Pulling a round ball

[PaulF70]

So I've managed to get a dead load stuck in my .50 percussion rifle (Traditions Deerhunter).

I was at the range without dry patches so squeezing out a wet patch as best I could and swabbing only with that after shots. After a dozen or so I got a misfire, which cleaning the nipple and multiple caps would not budge.

When I got home, I cleaned the barrel from the front, not wanting it to rust in a day or two. Just a quick job with soap & water.

I ordered a bullet puller and thought that would be the way to solve this problem. After reading about many issues people have had doing this, I'm now not so sure.

I do have a metal range rod that should be strong enough, but it has a ball end, not a T end, so I'm not sure I'll be able to thread the ball with it.

Would I be better off getting as much of the damp powder out through the nipple hole as I can, then putting in fresh powder and shooting it out?

(This means another trip to the range which is a long drive but I'd hate to end up with a broken-up ball in the barrel, or especially a broken rod...)

 

[mooman76]

Pull the nipple, add as much powder as you can and shoot it out. May take a couple tries depending on how damp the powder is that is in there now. A good air compesser can blow it out too if you get a grease zirt(gun) that is the same threads.

If you use spit patch instead, you can shoot without wiping after every shot.

 

[Erwan]

If the powder of the chamber is wet and if you have a few common tools, you can easily make a bullet extractor with a drywall screw and put it on the end of your ramrod.
One time I did it just with a small air compressor, but I think that day I had the luck for me...

 

[Timber Wolf]

You should be able to turn the screw in even with the ball end. My range rod just has a smooth end and I have done it, a couple of times I am ashamed to say. Do yourself a favor and drill a hole in a six to eight inch piece of 1/2 X 2 or so wood and slip it over the handle before screwing the rod down. Hang the wood into something sturdy and pull on the barrel. I liberally pour my “moose-milk” mix in the barrel as lube.

 

[William Lincoln]

Erwan is right. Take a wood screw and attach to end of dowel via glue--or your rod.
If dowel ,glue screw with point up. Run down bore and give one or two turns
until it sets in--then pull out bullet or ball. flush out powder.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

So I've managed to get a dead load stuck in my .50 percussion rifle (Traditions Deerhunter).

I was at the range without dry patches so squeezing out a wet patch as best I could and swabbing only with that after shots. After a dozen or so I got a misfire, which cleaning the nipple and multiple caps would not budge.

When I got home, I cleaned the barrel from the front, not wanting it to rust in a day or two. Just a quick job with soap & water.

I ordered a bullet puller and thought that would be the way to solve this problem. After reading about many issues people have had doing this, I'm now not so sure.

I do have a metal range rod that should be strong enough, but it has a ball end, not a T end, so I'm not sure I'll be able to thread the ball with it.

Would I be better off getting as much of the damp powder out through the nipple hole as I can, then putting in fresh powder and shooting it out?

(This means another trip to the range which is a long drive but I'd hate to end up with a broken-up ball in the barrel, or especially a broken rod...)

Others have made suggestions, but you are doubting the ball end of your range rod. No sweat if you are an average strength man! The big issue (IMO) is downward force being ample. Most poor pull jobs (IMO again) are usually because lack of pressure and not enough revolutions. One or two revolutions is too skimpy and the puller comes out of the ball. Make sure the rifle is vertical (not at an angle which make the wrist vulnerable for breakage) so be careful not to break your stock!
Larry

 

[Steve Martin]

I have done this more times than I would like to admit! You most certainly can use a threaded adapter screwed into your range rod and pull the ball, provided you are sure to screw the threaded end into the ball several turns and (this is important), lock the range rod end by hooking it into something heavy or jamming the handle between something very heavy and then you pull the gun NOT the range rod and it should come out fine. By the way, after doing this about seven or eight times over the past three years I finally spent $40. for one of those CO2 powered "unloaders" and man, do I wish I had done that a couple years ago!

 

[Flintlock]

BEFORE pulling the ball, dribble a little oil of some sort down the barrel just to help a bit. Pulling a ball is usually pretty easy if a person doesn't use a super tight ball and patch combo. After hunting and coming home I often pull the ball to melt down again and save the powder and start off with a fresh load on the next hunt. If you fail then use a grease gun and pump it out.

 

[ghostdncr]

I've almost always used the "add powder" method with both flint and cap guns and can report 100% success. In a couple of instances, I faced the OP's dilemma of a long drive to the range and went with the grease gun method. Again, 100% success and not nearly as difficult to clean up after as I'd expected.

 

[thompson50]

Unfortunately I do belong to members only dry ball club. So speaking from experience it’s not all that difficult to pull. Using a range rod and caliber appropriate ball puller, just let the weight of your range rod free fall down the barrel and give it several good twists into the ball. Like muzzleloader shooting, your gonna get one good chance to get this done. Now find something to hook the handle of your range rod on and pull the gun.

 

[Mark Herman]

Of all the suggestions given, throw out the one that has you "glueing" the screw to a rod. You're going to have a screw as well as a ball stuck in the barrel. Pour some lube down, put a screw on a steel rod and put the rod in a vice, or other fixed device, and pull on the barrel.

 

[French Colonial]

The problem with attaching a wood screw or similar to just anything is centering the screw on the lead ball.

If the wood screw and rod are substantially smaller than the bore the screw will most likely start in the side of the ball and now when you try and pull it you are trying to **** the ball sideways while pulling making it more difficult.

A good ball puller like those from TOTW will have a brass collar just under bore diameter to insure the screw starts in the center of the ball.

All that being said, I still prefer to shoot them out, I mean, you are at a safe shooting area when it happens anyway I assume.

 

[pamtnman]

About ten grains of 4F down the flash hole should push the ball out. Remove the percussion nipple, or better yet remove the clean-out screw, and carefully dribble in as much 4F as you can. Twenty grains won’t be too much. Then replace whatever you removed, put a cap on the nipple, and let fly.
Whatever is a “members only dry ball club”? This sequence of words just sounds so…odd.

 

[Winchester97]

Anxiously waiting for the drill bit suggestion to really get this thread going.....bet you can still shoot it out with powder under the nipple, or saving a trip to the range a theaded ball puller in your range rod. Wedge the rod in a something,pull the barrel.

 

[Y2GREY]

I use a CO2 canister with an adapter though the nipple or touch hole.

 

[Erwan]

About ten grains of 4F down the flash hole should push the ball out.

When I got home, I cleaned the barrel from the front, not wanting it to rust in a day or two. Just a quick job with soap & water.

If the chamber is wet or damp, it won't work well or not at all...

 

[Whughett]

I made a ball puller from a 3 “ long #8 deck or sheet rock screw and A long hardwood dowel. Cut the head from the screw drill a starter hole in the end of the dowel and run the screw into the dowel. The extra length screw allows one to use needle nose vice grips to get an inch or so of screw into the dowel. The screws corse sharp threads are perfect for drilling into the lead ball.
I don’t have long guns the one pictured is for my single shot pistols. The lead round ball protects the tip.

 

[Grenadier1758]

@Idaho Ron, we need your video again.

Several choices here. At the range you did not have a ball puller or knowledge of someone that had a high pressure ball discharger.

First thing to consider. Did you have powder loaded? Probably did. You were wiping between shots with a damp patch. You likely pushed a lot of fouling down the barrel and blocked the flash channel.

When you removed the nipple, Was the fouling very wet? Probably not. With the nipple removed, this is the time to add some powder through the nipple seat. Grain size isn't very important here. 3fg and 2Fg work as well as 4F to shoot the ball out. If you have a powder load in the barrel, then only a 2 or 3 grains are all that is needed to shoot the ball out.

A CO2 ball discharger will also remove the ball and blow out the blockage. Many ranges hosting traditional muzzle loading firearms will have a high pressure ball discharger.

The third choice, and a good one, is to get the zerk adapter for your nipple threads and a high pressure grease gun to push the ball out with grease. Idaho Ron has an excellent video showing how to use the grease gun.

Then you could go to the local hardware store and look for a bag of hanger bolts. One end will be threaded for 8-32 threads for your ramrod. Be sure that your ramrod tip is pinned to the ramrod or that will be pulled off. Wrap the end of the ramrod with a patch to center the hanger bolt in the barrel. Not really all that hard.
Blue Hawk #8 Zinc-Plated Hanger Bolt (8-Count) in the Hanger Bolts department at Lowes.com

The shortest thread for removing a stuck ball is zero with the original poster describing how he removed the stuck ball and solved the problem He used a ball puller. The longest have run for over 7 pages of comments. Many of them being the same.

Lets get this ball removed quickly.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

Of all the suggestions given, throw out the one that has you "glueing" the screw to a rod. You're going to have a screw as well as a ball stuck in the barrel. Pour some lube down, put a screw on a steel rod and put the rod in a vice, or other fixed device, and pull on the barrel.

I agree 100 % on throwing out the glue job! With respect to others who have suggested glue: it may work on a easy pull, but when you have a stubborn one, it will fail.
Larry

 

[Howard Pippin]

I have an older friend, just a little younger than I am, who just got into muzzleloading about three years ago and consistently dry balls. I generally take him out with me because he's crippled, And though I often shoot a flint lock, I also do percussion and my large possible bag, which is actually a tool box, has everything in it including 4F black. He discovered that by removing the nipple and putting in some 4F that he could discharge the gun, and that is my suggestion to those that dry ball, or have a load that won't fire. Remove nipple, fill cavity as full as possible with 4F, and shoot the darn thing out. I don't think you can get enough 4FIn on top of a normal charge to do any harm to a rifle.
This poor fellow had so much trouble with it that I fixed Him up with a small container of 4F in case I wasn't with him. I never have dry balled my flintlock where my CO2 discharger would not remove the ball, And I have dry balled it. I do have a 7/16 coldrolled shaft and I made into a puller with a 1/8 drill bit brazed into one end and a large sheet rock type screw brazed in the other. The only time I tried it, it works like a champ. That one was tough because it was stuck halfway down the barrel and I didn't have the nerve to try and shoot it out, or to pound on it anymore to get it down to the bottom.
Squint