Yesterday, at my club shoot, I had a strange loading problem. Being an old-timer I know everything and how to avoid problems. Right? :wink: Guess not. I had a puzzler. First, I'll say up front I am an unabashed admirer of Dutch Scholz and his 'system'. I use his 'dry lube' method on ticking patching quite often. Yesterday, I was shooting my wife's TC Seneca half-breed with Douglas .45 cal. barrel and Redfield Olympic sights. In the past we often put .457 balls down this tube for accuracy. Yesterday, I was using .445 balls. They loaded very hard. I swab between every shot. After about ten shots one load went down the length of my short starter (about 3 1/2") and I couldn't get it any further. I had an unbreakable ramrod and no amount of my strength would make it move. Finally I borrowed a long starter (about 8") from another shooter and banged it down with a mallet. I then switched to a beeswax/peanut oil lubed ticking for the rest of the day and didn't have another problem. (except for my shooting :redface: ) Why the stuck ball in a semi-clean barrel is the puzzlement.