Gaaah! Help! Can't get stuck ball out

[brewer12345]

Tie the rod to something stout leaving some slack in the line and give it a sharp yank.
Pull straight. This will amplify the pulling force. I always carry a line with me in the field so I don't have to use a shoelace. use a prussic knot.

It's just like a stuck bolt, some times you have to use a little "impact" to break them loose.

Did not work. Sigh...

 

[Carbon 6]

Did not work. Sigh...

Try again, a little harder.
sometimes it takes several tries and increasing hardness of the yank.

It's pulled the toughest of balls, I tied one to the rafters once and hung from it without it budging, but a stout yank took it right out.

 

[Carbon 6]

Make sure you use a line that doesn't stretch.

 

[azmntman]

I been there. VERY frustrating. I took mine to the neighborhood mechanic and he built some weird contraption mimicking a slide hammer and it finally came out. Like you...NOTHING was different till it stopped on the way down. IT WILL COME OUT!

Next time a thing to think about....do NOT add water or lube. Get a steel rod and a mallet and beat the ball down onto the powder. Shoot it out and CLEAN. Then check yer balls for any weird size/shapes. MUCH easier to beat it down than pull it out (best make dang sure theres powder under the ball if ya go this route).

 

[brewer12345]

I been there. VERY frustrating. I took mine to the neighborhood mechanic and he built some weird contraption mimicking a slide hammer and it finally came out. Like you...NOTHING was different till it stopped on the way down. IT WILL COME OUT!

Next time a thing to think about....do NOT add water or lube. Get a steel rod and a mallet and beat the ball down onto the powder. Shoot it out and CLEAN. Then check yer balls for any weird size/shapes. MUCH easier to beat it down than pull it out (best make dang sure theres powder under the ball if ya go this route).

I know there was powder in it because I got blasted in the face with the powder when I tried the CO2 blaster. I should have known better than to go shooting on the 13th.

 

[SDSmlf]

You will ‘waste’ a little grease and have a bit of a mess to clean up, but a Zerk fitting and a grease gun will solve your problem. If you do not have a grease gun, borrow or buy the type that’s a little over two inches in diameter, not the type that’s about an inch and a half diameter. Larger diameter will give you a mechanical advantage driving your stuck ball out.

After you have driven the ball out, cleaning out the grease will be your next challenge. Once you have cleaned up the barrel, please check back in and let’s figure out why the ball got stuck in your barrel. No point in making this a regular occurrence. Not a big deal, but definitely a PIA. You are not the first nor the last to have a ball stuck in barrel.

 

[brewer12345]

How do you clean the grease out? Solvent of some sort?

 

[SDSmlf]

Push bulk of grease out through the nipple hole with the Zerk fitting (and nipple) removed with a tight patch on your jag, followed with tight patches and solvent like mineral spirits until clean. But this is something to be concerned about after you have pushed the ball out. Don’t get ahead of yourself.

 

[brewer12345]

Push bulk of grease out through the nipple hole with the Zerk fitting (and nipple) removed with a tight patch on your jag, followed with tight patches and solvent like mineral spirits until clean. But this is something to be concerned about after you have pushed the ball out. Don’t get ahead of yourself.

Thanks. Glad this is a second hand grey hawk and not a custom made piece.

 

[SDSmlf]

Just for discussion, why do you think your ball got stuck? Oversize ball? Too thick of patch? No lube on your patch? Excessively dirty bore? Curious as to what ball diameter and patch thickness you are using? And your lube? Per your OP, something, that should be obvious, caused your second ball to get stuck. Just need a second set of eyes looking, and boy have you come to the right place for that.

 

[brewer12345]

Just for discussion, why do you think your ball got stuck? Oversize ball? Too thick of patch? No lube on your patch? Excessively dirty bore? Curious as to what ball diameter and patch thickness you are using? And your lube? Per your OP, something, that should be obvious, caused your second ball to get stuck. Just need a second set of eyes looking, and boy have you come to the right place for that.

I appreciate the second view. These were .530 balls cast in a Lee mold last summer. The last time I fired the rifle was when I shot a doe last year. I cleaned it and lubed it and put it away. This afternoon I used up the speedloader that was left from my hunting trip: 110 grains Black MZ, a .015 prelubed wonderlube patch, and a 54 wonder wad. Shot it and it hit just where I expected. I measured another 110 grains of the same powder, put the wad in, put a ball from the same casting session on the same patch and started ramming. Not easy to ram and it got worse as I tried to get it down to the powder charge. I was at the bottom of a canyon in the National Forest with minimalist equipment so I did not have a lot of options but to try getting it down on the charge and then get the ball out with the puller. After a few round balls I was planning on trying out a minie and a lyman plains bullet.

 

[Runewolf1973]

Maybe this could work?

 

[brewer12345]

Oddly enough I saw that video and stopped watching before he started drilling. If it got to that point, I imagine I would be sending the barrel to Mr. Hoyt for conversion to 58 cal or 20 gauge.

 

[Runewolf1973]

Oddly enough I saw that video and stopped watching before he started drilling. If it got to that point, I imagine I would be sending the barrel to Mr. Hoyt for conversion to 58 cal or 20 gauge.

I think I would give something like that a try, BUT the thing I would do differently is I would get myself a long rod of solid brass and just kinda carve a sharp end (bit) on it. The brass should be tough enough to chew the lead ball out, but soft enough to not damage the barrel.

I don't really know how well it would work, or if it would even work, but who knows until you try it?

 

[brewer12345]

I think I would give something like that a try, BUT the thing I would do differently is I would get myself a long rod of solid brass and just kinda carve a sharp end (bit) on it. The brass should be tough enough to chew the lead ball out, but soft enough to not damage the barrel.

Well, that will be plan B if the grease gun does not work. After that I suppose I will have a short barrel stainless 20 gauge with rifle sights once I get it back from Mr. Hoyt.

 

[Carbon 6]

Black MZ, a .015 prelubed wonderlube patch

That's why your ball stuck.

 

[Runewolf1973]

Well, that will be plan B if the grease gun does not work. After that I suppose I will have a short barrel stainless 20 gauge with rifle sights once I get it back from Mr. Hoyt.

I really wish you the best of luck. I know I started panicking the first time I dry-balled my gun.

 

[SDSmlf]

That's why your ball stuck.

Ball was stuck because Black MZ, a .015 patch, or prelubed wonderlube patch?

 

[Carbon 6]

I had to pound one down once. then shoot it out,

 

[brewer12345]

That's why your ball stuck.

The hundreds of balls I have shot with the same combination have not been a problem. Frankly, Black MZ fouls a lot less than real black.