I joined the dry ball club today

[Bullit]

I've never DB'd before, but I did once dry fire my crossbow. Does that count ?

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I've never DB'd before, but I did once dry fire my crossbow. Does that count ?

“Never DB’d before”….there’s the curse right there….

 

[granth]

You’ve found your calling…

Unfortunately so!

 

[Whitworth]

It's a club always accepting new members

 

[Kansas Jake]

And the only cost of initiation is some frustration and embarrassment.

 

[Rebel jim]

I remember back in 1992 when I started shooting BP, the first time out shooting my 1860 Army it seemed like everything that could go wrong went wrong. Including dry balling.
Fast forward a few years later shooting my frontier .50, I loaded two patches that were stuck together. I only got it halfway down the Barrel before it stopped. So I had to pack up my range day and go home to put the barrel in a vice.
Ended up taking the range rod and a hammer and pounded until the ball seated.
Then I capped it up, went out back and shot it into the ground.
Unfortunately I lived in a neighborhood, but fortunately my neighbors only heard the bang and not me shooting.

 

[1BadDart]

I'll fess up, I've dry balled my .40 several times since I started shooting it a couple months ago. I had a couple shooting secessions that I didn't dry ball it, the last secession I was almost finished and dry balled it. My little mind is easily distracted.

 

[TFoley]

There are two types of muzzleloading shooters, those that have dry balled and those that will!

I've done it once in the last forty years, and since then I line everything up for loading - in the order it has to go - in a loading block with a sliding lid.

Left to right - powder phial - wad - powder - swab.

The lid only moves from right to left - it has a ratchet-y lid doo-dad.

A little story from the range, in which a shooter next to me with an unmentionable .308 shot the laser bore-sight collimator out of the muzzle...I collected a piece of it in the fore-end of my Musketoon.

 

[Snapshot in Norway]

Dry ball's are "interesting". Do this long enough, you'll see someone forget to remove their ramrod. Don't be that guy.

Have to admit that I am that guy. Steel range rod flew out of my Jaeger 50 cal, it went in to orbit, newer to been seen again.! It is the same Jaeger rifle I am holding in my thumbnail. Rifle still shoots good and I have a new brass range rod!

Yeah---- time for you all to rub it in..! I do deserve it!

 

[rmark]

Dry balled a 500 grain paper patched bullet in my .58 rifled musket, removed the nipple and put in as much 3f as possible. Reinstalled nipped and fired it out, it hit the ground about 30 - 40 feet in front of me.

 

[DuncNZ]

The old timers carried ball pulling screws and I bet it was not just for silent unloading .

 

[deerstalkert]

180 year old rod tip. there is two kinds of ball pullers. them that have and them that are going to.

 

[Trapper Scott]

Well, only been shooting black powder for a couple of years now, still consider myself "new" to the sport; until today. I always heard if you shoot muzzleloaders enough it's a when not an if , on dry balling. Told myself "I'll never do that, I'm careful", well I was getting some good groups, things were going well, got excited and it happened. As soon as I smacked the short starter I knew what I did. I tried the air compressor and that didn't work, so I pulled the vent liner and trickled about 20 grs. of 2F in the breach, then replaced the liner and seated the ball. Fired it at the berm and watch the ball hit the dirt at about 50 yds. Easy peasy,, back to shooting in no time. That was the first. I'm sure it won't be the last; all part of the experience.

My time is yet to come for dry balling a barrel. Don't get me wrong, I have pulled many of them out of other folk's rifles with good success when I was gunsmithing, and was probably one of my least favorite jobs to do. I've actually cleared cleaning rods and arrow shafts from barrels also. It was usually a gun that they hunted with 10 years ago and never fired or cleaned before putting it in a damp basement or closet.

 

[manbat]

Club or rite of passage? I think the latter, so congratulations.

 

[flconch53]

My time is yet to come for dry balling a barrel. Don't get me wrong, I have pulled many of them out of other folk's rifles with good success when I was gunsmithing, and was probably one of my least favorite jobs to do. I've actually cleared cleaning rods and arrow shafts from barrels also. It was usually a gun that they hunted with 10 years ago and never fired or cleaned before putting it in a damp basement or closet.

When I was running my shop it was kind of a contest t o see how many loaded rifles came in before deer season that the owner didn't know if it was loaded or not. Most were and involved one of the many methods to get the charge out. Point being many people think t hey dryballed when it was really something else

 

[Little Brother]

Out of curiosity, what sized zerk fitting would fit something like a TC Hawkin .50?

 

[Walkingeagle]

Out of curiosity, what sized zerk fitting would fit something like a TC Hawkin .50?

1/4x28 threads.
Walk

 

[oldwood]

Went to a covered range today , w/intermittent hard rain. First shot went , OK , but the next caught me daydreaming. About 20 gr. FFFFG through the touch hole cleared the dry ball. The rest of the shooting went OK. Getting old sucks. Payed my dues to the Dryball club.

 

[Little Brother]

1/4x28 threads.
Walk

Thank you!

 

[Sun City]

Once you start to reload all else is IGNORED until you're finished!