I preparation for the day I dry ball one

[appalichian hunter]

Why not just pull the ball, less mess and less to drag to the range or hunting. If you can not pull it I am a fan of a bit of powder in the touch hole or drum on a percussion, re-seat the ball and away we go. I have a friend great guy but his nick name is dry ball willy. 3 times straight in a row one day at the range go figure.

 

[Ames]

You guys poundin' these loads down the muzzle with a meat mallet? Sounds like a lot of over tight loading if you cant pull a ball out with a ball puller.

 

[Capnball]

Well I was thinking about how I was gonna get a ball out of my GPR if I ever "dry Ball" one and I did a search on this site. I did this cause I am a "Be Prepared" kind of guy. So after an hour of reading I ordered a few 6mmx.75 zerk fittings because I have decided to go with grease gun method. I am also about to order a grease gun with a reversible seal so I can load it with crisco instead of grease .

OK any thoughts , comments , or general BS on my "I'm over thinking this problem" plan.

The Jambuster

I dry balled my Knight the very first time I loaded it. I used a ball puller on a good range rod, worked great. I was back up and shooting in 5 minutes, no cleaning up a big mess.
Neil

 

[oldwood]

TOTW has really good ball puller screws. Wipe the bore w/ lube. Use a metal range rod w/knob on one end , and screw the ball puller screw in 'till it stops. Turn rifle muzzle down w/ range rod knob between soles of shoes, and gently pull up on the rifle. Unfailingly , the ball comes out..............oldwood

 

[Capnball]

I also saw mention of CO2 method but couldn’t find it demo’d at YT. Perhaps the safest ?
I must admit I’ve never dry-balled before but I take no solace from that. Murphy’s Law says my time is coming.

"I must admit I’ve never dry-balled before"
Now ya did it.....lol

 

[Carbon 6]

99% of the time I just shoot out a dry ball by working in some powder under the nipple.

 

[chaynes165]

I also saw mention of CO2 method but couldn’t find it demo’d at YT. Perhaps the safest ?
I must admit I’ve never dry-balled before but I take no solace from that. Murphy’s Law says my time is coming

On my flinters, I pack in the powder with a vent pick. I usually only takes a few grains or so and pop. Out comes the ball. The pan probably has almost that much powder. 4F works great. If you want to hassle with a grease gun, air, Co2, puller etc., Go for it. As for a "pipe bomb", that's ridiculous. The small amount of powder needed isn't going to blow up anything. Heck, you're lucky if it blows the ball out.

I also saw mention of CO2 method but couldn’t find it demo’d at YT. Perhaps the safest ?
I must admit I’ve never dry-balled before but I take no solace from that. Murphy’s Law says my time is coming.

Agreed. We have either dryballed or we will dryball, there are no exceptions.

 

[Grenadier1758]

If the gun is truly dry balled with the ball setting at the breech especially when you have a chambered breech, then getting some powder behind the ball and shooting the ball out is the easiest and simplest method.

If you have a lot of fouling and the ball is stuck halfway down the barrel and powder has been loaded, then removal is more complicated. Getting the ball to move back up the barrel will be easier by pulling. All that volume in the bore makes the usual compressed air dischargers ineffective. What type of range rod do you have? If its wooden, then pulling the ball out or driving the ball to the breech will be unlikely. If you have a sturdy working rod, a ball pulling set such as this one offered by "The Hawken Shop" is very usefull.
http://www.thehawkenshop.com/Products/Extension-Jag-Set__FJ.aspxPour some lubricant/bore cleaner in the barrel to soften the fouling. The drill locates the center of the ball if the tip is wrapped with a patch to center the drill. The puller's threads can engage in the ball without expanding the ball and the threads will grip effectively. With the fouling softened and the grip of the rod secured, the ball can be pulled.

As a last resort the ball puller can be started in the ball to close the hole and the grease fitting applied. When the ball starts to move, pull the ball out.

 

[1950DAVE]

You will not break a ramrod or ball puller screw with this.
Dave

 

[GREZ55]

Work running a BSA camp range several summers.
We had 2 -Co2 - discharger's we used first on the dry balled rifles.
If that did not work had a small flask of 4F picked in 5-10 gr. after resetting the ball.
Then as a last resort had an T - handled rod with a ball puller on it.
Did see a guy pulling a ball one time and his rifle discharged from the friction.
Sent the rod 45 yards down range.

 

[vintovka]

When I started ML in last century the eldest club member helped me. He always would say "p'der afur ball or nay bang T'all" in heavy southern accent (powder before ball or no bang at all). Working in shop over the years we have removed most dry balls with a special rods and screw tips. The latter were all steel and had a sort of slide hammer set up consisting of a 1 pound lead ingot with a hole in it to seat the screw. The spoon grond ffffg method in cap locks with a removable cleanout screw worked well when rod didn't . Little tougher with nipple only. Flintlocks (and all others) that failed both rod and other methods had to have breech pulled. In all cases the dry ball needs to be attended too ASAP as many get upset and put them away dirty which greatly compounds problems including breech removal.

 

[jimairwin]

Well I was thinking about how I was gonna get a ball out of my GPR if I ever "dry Ball" one and I did a search on this site. I did this cause I am a "Be Prepared" kind of guy. So after an hour of reading I ordered a few 6mmx.75 zerk fittings because I have decided to go with grease gun method. I am also about to order a grease gun with a reversible seal so I can load it with crisco instead of grease .

OK any thoughts , comments , or general BS on my "I'm over thinking this problem" plan.

The Jambuster

This will get the dry ball out....and fil your barrel with grease (If you brought enough grease, of course) but your day of shooting will be done. Perhaps that's best, so you learn a lesson in paying attention! But removing the nipple, and dribbling in some powder, then shooting it out gets you back up and running pretty quickly. Be sure to use enough powder to get the ball all the way out! If not, you'll have to do it again. Just be sure to seat the ball down on the powder.
Been there & done that. Takes almost no fore-thought, uses no special tools, and is fast and effective.

 

[Ben Meyer]

CO2 works best. The one they keep on the range at Friendship for tge shoots has a big tank and works great. Ive dryballed both my flintlock and my hawken. The one time I used a ball puller, it was a fail. I have the beefier brass range rod available. We literally pulled out the lead we screwed into from the ball, had to pick it out of the threads of the puller screw!

Powder works. 4grains of 4F isn't gonna blow anything up or bulge barrels; thats all it takes. Putting it thru the flashhole without a liner SUCKS. Takes forever. With a flash hole liner, its easy. 5 minute ordeal. On the Hawken, I have a "clean out" hole. I think the GPR does too. Unscrew it, put some powder in, q tip the threads, screw it back in, fire, DONE. Now, if you have a loaded powder charge in the gun, that changes things. But, that's not a dryball.

 

[Greg Blackburn]

I like being ready for as many contingencies as possible (you should see my car trunk....fire extinguisher, tools, coolant, oil, first aid, etc.) but your best defense against a dry ball is to not let it happen. Pay attention, stay focused. When shooting, turn the phone OFF. If a person has a smartphone, turn it OFF, those things are really good at distracting someone.

Was always curious about the CO2 method and now I've seen it work, very effective.

 

[longcruise]

If you are going to use a ball puller, be certain that it has a caliber specific collar. No collar easily results in the screw running off to the side and damaging the bore.

The easiest way is with the CO2 method. Next up is the powder dribble.

I have done the powder dribble more times than I like to admit. once during a 20 minute match relay i was able to dribble, clear and finish the relay with all of the shots required. Compare that to wrecking the day by filling your bore up with Crisco.

An advantage to the CO2 method is that if you are loading a clean bore for the hunt and dry ball, blowing the ball out will not dirty the gun up which (for me) would require a thorough cleaning before loading it up.

 

[jambuster]

Just an FYI I have a range rod that I think is steel that I got from TOW. Also my gun has only had about 50 rounds through it and I can load two shots without cleaning but I have had the ball stuck midway down the barrel once. I put a little CVA bore blaster down the barrel and let it soak for about 30 minutes. I was then able to push the ball down and shoot it out. Since that event I have been swabbing with solvent between shots . I was going to try multiple shots after a hundred rounds and see if the barrel had smoothed out a little.

My gun is three years old and the original barrel was recalled and this is the new barrel ( Lyman GPR ). After my stuck ball event I thought well I better have some plan for removing a stuck ball .

As I said in my original post I am probably over thinking this but "what the heck" I love this hobby and want to talk muzzleloading all the time. My Zerk fittings will be in tomorrow and will assume their position in my Muzzle loading box for use 10 years from now.

 

[jonathan butcher]

I couldn't agree more. That said I'm adding a CO2 discharger to my shooting range kit. I'll call it an insurance policy.

If you are going to use a ball puller, be certain that it has a caliber specific collar. No collar easily results in the screw running off to the side and damaging the bore.

The easiest way is with the CO2 method. Next up is the powder dribble.

I have done the powder dribble more times than I like to admit. once during a 20 minute match relay i was able to dribble, clear and finish the relay with all of the shots required. Compare that to wrecking the day by filling your bore up with Crisco.

An advantage to the CO2 method is that if you are loading a clean bore for the hunt and dry ball, blowing the ball out will not dirty the gun up which (for me) would require a thorough cleaning before loading it up.

 

[Greg Blackburn]

It could happen to me the next time I hit the range but I used to shoot my CVA caplock a great deal, well over 100 rounds, perhaps closer to 200. Mostly patched round ball. I'd go to the range and shoot for hours, much to the annoyance of other shooters downwind. LOL. I swabbed between shots, never had a problem. Paying attention is your best protection against a dry ball. Being OCD helps a great deal too.

Mark your ramrod for when it's loaded and pay attention. This was pre-cell phone times, so not much distraction back then. I hate texting and will not own a smartphone, two big distractions removed there.

 

[jonathan butcher]

I don't disagree but I wouldn't underestimate the distraction of just conversing with shooting buddies. When i shoot alone i have an almost rhythmic adherence to shooting protocols, the steps involved in shooting a muzzleloader. I'm thinking about it, not politics or our families or the guy in the shooting stall next to mine. That singular focus is probably why I've never dry-balled. But.
Shooting with friends or a group by definition means my attention is spread around, my focus diminished. For me the cell phone isn't even in the picture.
Just my own experience.

It could happen to me the next time I hit the range but I used to shoot my CVA caplock a great deal, well over 100 rounds, perhaps closer to 200. Mostly patched round ball. I'd go to the range and shoot for hours, much to the annoyance of other shooters downwind. LOL. I swabbed between shots, never had a problem. Paying attention is your best protection against a dry ball. Being OCD helps a great deal too.

Mark your ramrod for when it's loaded and pay attention. This was pre-cell phone times, so not much distraction back then. I hate texting and will not own a smartphone, two big distractions removed there.

 

[flntlokr]

Well I was thinking about how I was gonna get a ball out of my GPR if I ever "dry Ball" one and I did a search on this site. I did this cause I am a "Be Prepared" kind of guy. So after an hour of reading I ordered a few 6mmx.75 zerk fittings because I have decided to go with grease gun method. I am also about to order a grease gun with a reversible seal so I can load it with crisco instead of grease .

OK any thoughts , comments , or general BS on my "I'm over thinking this problem" plan.

The Jambuster

Hi,
No need to set yourself up for a nasty clean-up job. First thing is to work some powder down through the nipple hole; as much as you can, fine powder works best because it will flow in better; get as much in as you can, there is quite a lot of romm in the patent breech; then just shoot the ball out. You may need a couple of tries to gfet enough powder down. If the first attempt doesn't get it out, check with the rod to see if the ball has moved up the barrel. If it has or not, stuff moer powder down under the nipple. When you think you have enough, ram the ball home, and try again. This will always work if you can get enough powder in. If it doesn't work : Either get a CO2 discharger, or use a home-made tire valve adaptor in place of the nipple, and a bicycle pump or compressor to discharge the ball; no mess at all. Lots of times you can push the ball out if you can hold a compressed air hose tight over the nipple hole. Don't get in front of the barrel when doing this; the ball will come out with some force.