Rite of Passage...First Dry Ball!

[cschibi]

I am totally embarrassed...but an happy ending

I experienced my first dry ball today at the range after 3 years of BP shooting!

I encouraged my best friend to join me in the Flint lock tradition... he purchased his first flint lock and we went to the range together... Shooting Kentucky Flintlocks .50 Cals.

As he was shooting, I didn't pay attention to my load sequence and dry balled my Kentucky Flintlock.. We finished our range shooting with his rifle and I was careful to not force my ball puller until we got back to the home front....

Once home, I used a bit WD40 down the muzzle AFTER I had seated my ball puller in the ball and the ball pulled out with a bit of "Tug of War" between the two of us. I suspect I got lucky.

Any additional thoughts on pulling dry balls from Flint Locks?

Receptively,

 

[azmntman]

I only did my flinter once....years ago. I pulled ball just a tad, pulled liner, 3 grains from charger in, reseat ball, prime and poof! You done good.

 

[Jaegermeister]

I did that at a BP shoot on the very first target. They let me trickle in some 4f (Davis Jaeger flintlock) and shoot it out. Very humbling.

 

[Wes/Tex]

You've joined an exclusive club...open to anyone! :wink: I'm apparently the odd man out. In 50+ years of muzzleloading, I've never dry-balled a single time. But(and I do mean Butt!)I've done enough idiotic things to more than make up for it! I've twice, yes TWICE, burned all the hair off the front of my noggin by not holding the muzzle far enough out and not waiting long enough for the smoldering to go out before dumping the next charge!

FOOSH!
"Wes, you alright?"
"Yeah."
"Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!"

My guardian angel sometimes looks like this...I wonder if they ever cuss? http://global3.memecdn.com/rmx-guardian-angel-facepalm_o_1493581.jpg

"Why me, Lord, why did you give him to me?"

 

[Patocazador]

It took me 40 years to do it but do it I did. :td:

Thankfully, I haven't done it with my flinter. It will be a traumatic experience WHEN I do because my liner is not removable. :shake:

 

[William O.]

Learn how to dribble some 4f powder into the touch hole and shoot out the dry ball. Do that before trying your ball puller because it won't work after you've torn a hole in the ball. In situations like this it helps a great deal to have a range rod with a T handle. Find a place like a low fork in a tree that will hold the T handle securely and slowly pull your rifle back. This should remove the ball easily if you are unable to shoot it out using to first method. Also, the handle needs to be able to spin freely, a fixed handle won't work using this technique.

 

[FishDFly]

"Rite of Passage...First Dry Ball!"

Why is it a right of passage?

What you have admitted to, is not paying attention to what you are doing while shooting.

That is like bragging that I was driving and had my first wreck......

What is there to be proud of????

Mistakes happen, last time I checked, there are no merit badges being passed out of dry balling.

 

[azmntman]

I shall bring that up at the next council meeting, Theodore Roosevelt Council, here in AZ. There needs to be a merit badge. And one for the truck.

 

[cschibi]

What you suggest seems to be very good advise as a first step.

That should have been my first thought... I think I made the mistake of driving the ball down to the lower breach trying to get the ball puller to grip and engage the ball without first trying to blow it out with a minimal load behind the ball.

In hind site I should have been more patient and tried that technique before I worked the ball puller. I was lucky as I was able to make this work.

Thank you for the advise...lesson learned..

Respectively,

 

[FishDFly]

Some folks will need a sash to put them on, others, the left pocket will do.

 

[cschibi]

Heh... :bow:

To the contrary.... no bragging rights intended..here but having some humility in admitting that even the best of us can make a mistake from time to time is worthy of discussion. I have learned from this forum that you can learn from your mistakes and use this forum as a medium for others to learn from. No one wants to admit stupid mistakes. I have learned a lot from others who have gone before me... thats what makes this forum priceless.

Respectively,

 

[Treestalker]

WELL SAID! Thank you for your post. Tree

 

[pat i.]

I shoot at a public range where I'm continually interrupted when loading so dry balling is nothing new to me. Those little CO2 ball dischargers are a Godsend. We all make mistakes just that some of us aren't afraid to admit it.

 

[Bear Rider]

It's been my experience that there are only three kinds of muzzle loaders: Those who have dry balled, those who lie about it, and those who shoot off their mouths much more than their smokepoles.

ANYTHING that interrupts your loading routine can cause you to dryball. I will no longer shoot at a range or event that will not allow me to load from my bag, because I consider it an unsafe interruption of my normal loading cycle.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Richard, these things are said tongue in cheek, more making fun of one's self for goofing up than claiming to have reached a milestone of sorts.

I dryballed with a load of shot in my fowler the other day and really felt like an idiot, especially after I found a CO2 discharger was useless in this situation because the over powder wad was tight against the breech face and remained so after dumping the shot. No form of ball puller would penetrate this single card for extraction.

Fortunately I built the gun so unbreeching it to punch out the card wasn't much of a problem, I still felt like an idiot for being careless in my loading procedure.

 

[M. De Land]

Just wait until you blow a charge into the dirt in front of your muzzle when checking to see if your vent is clear on a blade of grass, if you want to experience humiliation! :rotf:
I had a very experienced friend have that happen to him once with his double barrel shot gun,both barrels.
The recoil from the first made him bump off the second with his fingers inside the trigger bow. Poor guy must have temporarily disappeared in a cloud of dust and smoke! Mike D.

 

[don hepler]

There are two types of people that shoot flintlocks. The one's that have Dry Balled, and the one's that will.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Wait till you've done this to yourself, twice! You'll wish you'd only dry-balled!! :wink: :rotf:
http://www.skagwaynews.com/MediaSN/051509Hunzsoot.JPG

 

[Pete G]

There used to be an old saying that an experienced muzzleloader is one who has:

1. Loaded a ball without powder.
2. Double loaded, one attop the other.
3. Fired his ramrod downrange.

I have yet to do #3, but I have witnessed it.
The shooter proclaimed the recoil to be rather spectacular.

 

[robinsroost]

I shoot at a public range where I'm continually interrupted when loading so dry balling is nothing new to me. Those little CO2 ball dischargers are a Godsend. We all make mistakes just that some of us aren't afraid to admit it.

Amen, to what Pat said. So far, I have not dry balled my flint lock, but I did on my .50 caliber cap lock. The CO2 did the trick, with no effort and no down time.......Robin