Stuck ball in a Thompson Center Hawken flint

[Thomas51502]

Hi all, got a patch stuck under a load in my .45 T/C hawken. (.440 lead ball under T/C pre lubed pillow ticking, 70 gr 3F Schutzen) I already tried shooting it out, pulling it out, and inertial removal. So far nothing. Im from PA and the season starts on Monday so im in a rush. My question is: I removed the touch hole liner. If I dribble some BP into there and re-screw the liner back in. Will it be safe to shoot? Or should I take the loss and buy a co2 remover? My problem is where i’m from real black powder is almost impossible to find and I only have 3F and I couldnt fit any into the touchhole without unscrewing it. Thank all of you in advance.

 

[Art Caputo]

My recommendation would be NO. The issue with dribbling some powder “under’” a patch that is under the main charge is that “if ‘ the main charge ignition is delayed with the ball partially down the barrel from the dribbled powder, it could bulge, or worse case, fracture the barrel. If you can still get a good grip on the ball with your ball puller, I’d squirt a generous amount of Ballistol or WD40 down the barrel, let it soak 5-10 minutes to saturate the patched ball, then pull the ball out. This has worked for me in a pinch, with stubborn, stuck balls that wouldn’t budge. Then, use a wire patch puller to make sure the troublesome patch is removed. Clean it all out, and your good to go. If this fails, the CO2 charger would be your best/easiest bet.

 

[Y2GREY]

Spring for it and get a C02 discharger. Works every time as long as you have cartridges. Shooters at the range are always borrowing mine.

 

[French Colonial]

You should be able to tell if the ball is seated at the proper depth by using your ramrod, you did mark your ramrod after working up a load, correct?

If its down at the proper depth, dribble and shoot it out.

 

[Grimord]

If you have an air compressor available, you might be able to blow the patch and ball out if the blower nozzle has a rubber tip. Just hold the rubber tip tightly against the touch hole (you might remove the liner for a better fit) and crank the pressure up to 100# and be sure to have a suitable back stop cause the ball may come out with considerable force.

 

[Peregrine]

I have always had success with the air compressor also.

 

[Flintlock]

The easiest thing to do is use grease gun with a Plews 05-045 type needle nozzle (parts or hardware store) oil the barrel a bit then hold the needle nozzle against the flash hole and with someone pumping the grease gun it will walk the ball right out. You can put a dowel or something down the barrel and watch the progress. Clean up with kerosine, Coleman fuel or something along those lines. And lots of rags and paper towels.

 

[Grenadier1758]

My first choice is to support @French Colonial's suggestion. If the ball, powder and patch are fully seated at the breech, there should no adverse result (bulged barrel) if you shoot it out using the 5 or six grains you have likely loaded in the T/C chambered breech. 5 or 6 grains will shoot the ball out even if the flame from the squib charge doesn't ignite the powder.

What is the thread pitch for your touch hole liner? Probably 1/4-28.

The second choice is to use the CO2 discharger. These may be hard to find at a local gun store. In that case, go to your local bicycle shop and get a CO2 tire inflator and some CO2 cartridges. Stop at a tire store and get some old tire inflation valves and cut off all the old rubber. One side of the valve should be 1/4-28 to screw into the touch hole threads. Use the tire inflator to blow the charge out.

The third choice is the grease gun. Get a grease gun fitting with the thread pitch of your touch hole liner. The force from the grease will easily push the patch, powder and ball out of the barrel.

 

[david58]

CO2 discharger is a good tool to have in your kit just for such an incident in the field.

 

[Ames]

I had one stuck that was short of the breech. I put about an ounce of moose milk down the barrel and tried to pull it 10 minutes later. A no go. Plan B was to push it further down first to break it free, then pull it out. Worked like a charm. Swabbed it out and went back to shooting.

 

[Steve Martin]

I have a CO2 "unloader" myself and believe me that will be the best $40 you will ever spend for a muzzleloading accessory!

 

[TerryK]

I think CO2 unloader is a good tool to have. I think places like Dunhams, Grice, and other gunshops should have them here in PA. I know my local gunshop pulls stuck balls for a small fee as another option. So you may want to call around. Looks like rain on Monday here, hope you have better hunting weather. Good luck

 

[GregK]

I carry the CO2 discharger with me on BP shoots, it got used twice last time out by fellow shooters.

 

[SDSmlf]

The ‘stuck’ ball or bullet topic always amazes me. Some go on endlessly. You may want to watch the video @Idaho Ron posts in this linked thread. I have a stuck bullet

 

[Daveboone]

On two occasions, once for myself and once for a buddy, we loaded without powder with our flinters. Using fine powder we were able to trickle powder to the pan then push it in the flashhole with our vent needle, to the tune of about 8 grains or so. Surprising how much you can get in there. Dont rush it, take your time, you certainly can not get too much in there. If you get fire out of the barrel, the ball has to be out...but check anyway. Of course just make sure you are well seated. Both times were before I got a T handle for my ram rod. If you have a T handle, a good squirt of oil down , let it sit and soak, and I have never met a ball and patch that wasnt quickly and easily removed.

 

[Jim]

Jeeeze guys . . . .

Just remove the breech plug and push it out to the rear.

 

[Grimord]

Jeeeze guys . . . .

Just remove the breech plug and push it out to the rear.

Removing the breech plug can be very difficult. I would do that as a last resort only. The grease gun method would be my second to last choice.

 

[david58]

Removing the breech plug can be very difficult. I would do that as a last resort only. The grease gun method would be my second to last choice.

Seconded. "Just" removing the breechplug isn't "just". Not meant to be removed, get the CO2 discharger or a proper nozzle for your air compressor.

 

[Old Hawkeye]

The ‘stuck’ ball or bullet topic always amazes me. Some go on endlessly. You may want to watch the video @Idaho Ron posts in this linked thread. I have a stuck bullet

Amazes me as well. We have a "stuck ball" thread here about once a month & they go on & on & on for page after page all saying the same thing over & over. This was the OP's first post, but all he had to do was click on "search", type in "stuck ball" & 100's of threads containing 1000's of post about how to remove a stuck ball would be at his fingertips. Most of the time these threads go for about 80 or so posts. I'm gonna pop some pop corn & see how many this one goes for.

 

[SDSmlf]

Jeeeze guys . . . .

Just remove the breech plug and push it out to the rear.

How many breech plugs have you removed from traditional muzzleloaders?