Had my first BP "difficulty" the other day.

[JimG]

I got my new .490 mold. I also bought a micrometer. I bought some 'drill' and 'muslin' cloth to experiment with for patches as 'pillow ticking' is waaaaayyyyy to thick for my bore. Well I poured some 130 good balls and wanted to try the 'fit' with my homemade patches. I shoved a 'drill' cloth patch with a RB in it down the bore about 1 foot. All seemed well. I pull out my trusty (read- never used before!) ball puller. Screw it into the ramrod. Try to get the screw to go into the ball. No go (or so I thought). All I succeded in doing was pushing the ball all the way down during my many futile attempts. After an hour of tinkering I give up on the ball puller. I pull the clean out screw. I trickle in about 5 grains of Pyrodex RS Select. :youcrazy: Cap 'er and point in a safe direction and fire. HAH! No go. Just a "fffzzzttt". Check ball position with ramrod. Did'nt budge. Try 10 grains. "FFFZZZZZTTT, pop! Moved about 6". Try another 10 grains. This time a loud POP and then a thud as the ball lands in a blanket I had wadded up in a box. No harm, no foul, just a wasted 1.5 hours. No more "dry runs" without a charge of powder. Checked the ball after I got 'er out and the ball puller did bore a hole into the ball, the threads just pulled out everytime. Need a better puller! :hmm:

 

[aragorn]

You need to screw the puller really deep into the ball - as far as you can go. Then it should come out, though you may have to use a bench vise to pull it.

If I'm pulling a ball that's got powder still behind it, I make sure I thoroughly soak the breech of the barrel in a tub first so the powder's all wet - minimizes risk!

 

[John Taylor]

I got tired of trying ball pullers many years ago. I just shoot them out. Make sure you push the ball all the way down the bore after you get some powder behind it with each new attempt to shoot it out. Even a small charge can ring the barrel if the ball is not close to the charge.
There was a great story in muzzle blast many years ago about someone screwing the ball puller into the breach plug.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Moved about 6". Try another 10 grains.

Um. You did re-seat the ball on the powder before you attempted to shoot it out again. I hope. :shocked2:

Always good to try pulling a ball at home before you need to do it in the woods.

I give my rammer a good toss down the bore into the ball to dimple it so the threads catch. Only do this if your puller is the kind with a collar to keep it centered. If you have the uncollared kind stick a fep patches over the rammer so it doesn't "walk" around the ball's curve and start gouging the barrel wall.

I also keep a strip of leather in my bag for added grip when pushing down hard to drill the lead, and for grip pulling the rod out with the ball.

Well, you've got it behind you now. If you ever do it again it will be easier. :haha:

 

[roundball]

Moved about 6". Try another 10 grains.

Um. You did re-seat the ball on the powder before you attempted to shoot it out again. I hope. :shocked2:

Always good to try pulling a ball at home before you need to do it in the woods.

I give my rammer a good toss down the bore into the ball to dimple it so the threads catch. Only do this if your puller is the kind with a collar to keep it centered. If you have the uncollared kind stick a fep patches over the rammer so it doesn't "walk" around the ball's curve and start gouging the barrel wall.

I also keep a strip of leather in my bag for added grip when pushing down hard to drill the lead, and for grip pulling the rod out with the ball.

Well, you've got it behind you now. If you ever do it again it will be easier. :haha:

Right about all that...I'd never go hunting without a ball puller in my pouch...I've dry balled at the range a number of times...never while hunting...but rest assured, the day I didn't have a ball puller with me would be the day I'd do it!!
:grin:

 

[Zonie]

IMO, the problem with a ball puller screw is it makes the ball fit tighter in the bore when it's screwed in.
To assure a good grip, the screw has to be screwed in quite a ways and often this is deeper than 1/2 of the balls diameter.

It's about the same principal as the lead plugs you get to hang curtain rods in houses with plaster/wallboard walls. As the screw goes in, the plug (ball) expands making it fit tightly in the hole (bore).
That's why I save the ball puller as a last resort.

The ole trickle the powder in trick works almost every time although a CO2 powered load remover is safer to use.

 

[JimG]

Yes the puller does have a collar. No I did not seat the ball after it had gone the first 6" or so. Yes I AM aware of the problems of 'ringing' or 'acorning' a barrel from not fully seating a ball on the powder. Trust me this was going through my head all the time. However I did not feel as though a measured 10 grains would damage anything from a short started ball in a 50 cal muzzleloader rated for 120 grains of powder. I WOULD NEVER go more than what I did to get the ball out. I was actually amazed that 10 grains moved the ball at all. I also don't believe that 10 grains loose could build enough pressure to damage a modern BP rifle. That does not mean that if 10 is ok then 20 must be great either. I took what I felt was a fairly safe calculated risk. If I am completely nuts :youcrazy: then say so but I can't see where 10 grains loose could build that much pressure. 30 or more, sure can understand it, but not 10. Maybe I'm wrong?? I'm an admitted 'newbie' so I do have much to learn. :grin:

 

[Zonie]

IMO, the 10 grains probably didn't cause any harm because of the location of the ball and the fact that 10 grains is a very light load in a .50 caliber gun.

If you want to check the bore, place a lightly lubricated tight fitting patch on the jag and run it down the bore.
If it has about the same resistance all the way to the breech everything is fine.
If it suddenly gets noticably looser or easier to push down the barrel may have been damaged.

 

[AZ-Robert]

...the threads just pulled out everytime. Need a better puller!

Maybe, but it was probably just the soft lead. Sounds like the patch was dry, too. Maybe some oil down the barrel (after screwing into the ball) to help the ball start moving before the lead gives way.

 

[Throckmorton]

our first ball-pulling try was a lot like yours.
what we finally did was cut the tapered end off of the screw to give it more 'bite'.Worked great!!
Now we carry both,the pointed one and the flush one.

 

[roundball]

IMO, the problem with a ball puller screw is it makes the ball fit tighter in the bore when it's screwed in.
To assure a good grip, the screw has to be screwed in quite a ways and often this is deeper than 1/2 of the balls diameter.

It's about the same principal as the lead plugs you get to hang curtain rods in houses with plaster/wallboard walls. As the screw goes in, the plug (ball) expands making it fit tightly in the hole (bore).
That's why I save the ball puller as a last resort.

The ole trickle the powder in trick works almost every time although a CO2 powered load remover is safer to use.

Never had a problem with a ball puller...each caliber has it's own size of course with a caliber sized brass collar.
I pull the balls at the end of every day's hunt...25-35 times a season for years...screw it in tight and they slide right out...then I blow out the power charge with an air compressor, wipe the bore, etc

 

[oomcurt]

Just adding my two cents at the end. I always have a length of leather lacing made into a loop in my bag. Just form a loop in it by wrapping one end around a tree, heavy table leg..etc. and do the same around your range rod or ramrod.
Then pull. If your ramrod does not have a flared end then I suppose one could use a rolling hitch. Either way it is a lot easier and quicker than trying to pull a stuck rod or ball by hand alone. Re that post about someone screwing thier ball puller into the breech block????? Must have been one hell of a steel in that puller or else that block was made of bubble gum.

 

[JimG]

Checked the bore with a tight patch around the jag. No 'funny' spots in the bore. Other than a rough spot that was there before. I tried the puller with a RB clamped moderately tight in a vise. All the screw did was go in part way then chew the lead out like an auger. I looked closely at the puller and found that the threads are not very deep at all. Maybe I need to make my own puller with a more aggressive screw?

 

[John Taylor]

The story about screwing the ball puller into the breach was one of those "tall tails, sea story or farytail" The end of the story the guy couldn't pull the rod out so he tied the gun in the crotch of a large tree and put a half hitch on the rod and use a mule to pull it out. Turned his barrel inside out so the rifling was on the outside. Used the barrel to build a new rifling machine.

 

[brubincam]

if you screw the ball puller into a loaded ball and unscrew it leaving the ball loaded in the barrel wouldnt it work like a hollow point??? :thumbsup:

 

[Stumpkiller]

if you screw the ball puller into a loaded ball and unscrew it leaving the ball loaded in the barrel wouldnt it work like a hollow point???

Yep. That's just what they look like.

The lead "oozes" up around the hole as the screw goes in and they end up kind'a pear-shaped. Usually the hole's just a bit off-center, unfortunately. (I guess unfortunately??). I toss mine in the scrap bucket for re-use after melting.

There have been a few times I was fairly sure I was about to turn my barrel inside out. That goes well with the time I thought I had a misfire on a real cold day and noticed my rammer lying on the ground ahead of the barrel. I picked it up and it exploded! Turns out it was so cold the blast froze in the barrlel and slid out intact, and all it took was the warmth of my hand to set it off.

It gets so cold in New York that there's a tale of whole indian village being wiped out when the squaws picked up what they thought were sticks after the Battle of Snowshoes and tossed them on the fire, only to find out too late that they were frozen explosions what fell out of the musket muzzles.

 

[roundball]

Checked the bore with a tight patch around the jag. No 'funny' spots in the bore. Other than a rough spot that was there before. I tried the puller with a RB clamped moderately tight in a vise. All the screw did was go in part way then chew the lead out like an auger. I looked closely at the puller and found that the threads are not very deep at all. Maybe I need to make my own puller with a more aggressive screw?

I found that I have to apply 'constant' inward force while turning it and it'll go in deeper OK...and it really works best with a ball or T-handle screwed onto the end of the ramrod to get the torque necessary...without constant inward push/force, it'll just sit there an eat out a cavity...

 

[wwfeatherston]

Today it was a stuck rod!

After a dozen or so shot, I decided to wipe the barrel. As the patch hit bottom, it stuck good & tight.

Two of us pulling couldn't get it out and pouring ballistol in didn't help, so that was the end of shooting for the day.

When I got home, I clamped the rod in the vice- one pull and out it came.

Those unbreakable rods are great, but once that plastic gets a little oil on in- no grip. I will drill a hole through and put a strong cord through- like I've been meaning to do for months now...

 

[msbcomputer]

I bought a fiberglass super rod to use while I'm at the range and for cleaning. Never had a problem swabbing with it. I did use it this year to pull a bullet for the first time...no problems at all. The handle makes things really easy. I also own a ram rod puller but have never even used it on any of my guns.

 

[nw_hunter]

After screwing the puller into the ball, I rap several half hitches around the rod, with a heavy nylon cord, and tape around them with electrical tape to hold them in place. Then I tie the loose end of the cord around a my oak tree, and holding the rifle just back away from the tree......Pops right out every time.