Newbie Looking for Advice on Failed Ignition of Main Charge

[Eterry]

It's because of my poor quality powder and poorly seated ball I think.

I think it's because the packing grease left in the barrel.
If you must pull a ball, the grease gun is easier then most options.
There's a video of it here somewhere.

 

[Eterry]

Well, today I built a nice frame to hole the barrel and safely discharge the ball, I loaded the back with as much 4fg I could and reinstalled the touch hole liner, inserted a fuse into it, put on my hearing and got a bucket of water and fire extinguisher and lit it.

Nothing, Kaput. I waited 10 mins, cleaned it out, put more powder in, another fuse. Nothing!

I'm real stumped. I guess I will try the puller. I am tempted to remove the breech plug but I keep seeing other threads saying its a mistake to try

You need to get as much grease from the breech area as possible, I'd use Qtips, bunches of them, because the grease was shoved nto the breech first.
In 1980 I did the same thing; no one thought to clean the barrel after i built the kit. It took a bit to get dry clean powder into the chamber, and it went pop! The ball flew about 20 yards, my little brother picked it up and gave it back to me.

If you decide to remove the ball, a grease gun or compressed air works good.
The packing grease was the main suspect, the other issues were accomplices.

 

[J.D.]

After cleaning out as much of the grease as you can, with a Qtip, you might squirt some brake cleaner into the breech, to clean out as much grease as possible. When the brake cleaner dries, trickle about 15-20 grains of powder into the breech, install the TH liner, and shoot it out....after making sure the ball is seated.

 

[Eterry]

After cleaning out as much of the grease as you can, with a Qtip, you might squirt some brake cleaner into the breech, to clean out as much grease as possible. When the brake cleaner dries, trickle about 15-20 grains of powder into the breech, install the TH liner, and shoot it out....after making sure the ball is seated.

I was trying to recall what solvent I've seen used before. Brake cleaner, carburetor cleaner, or acetone would do nicely. I'm sure there are many more.
I recall it took me all afternoon to get mine to fire after doing the same thing. Fortunately, mine was percussion. I finally got it to pop, the ball was recovered, and used again.
This was in 1980, long before the internets.

 

[Eterry]

I suppose I could do that as well but I saw removal of the barrel from the stock as easier. Though it is quite firmly wedged into the stock on my model haha.

Be sure and seat the ball before attempting to fire it. It can cause a bulge or ring in the barrel, and really makes things worse.
Have you had any luck?

 

[Newbert]

Be sure and seat the ball before attempting to fire it. It can cause a bulge or ring in the barrel, and really makes things worse.
Have you had any luck?

Hi! Yes as of RIGHT NOW!

After finding out a postal strike would delay my ball puller by weeks more I decided to try again. I used canned air to really try and dry out the hole as best I could and this time put SUPER fine powder in the touch hole and screwed in the liner.

I used a fuse. Put in my earplugs and POP

The ball at last came loose.

There was very little residual greasy powder left over. Less than I thought.

I cleaned the gun barrel completely with hot soapy water and some patches. They I ran some more patch to dry and an oiled one up and down.

Reassembled and its put back together.in my DIY rack!

Thank you very much to everyone for their advice and help. It's a little shameful my first ever shot from a flintlock was at the whopping speed of 2 feet per second but I decided to keep the ball and patch as a memento

I didnt film the extraction but heres some photos of the Jig I built, the offending ball, and the rack.

 

[Eterry]

Congratulations!! I'm glad you got it worked out. Remember to ALWAYS run a dry patch down the bore before loading. There will be some residual oil left in the bore. I now stand my muzzleloaders muzzle down after cleaning and oiling. It keeps the oil away from the breech.
Also, some shooters fire a blank charge before loading; to ensure everything is in order and to foul the bore. Simply pour half a load of powder down the barrel, prime and pointing it upwards (outside) pull the Trigger.
Again, Congratulations. I hope to see more posts as you learn more about flintlocks.
Eterry.

 

[Newbert]

Congratulations!! I'm glad you got it worked out. Remember to ALWAYS run a dry patch down the bore before loading. There will be some residual oil left in the bore. I now stand my muzzleloaders muzzle down after cleaning and oiling. It keeps the oil away from the breech.
Also, some shooters fire a blank charge before loading; to ensure everything is in order and to foul the bore. Simply pour half a load of powder down the barrel, prime and pointing it upwards (outside) pull the Trigger.
Again, Congratulations. I hope to see more posts as you learn more about flintlocks.
Eterry.

Good idea about running a patch down to swab out the oil. What is the reason you want to foul the barrel before shooting?

 

[nick_1]

awesome. Glad you worked it out.

 

[French Colonial]

Good idea about running a patch down to swab out the oil. What is the reason you want to foul the barrel before shooting?

Lots of percussion shooters put a cap on their unloaded gun and pointing the barrel at some grass or leaves that are close set it off, if the leaves/grass move from the burst then the fire channel is clear and dry and you should have no problems.

Flintlocks, put a charge down the barrel with a patch only to hold it against the breech and set it off to do the same thing.

 

[nick_1]

we used to do that but caps cost too much these days....

 

[French Colonial]

we used to do that but caps cost too much these days....

It is all relative....the cost of a cap versus possibly having a contaminated load that will not go off....

Of course, that is coming from someone who doesn't shoot percussion very much and has close to 2,000 caps on the shelf.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Good idea about running a patch down to swab out the oil. What is the reason you want to foul the barrel before shooting?

When shooting a string of shots at targets on the range, you want the barrel to have a consistent level of fouling. Consistency goes hand in hand with accuracy. That fouling shot puts some fouling into the grooves. Often the first shot out of a clean bore will have a different point of impact thane the subsequent shots.

I wipe the bore after storage with a rubbing alcohol dampened patch to remove the excess oil. I also store the rifle muzzle down after cleaning to allow oil in the breech to drain leaving a film of oil to protect the bore.

 

[nick_1]

I use the air compressor to get my barrel clean and clear. Much better than wasting a cap.

 

[flconch53]

I use the air compressor to get my barrel clean and clear. Much better than wasting a cap.

That is all well and good if you are shooting at home

 

[nick_1]

never leave home without either a loaded rig or one thats ready to be loaded. If I am on the road I load it at the end of the shooting session and then clean the bore with a baristol patch after it allready has a ball in it so no contamination of the firing chamber. thats the same thing I do at home if I plan on shooting again tomorrow.

 

[westrayer]

I don't pull balls. I have been using the compressed air dischargers for as long as I can remember. Unless I am hunting in the next day or so, I remove the ball and powder at the end of the hunt and recharge on the next trip.