Stubborn Stuck Bullet

[SOLANCO]

Had to kill the powder in the breech with oil to bring it home from the range.

Why? Either pull the flint and empty the pan or pull off the cap.

 

[FishDFly]

We have needed a stuck ball post for a while!
View attachment 197320

I feel a lot better.

On to what is the BEST rifle.

 

[tjiann]

I feel a lot better.

On to what is the BEST rifle.

Yet the two of you came to post your useless responses.

 

[Brokennock]

Here we go again

 

[Brokennock]

Yet the two of you came to post your useless responses.

Useless?
Maybe if you searched and read the ridiculous amount of topics on this same subject,,,, that wind up going on for page after page after page of debate and arguing,,,,, you would appreciate why such comments get made. Maybe to some asking this question yet again is "useless", this forum is overloaded with answers to it already.
Often these topics last long after the o.p. posts that the problem has been resolved.

Get the grease gun and be done with it, please.

 

[satwel]

Is it a percussion or flintlock?

 

[Idaho Ron]

Yet the two of you came to post your useless responses.

The biggest danger, and I tell guys on here all the time. If you put a hole through the stuck projectile now it becomes a big job.
Here is what I would do. I would put a small pointed end on a rod and try to poke a patch through the hole. Then after you get some wadding on the fire side of the ball. Screw a larger sized screw into the ball. Then use grease gun.

A compressor is not going to push it out if a CO2 failed.
Meanwhile more guys will tell you to shoot it out and heat the barrel hot enough to melt the lead out. Please don't do these things. The grease gun could have fixed this in about 5 minutes before the hole was drilled in it.

 

[tjiann]

The biggest danger, and I tell guys on here all the time. If you put a hole through the stuck projectile now it becomes a big job.
Here is what I would do. I would put a small pointed end on a rod and try to poke a patch through the hole. Then after you get some wadding on the fire side of the ball. Screw a larger sized screw into the ball. Then use grease gun.

A compressor is not going to push it out if a CO2 failed.
Meanwhile more guys will tell you to shoot it out and heat the barrel hot enough to melt the lead out. Please don't do these things. The grease gun could have fixed this in about 5 minutes before the hole was drilled in it.

Thanks! I actually used a 58 cal breech scraper to tap on the bullet from different rotational positions this afternoon. It moved it a couple of inches, but more importantly it closed up the hole. Here is a pic.

So I will try and figure out the Parker Hale thread size and find a grease gun adaptor that will fit.

 

[Fitzhugh Williams]

Just a thought. Removing the breech plug is a lot simpler that other things and takes less time. Unless you can use CO2 or tap a little 4f powder into the vent hole.

 

[Brokennock]

Just a thought. Removing the breech plug is a lot simpler that other things and takes less time. Unless you can use CO2 or tap a little 4f powder into the vent hole.

He tried CO2. It failed.
Trickling powder and "shoot it out" is no good,,,, if we read the original post,,,,,, the ball can't be seated on the powder.

If the ball is halfway down the barrel, as it says in the original post, and won't move further,,,,, how is removing the breach plug going to help?
The bullet isn't stuck at the breach where removing the plug would give it less distance to travel being pounded on with a rod all the way from the muzzle.....

 

[Nobody85]

I had the exact problem before. Your average ball puller can drill straight through rendering them useless. To remedy this; I cut the head off a large wood screw and welded the screw end to an iron rod. It came out without a problem at all. I still will go to a standard ball puller when I encounter a stuck ball, but I kept my creation just in case. Hope this helps.

 

[chorizo]

It works. Proven by Idahoron and done again by Bnewberry

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/free-barrel-offer-and-proposal.155153/page-3#post-2202213

 

[tjiann]

Again, really appreciate all the replies and suggestions! I think I have resealed the screw hole as shown in the pic from previous post. I ordered a set of grease gun zerks off Amazon that will be here tomorrow. Then I will use my grease gun to (hopefully) dislodge the bullet. I'll report back.

 

[Brokennock]

Again, really appreciate all the replies and suggestions! I think I have resealed the screw hole as shown in the pic from previous post. I ordered a set of grease gun zerks off Amazon that will be here tomorrow. Then I will use my grease gun to (hopefully) dislodge the bullet. I'll report back.

Please do report back.
Video documentation would be great as well if possible.

I have a question based on another current related topic thread. I am really not trying to bust your stones here, just curious as to how some things play out in reality.
If the topic thread of @Idaho Ron using his grease gun method and the later follow up of a worst case scenario experiment provided by @chorizo and @Bnewberry had been available right at the top of one of the forums as a sticky,,,,, would you have seen it and could we have avoided this discussion coming up again?
Seriously not trying to bust on you. I am generally curious if people actually notice these things and take advantage of them.

 

[Idaho Ron]

Again, really appreciate all the replies and suggestions! I think I have resealed the screw hole as shown in the pic from previous post. I ordered a set of grease gun zerks off Amazon that will be here tomorrow. Then I will use my grease gun to (hopefully) dislodge the bullet. I'll report back.

I'm afraid that it is not going to seal. I see that the hole is closed but that grease will push it open. If you could have got a patch shoved through the hole you might have had better luck.

 

[painter]

Please do report back.
Video documentation would be great as well if possible.

I have a question based on another current related topic thread. I am really not trying to bust your stones here, just curious as to how some things play out in reality.
If the topic thread of @Idaho Ron using his grease gun method and the later follow up of a worst case scenario experiment provided by @chorizo and @Bnewberry had been available right at the top of one of the forums as a sticky,,,,, would you have seen it and could we have avoided this discussion coming up again?
Seriously not trying to bust on you. I am generally curious if people actually notice these things and take advantage of them.

That's a great question!

My experience as an administrator of a forum is that people don't read stickies any more than they search for an answer before posting.

 

[Brokennock]

I'm afraid that it is not going to seal. I see that the hole is closed but that grease will push it open. If you could have got a patch shoved through the hole you might have had better luck.

I'm an engineering ***** so please forgive what might be a stupid question.
If the remaining surface area of the bullet is significantly greater than the diameter of the hole, could enough force on that surface area be generated to overcome the leak through the hole?

 

[tjiann]

I had the exact problem before. Your average ball puller can drill straight through rendering them useless. To remedy this; I cut the head off a large wood screw and welded the screw end to an iron rod. It came out without a problem at all. I still will go to a standard ball puller when I encounter a stuck ball, but I kept my creation just in case. Hope this helps.

I'm afraid that it is not going to seal. I see that the hole is closed but that grease will push it open. If you could have got a patch shoved through the hole you might have had better luck.

Well, I can always put the screw back in and reopen it if I need to.

 

[Fitzhugh Williams]

He tried CO2. It failed.
Trickling powder and "shoot it out" is no good,,,, if we read the original post,,,,,, the ball can't be seated on the powder.

If the ball is halfway down the barrel, as it says in the original post, and won't move further,,,,, how is removing the breach plug going to help?
The bullet isn't stuck at the breach where removing the plug would give it less distance to travel being pounded on with a rod all the way from the muzzle.....

I never said the the alternative methods would work in his case, only they they might be easier if they could be utilized.

By removing the breech plug a steel rod can be placed against the ball and can be used to drive the ball out of the barrel.

 

[tjiann]

Please do report back.
Video documentation would be great as well if possible.

I have a question based on another current related topic thread. I am really not trying to bust your stones here, just curious as to how some things play out in reality.
If the topic thread of @Idaho Ron using his grease gun method and the later follow up of a worst case scenario experiment provided by @chorizo and @Bnewberry had been available right at the top of one of the forums as a sticky,,,,, would you have seen it and could we have avoided this discussion coming up again?
Seriously not trying to bust on you. I am generally curious if people actually notice these things and take advantage of them.

No offense taken. I am new to the forum. I think this subject should be a sticky and I will be more careful to check for that and do searches in the future.