts to increase and the ball starts to move so the projectile is already on the move when maximum pressure is reached. No problem. With an air gap the powder starts to burn, builds up pressure, a wave is formed, and this hits a stationary ball at a higher pressure than if the ball were seated on the charge potentially causing a problem. The greater the gap, the more time for a greater build up in pressure that will be colliding with the stationary ball...more chance for damage. So I believe a ball seated 1/4 or 3/8" from the powder charge will not be near as big a potential problem as one stuck halfway down a barrel. Please, this is only MPO. Stay safe and stick with the idea of no air gap.

 

[hanshi]

I've had to fire out a few stuck (and dry balled) balls in my time but NEVER when the ball was between the powder and the muzzle. I seated it on the powder, or finagled in a few grains of 4F in the case of a dry ball, and "poofed" it into the ground.

 

[Tasbay]

Do us all a favor. Point your gun down range or towards the ground when firing, not in the air! Search, “Amish girl killed by muzzleloader.”

Good point though first off we Don`t have any Armish here in New Zealand that I know of and secondly with barrel pointed down the powder will not be by the flash channel where you want it. If I had been at a range I would have had more equipment with me than in the bush.
Just read the article, that sure wasn`t a patched round ball.

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

I've tried that on barrels & really abused them.
Barrels of today will handle the obstruction better than one thinks.
Although I don't recommend it, they will handle the shot with low powder volumes.
( 20-25 grains 3F is what I use to clear barrels out )
Below is some REAL abuse to barrels:

 

[Nor Cal Mikie]

First time out, ball maybe 3/4 of the way down the barrel.
One of the Good Old Boys said SHOOT IT.

That reminds me on one of my earlier trips to the range with my M1A.
Fired a few rounds, couple didn't pick up from the mag.
No problem. Pulled the mag. dropped a round in the chamber and tripped the bolt release. Bolt slammed shut and BANG!! Floating bolt does it again. Lucky it was pointed down range.
One of the Guys at the next bench, grinned, winked and said "I bet you won't be doing THAT AGAIN".
Just so happened that he trained with and carried a M1A in the early part of Vietnam and was pretty familiar with it. You learn something new every day.
I happened to relate the incident of the M1A forum and right off. (just like mentioned above) "Don't shoot it. Get it checked out by a goods gunsmith. It'll shoot your eye out or blow up and kill you".

Talking to a "FEW FOLKS "IN THE KNOW", you don't load rounds in the chamber without the mag in place and if you do, you don't let the bolt SLAM home OR.....(a learning experience)
I have single loaded since then but I DO KNOW what to expect and am still alive to talk about it.

That's been probably 1000+ rounds of reloads with no further issues.
So, what it comes down to is, listen to folks that know what they're doing, been there, done that and are still alive to tell you about their mistakes.
Makes me wonder, Now and back in the day, how many round balls didn't get fully seated, got fired and folks are still around to talk about it??

 

[Johnny Tremain]

How come some can not get 1-2 balls down range without problems.

Yet I can shoot over 75 balls one after another and never swab or get anything stuck, ever.

Oil free is hassle free

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

How come some can not get 1-2 balls down range without problems.

Yet I can shoot over 75 balls one after another and never swab or get anything stuck, ever.

Oil free is hassle free

I'm with you..I seldom swab barrels either.
Just load and shoot.
I use a GPR at the Pioneer Flats Shootout every year in September.
Gun is loaded well over 80-90 times for new shooters to try & I never swab.
It is a beast to clean afterwards though....

 

[Mad Professor]

It didn't take me long being lazy and not swabbing the barrel often enough between shots to get a ball stuck halfway down the barrel. The delrin ramrod was too flexible to move the ball even with a "T" handle and hammering. I figured I'd break the hickory rod so I didn't even try using it. No steel range rod or ball puller so I took a chance and shot it out. 50 grains pushing a .490 ball with a 12" air gap. Fortunately for me it seemed like a normal discharge and the gun still is a great shooter. I don't want to take that chance again so I now have a steel rod to be used for an event like that. And I've decided that in the long run it's easier to swab every other shot. Probably helps accuracy also.
So I'm wondering if anyone done something similar and what happened?

I've shot a stuck ramrod. A few grains of powder through nipple hole then aim straight up.

Reminded me of time as a kid doing that with arrows...

BTW, 50 grains is way too much, could bulge the barrel if the ball is not seated

 

[Ed C.]

I've shot a stuck ramrod. A few grains of powder through nipple hole then aim straight up.

Reminded me of time as a kid doing that with arrows...

BTW, 50 grains is way too much, could bulge the barrel if the ball is not seated

Yes, you are right. The ball got stuck while loading the gun so the 50 grains were already in there. I was reckless and lucky to get away with it. Beginner mistake. The barrel has proved to be an excellent shooter since then.