Minnie Ball Stuck 1861 Springfield

[59sharps]

Reproduction



Unfortunately not.

Probably missed it but where are you from or at

 

[ML48]

Don’t think that heat would be a problem and there would be no sparks, besides which black powder is notoriously difficult to ignite with electric sparks.
As the barrel is an original it is probably iron or not as tough as today’s steels, so bashing the bullet could cause a slight bulge.

I don't know about that. A spark is a spark whether it is electrically or flint created.

 

[ML48]

REALLY?????????? 7 pages to remove a stuck bullet....REALLY ????????????

 

[Rudall]

A spark is a spark whether it is electrically or flint created.

That isn’t true at all. An electrical spark is ionised air. Sparks from flint and steel are red-hot particles of steel.
see also:
http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/sparks/sparks.html

 

[Okie Hog]

REALLY?????????? 7 pages to remove a stuck bullet....REALLY ????????????

Yes!!!!

How did Grand Dad or the blacksmith in 1870 remove the ball without access to compressed air, grease gun, long shanked drill or levitation?

 

[Cpt Flint]

I still don’t know whether to laugh or cry at this thread. I guess that I read it to marvel at the sheer stupidity of some who have posted answers and solutions. This has become a comedy that I see every morning. I think that I am out of this forum. Good riddance.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Yes!!!!

How did Grand Dad or the blacksmith in 1870 remove the ball without access to compressed air, grease gun, long shanked drill or levitation?

The blacksmith would have removed the breech plug and driven the stuck ball out.

 

[deerstalkert]

didn't i predict 7 pages?

 

[ML48]

I still don’t know whether to laugh or cry at this thread. I guess that I read it to marvel at the sheer stupidity of some who have posted answers and solutions. This has become a comedy that I see every morning. I think that I am out of this forum. Good riddance.

You mean it shouldn't take 7 pages to remove a stuck ball????
Don't leave please....sometimes it's actually entertaining.

 

[beyu]

Some times folks that did not have success with a ball puller was they did not get the full length of the screw engaged into the lead ball. Measure your screw length, then mark the rod when the screw comes in contact with the lead, then screw the rod in the same measurement of the screw length.

Winters:

I agree with the above advice!

I have successfully pulled three or four .69 cal round balls out of my Charleville using a bullet puller. I know a smoothbore is different from a rifle, but still — ?

I would not worry about getting the bullet puller stuck as long as you are using one that firmly screws onto the end of your range rod.

Track Of The Wolf has the one I have used:

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/574/1
How I did it:

(1) Take the barrel out of the stock and put it in a vise with wood blocks to prevent marring the finish.

(2) Insert the ball puller and turn it to the RIGHT until it has been"screwed" into the bullet as far as it will go — COULD be as many as 8 to 10 turns. Lean on it and really apply some pressure to it as you go. The lead is pretty soft and the screw will go in pretty far.

(3) Pull on the range rod real hard! Lean into it with a slow steady pull. Worked for me every time I had to do. Hope I don't need to do it again, it's a pain — but I am not nearly as concerned about it by now as I was the first time I had to do it.

Once it is out, you will see the only way to get the ball puller out of the bullet is to unscrew it; it's really in there!

Even IF the ball puller came off your range rod and got left in the bore, you STILL have the other options; grease gun, compressed air, water, etc. that you had available to you before.

A word of caution — be sure to only turn the ball puller on the range rod clockwise as you screw it into the lodged bullet. If you forget yourself and go the other way, then it WILL come off the range rod.

Good Luck.

 

[Winters]

Well, everybody, the ball is now out of the gun and in my hand.

I had a buddy come over and we put near-boiling water down on top of the stuck ball again. I couldn't really get any water under it as the nipple hole was still clogged with leftover gunpowder. We tried the ball puller again but kept getting just small pieces of the ball out. We decided to really try to get the ball puller as secure in the bullet as we could, and found it was impossible to pull the ramrod out. We attached an adjustable wrench to the end of the ramrod and took a rubber mallet to it. It took a couple of tries to get the ball to come out along with the ball puller, but eventually, it did come out.

Thank you to everybody who gave any advice - I used nearly all of it. Helpful and awesome forum as always. For those of you who were just along for the seven going on eight-page show, I have one last thing for you (and everyone else). Check these out. One on the left is a normal minie for refrence. The right one was what was in my gun.

 

[deerstalkert]

now the advice about polishing your bore is about to start! another 7 pages? great forum as everybody offers something.
congratulation's on a successful delivery!

 

[Jaegermeister]

Hooray.

 

[Whitworth]

 

[dave951]

now the advice about polishing your bore is about to start! another 7 pages? great forum as everybody offers something.
congratulation's on a successful delivery!

Not from this quarter. I still want to know the load data. Powder, bullet diameter, cap and lube. That's the root cause here. Nearly every stuck ball I've seen in a musket was caused by one of those four items being ignored or following a "reenactorism"

Polishing the bore has absolutely nothing to do with this

 

[Norman Brooks]

ot from this quarter. I still want to know the load data. Powder, bullet diameter, cap and lube. That's the root cause here. Nearly every stuck ball I've seen in a musket was caused by one of those four items being ignored or following a "reenactorism"

Polishing the bore has absolutely nothing to do with this

And how many shots with out swabbing the bore?

 

[dave951]

And how many shots with out swabbing the bore?

If the load is correct, that is not an issue with a musket. I've often gone long shot strings without wiping as the minie system is designed to do exactly that. Get one of the parts wrong and presto, the original subject of this thread.

 

[Norman Brooks]

If is the big word... Until learning what the load is and the correct powder charge using black powder and not some of the subs I would say swab...

 

[Britsmoothy]

Well done Winters. Bet it was a huge relief and well done to your friend.

Getting the sizing of the minie is vital and a boon is a lube suitable to your climate that is neither to hard or to runny. But definitely favour wet over hard. I know it's messy to handle but anything that keeps the fouling softer than dry and crusty is a boon.
BPCR shooters always look for a wet muzzle, wet from lube that is. Whether it's via bullet grooves carrying enough lube or by using a grease cookie under the bullet.
You can do the same. Cut some cards wads from a suitable punch. Drop powder add a card, add a blob of lube, add second card and ram home. That's wet and semi scraped the bore. Now load the bullet.
The advantage of this over swabbing is that you don't run the risk of wetting the nipple bolster causing a misfire. You also don't need to carry water, patches and a second rod, just load and shoot.
With swabbing your starting on a clean bore again. With out swabbing, once your barrel has a consistent coating of lube (just like a regular 22 barrel) it will shoot its best.

 

[Widows Son]

Well done Winters. Bet it was a huge relief and well done to your friend.

You can do the same. Cut some cards wads from a suitable punch. Drop powder add a card, add a blob of lube, add second card and ram home. That's wet and semi scraped the bore. Now load the bullet.
The advantage of this over swabbing is that you don't run the risk of wetting the nipple bolster causing a misfire. You also don't need to carry water, patches and a second rod, just load and shoot.
With swabbing your starting on a clean bore again. With out swabbing, once your barrel has a consistent coating of lube (just like a regular 22 barrel) it will shoot its best.

It must require quite a bit of grease to do this with a muzzleloading rife. And wouldn’t the subsequent powder charge get caught in all that bore-slime and not properly fill the breech? (without a funnel drop tube)