This was an interesting thread that also turned out to be a little fun...when I first posted it a few weeks
ago, all the responses at that time were like the majority of these, in that they did not answer the question,
and it points out a couple things that are probably worth mentioning:
1) It seems that we as human beings...myself included / no flame intended...sometimes just do not read
things thoroughly enough, whether because we're anxious to respond with some good advice, or because
we're just in a hurry or whatever, don't know.
There were certainly a number of obvious, good, general gun handling / safety responses, but however good
and well intended they were, for the most part they didn't address the question at all.
Claude & TG get a cigar and a gold star...they directly answered the question.
2) The second observation is that there really is no ignition source inside a sealed bore that could ignite the
powder charge under those described circumstances of pulling a load.
While BP certainly must be treated with due respect, it doesn't mysteriously ignite all by itself...and it's not
like nitroglycerine that might explode from rough handling, etc...it has to have an ignition source...and in
the conditions described of pulling a load, it's safe at least until the ball is out of the bore.
Then everything from the extremes of "nukes to lightning" become fair game for the open muzzle of course...
but at that point...we're really back to the same conditions we're at every time we load a powder charge
into a bore in the first place.
So to me, pulling a ball as I do it is of no safety consequence at all...but FYI, even at that, I still limit my
exposure in front of the muzzle to just the hand on the ramrod for the few seconds it takes to screw in
the ball puller and slide out the ball...just basic gun safety.
Like all of you, I've read / learned about a lot of the things to consider when pulling a load...ie: T-handle in
the fork of a tree...strap around the ramrod tied to something...shooting it out...etc, etc, but after I
stumbled across the comment for the second time in various Internet articles or magazines about "soaking
a bore/load in water for at least a half hour" before attempting to pull a ball, I really began to question the
validity of all this concern over pulling a ball...and could think of no possible ignition source under my
circumstances...and that's why I posed the question to see if anybody really knew of any...and the answer
is that there really doesn't seem to be any ignition source available to a sealed bore under those
circumstances.
Thanks, Bill :: :: ::
