I'm an idiot!!

[ohio ramrod]

I'll have you know , I represent your remark! :idunno: :idunno:

 

[Lonegun1894]

Ramrod,
Dont feel bad, I have shot my ramrod down range too...

 

[roundball]

I'm still a virgin in that area...I've dry balled and double balled but haven't fired a rod down range yet.
Truth be known, the reason is that the range rods I use all have large 2" wooden balls on them which are visible above the barrel if you shoulder the gun with a range rod still in the bore...which I have done a couple times...LOL

 

[Zoar]

One other way to so-called "dry ball" is to put powder in before the ball but BEING A NEWBIE and BEING OVER ZEALOUS I had too much OIL in the barrel while storing it and never "dried out" the barrel before loading powder in it so the powder was rendered useless.

I realize this has a different term but the result is the same. A ball jammed in the barrel with no useful propellant behind it.

I only warn you about this because it is again a very common situation that happens to many newbies and sometimes others. Too much oil in the barrel!

One thing I started doing ever SINCE the second day of shooting a muzzleloader and having excess oil in the bottom of the barrel and needing a BALL PULLER is --- whenever I go to shoot a muzzleloader after cleaning/storing it is: I run a DRY PATCH down the barrel to remove any oil residue in the bottom of the barrel and be sure I get the oil OUT!

A good BALL PULLER is worth its weight in platinum.

 

[roundball]

As an additional consideration, I got into the habit of storing mine muzzle-down so any excess lube gradually migrates to the muzzle, not the breech

 

[Zoar]

That makes TOO MUCH SENSE!

:thumbsup: :wink: :grin:

 

[Bruce H]

One other way to so-called "dry ball" is to put powder in before the ball but BEING A NEWBIE and BEING OVER ZEALOUS I had too much OIL in the barrel while storing it and never "dried out" the barrel before loading powder in it so the powder was rendered useless.

I realize this has a different term but the result is the same. A ball jammed in the barrel with no useful propellant behind it.

I only warn you about this because it is again a very common situation that happens to many newbies and sometimes others. Too much oil in the barrel!

One thing I started doing ever SINCE the second day of shooting a muzzleloader and having excess oil in the bottom of the barrel and needing a BALL PULLER is --- whenever I go to shoot a muzzleloader after cleaning/storing it is: I run a DRY PATCH down the barrel to remove any oil residue in the bottom of the barrel and be sure I get the oil OUT!

A good BALL PULLER is worth its weight in platinum.

I had that happen once too. I had pushed a hollow point Powerbelt (no comment, this was a long time ago!) down and knew I was in trouble when I saw oil in the nipple. Fortunately my el-cheapo ball puller was able to grab the hollow part and the Powerbelt came right out. It was this forum that I then read about storing my rifle muzzle down and I have not had an issue since.

 

[Rifleman1776]

The only sure thing in life if you shoot MLers, is that you Will Dry Ball your gun eventually.

90% of ml'ers admit to having dry balled.
The other 10% are liars. :blah:

 

[Many Klatch]

I have dryballed more times than I would care to count. Usually happens when I am talking to someone while loading.

When it happens on a woodswalk or hunting you won't have a big heavy range rod handy. If the bore is dirty, then the first thing to do is to squirt some liquid (water, oil, beer, whiskey) in the bore to loosen up the fouling. Then it is time for the screws.

I carry three sizes of ball pulling screws in my shooting bag. The first one I use is the smallest and sharpest one, if I am lucky it will work right off. If it pulls out and leaves a hole, then I use the next larger one to get a better grip on the ball, if that pulls out, it will be leaving a bigger hole. Then I guarantee that the last one will get a grip on the lead, it looks like a small lag bolt but is too blunt to drill into a lead ball by itself.

Then it is simply a matter of having someone hold the gun while you pull the ramrod out with the stuck ball.

Of course then you have to clean all the goop out of the barrel, since you poured the liquid in the first place, but that gives you time to promise yourself never to do it again.

Many Klatch

 

[Rifleman1776]

Then it is simply a matter of having someone hold the gun while you pull the ramrod out with the stuck ball.

Done it (helping others :wink: ) many times. The tradition is that the owner pulls the rod from the business end.
However. A forked tree or steel slotted plate is much easier and safer. This provided yer rod has a handle.

 

[ken.clements]

Then it is simply a matter of having someone hold the gun while you pull the ramrod out with the stuck ball.

Done it (helping others :wink: ) many times. The tradition is that the owner pulls the rod from the business end.
However. A forked tree or steel slotted plate is much easier and safer. This provided yer rod has a handle.

tradition? I would say a good bit of good old commen sense also :wink:

 

[Bruce H]

I like the idea of 3 different sizes of pullers. Makes a lot of sense to me.

 

[Lonegun1894]

Roundball,
In a way I hate to admit this, but I fired my ramrod intentionally. It snapped within a few inches of the breach while trying to pull a dryball, and I was unable to pull the whole mess out. So I used the powder under the nipple trick to bloop the whole mess out of the bore and down range after making sure it was seated all the way down. I found my ball puller with ball attached on the 100yd berm a couple months later, but had bought a new one by then--and it had been shot by something else.

 

[ChrisHarris]

Proud member of the Honorable Dry-Ballers Society. :hatsoff:

 

[Buffalohntr]

As a old member of the dry ball club there is a poem that if you memorise it you will never do it again.
"First The POWDER Then the BALL, That's the
BEST-ES LOAD of ALL" Good luck :v :v

 

[GeekEGuy]

So what club are you in if you just spend an hour trying to pull a "phantom ball"?

Pop and I went shooting. He's sitting one bench over. Loaded his powder from a flask with a 60gr attached spout. Loaded the bullet (enfield carbine), put on the cap...cocked the hammer...pulled the trigger *CRACK*. Sounded funny...not too loud. Was it just the cap?

Pop said it didnt go so he puts on another cap. Cap just pops. I go over and help him remove the nipple, add some powder try again.. still nothing. We try that again...Still nothing. Time to pull the ball. Damn thing wouldn't come out. Hour later its just time to go home.

As we're driving I ask him "are you sure it didn't go?"

Got home, got my barrel light and guess what??? NO BALL!

After some conductive reasoning we determined he probably measure his powder from the spout, tipped his flask back upright before closing off the valve so most of it must of returned to the flask. Probably only poured about 10gr of powder down the barrel and when he shot, it must of plopped out and he never felt it.

 

[aeatwood]

Been there, done that. wasted about 2 hours.

 

[Dr5x]

My most embarrassing Dry Ball.
Maybe 25 years ago before I began coaching at the range I was frequently surrounded by young folk who had never seen or heard a Black Powder rifle. I was happy to demonstrate its wonders.
Well, I began the demo by dry balling. Not intentionally of course. But there I was, surrounded by young minds who thought they were watching a real expert.
Realizing my error I quickly removed the nipple , forced in some powder, replaced the nipple , capped it and poofed the ball out of the barrel.
I then proceeded to load in the correct way. One of the more observant fellows asked what all that scrambling about was for.
"Oh, that's just routine maintenance. You have to do that every so often.

When I was teaching I learned that you can never admit a mistake before students because if you do, half the class will drop the course. They incorrectly assume that the teacher knows everything. If he shows he doesn't know everything there is no point in listening to him.

My experience with ball pullers was such that I only used one once and that, unsuccessfully.

Dutch

 

[teb0atoz]

Make a ball puller with a sheet rock screw. THey are very sharp and have agressive threads.

 

[Rifleman1776]

The title of this thread gets me every time.
OK, if you insist. I'll agree. You are an idiot. :blah: :rotf: :haha: