Second pawn shop find

[Flintlock]

Last week I posted I found a minty CVA Mountain Rifle in 50cal. at a local pawn shop for $150, the owner showed me a CVA St. Louis Hawken he had in there with a ball stuck in it's rusty bore, Anyhow, for $75 we brought it home Friday, my dad who had a stroke several years ago, like projects, Projects for me to work on while he gives suggestions. We soaked the barrel overnight in kerosine, ran a 28 gauge copper brush through it numerous times, rinsed it out with kerosine again then pored a little oil in the barrel. I held the pointed tip of a grease gun against the nipple ( screw in drum would not budge ) and dad pumped the grease gun, in roughly 30 pumps out popped the ball and soaked powder charge. ( I did place a marked dowel in the barrel so we could watch our progress ). This is the second time we have used this grease gun and pointed fitting to remove a ball that would not come out by other means, goes very well except for the cleanup. Thorough cleaning and many more passes with the 28 gauge brush , followed by several passes with fine steel wool. I now have it shooting 1.5 inch groups at 56 yards with 60 grains of GOEX FFG. I might be able to shrink the groups up more but am tired but happy to see that the gun was salvageable and has a very nicely grained Walnut stock to boot. Dad is happy to have a new toy to play with until he finds another project for us to work on.

 

[BrownBear]

Some of the best bargains around are other people's mistakes. Keep your eyes open for "well seasoned" barrels that are "shot out." A good thorough cleaning to get rid of all the beloved seasoning, and you'll have an ace shooter on your hands!

Congratulations and well done.

Oh, one more thing. I like the idea of the poited fitting on a grease gun for any time a nipple is stuck (thanks!). But for times when the nipple can be pulled I have an array of Zirk fittings with threads to match common threads on muzzleloaders.

 

[Flintlock]

I had a Charleville musket may years ago that I dry balled then broke the very end of the ramrod off while pulling the ball. Dad grabbed the grease gun with that pointed tip and we held it against the touch hole and pumped the ball right out. A lot of power in a grease gun. Sometimes father know's best.

 

[bender20]

Never underestimate the power of a good grease gun a lot of excavators tracks are tightened by grease from those same guns.

 

[Cowboy]

That's a great story on several fronts. Most importantly your dad and you working on that project together. I'm sure it really means a lot to the both of you! Also the great bargain on that muzzleloader. Lastly, it's great hands on experience in removing a lodged ball and reconditioning your bore!

Excellent story my friend and thanks for sharing.

Respectfully, Cowboy 👍

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Very cool, OP. I need to hit the pawn shops nearby to see if I can find one too.

 

[MSW]

congrats on your new find, and well done on getting it up and running.

:grin: :thumbsup: :hatsoff:

 

[nhmoose]

:hatsoff:

 

[fishmusic]

:hatsoff: That's the real value of that gun.

 

[hanshi]

Great deal and a very nice project for you and your dad.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

:hatsoff: Nice!!

 

[Cleburne]

I'll show my ignorance ..... what is a grease gun's "pointed fitting"? Does it replace a caplock's nipple or fit onto it somehow?

 

[Flintlock]

Cleburne, It is just a different type of grease gun end for the end of the hose that comes to a sharp point on the end, It can be held against the flash hole of a flintlock or against the nipple on a cap lock. It's amazing how easy it is to remove a ball that cannot be extracted any other way. Pouring some lube down the muzzle helps with the extracting process. I wish I was able to take and send a photo of it, my next trip into the part store I will try to get a proper name for it or a part number.

 

[oldude]

The pointed fitting is for flush grease fittings like you find on some chainsaw bars.With a pointed fitting on a grease gun the tip can be inserted into the fire channel opening of a nipple or touch hole of a flintlock

 

[homebrew .357]

Sounds good , but what I`m waiting for is how do you get all that grease out. I would take out the nipple, put a tight patch on rod and tap it down while holding the barrel in a tin, answered my own question. Homebrew.357.

 

[Flintlock]

This time I started off using a 28 gauge copper bore brush from a shotgun, since I was scrubbing the barrel anyhow. I cut the top off a old milk bottle but have used coffee cans or whatever else was handy in the past. I used kerosine I had left over from ram rod soaking and pumped the grease out using that. White gas ( Coleman Fuel) works great too. Don't think of it as a messy job, just look at all the time and expense you saved by being able to extract a stubborn ball yourself without de-breaching the gun. If I was still hitting the rondy circuit, I would still carry a kit like this in my truck to give a hand to other unfortunates.

 

[Cleburne]

Thanks for the explanation. I'm having difficulty visualizing it so will need to search the local auto parts store for one.

 

[Cleburne]

Thanks Bentchilie!