Stuck ball, now with drill bit

[nit wit]

This is not the first time someone has done this. Before you do something stupid ask someone who knows if its a stupid idea!
Nit Wit

 

[Britsmoothy]

The powder in a .22 long rifle will ignite and burn fast enough to blow out a stuck .490 ball, don't try to tell someone how do do anything that you don't know about how it works snowflake.

In an open breached firearm such as a traditional muzzleloader the use of smokeless is full of potential dangers.
Get it wrong and the pressure potential is capable of causing not barrel damage initially but vented gasses alone that can cause injury and cause fragmentation of spent cap material. Thus increasing risk of eye damage.
It is not really a snowflake issue but more a case that we gotta look out for bubba and his brother. They may think a 38 case full of bullseye will work better and then one of them loses an eye! That is why it is strongly discouraged!
Stick to black powder. Use 4f for everything, it trickles through most vents and flash channels.

 

[RicM]

One possible solution, I had loaded a dry ball (yup dumb live and learn) It’s an old 1890’s .410 caliber ball musket for hunting small critters and birds. I just target shoot it for fun. It’s a nice piece. Anyway... I loaded a 375 cal ball on a .010 patch. No powder ! Ugh. Stuck! So I removed the nipple added powder and the ball didn’t move. I removed the barrel and with an air gun 80lbs, sealed the rubber nozzle to the nipple and I heard the air squeezing around the ball! Damn!! Disgusted I just put it away for a few days. Then figured I gotta fix this so I ran a scope down the barrel and saw even rust starting where the ball and barrel touch saw the patch too. So I took Ballister mixed with Muzzler Cleaner for BP, blocked the nipple end and filled the barrel and let it stand upright for a day. Figuring it would clear any rust and hopefully weaken or dissolve the patch. Drained the barrel ran a brass cleaner brush down the barrel but NOT to hit the ball so to smooth out any new crud build up in the barrel making it easer for the ball to come out, flushed it with Muzzle Cleaner and tried the compressed air again. My compressed puts out 80lbs. Sealed the rubber nozzle again to the nipple and with one try, blasted all the air at once and like a dull pop out came the ball with the broken up wet half dissolved patch. Live and learn and never again!!! Finished cleaning the barrel and she’s back in service. Just wondering if the pt h is weaken and dissolved it would give some space for the ball to move. In your case with the screws still on the ball I liked that idea using a small copper pipe down the barrel around the screw to protect the barrel. I would also do that when run I g the compressed air

 

[R.J.Bruce]

We're not kids anymore? Myself, I left playing games with smokeless powder behind when I was a teenager. There's no way I would use smokeless powder in a muzzleloading barrel, the steel in most modern barrels IS NOT smokeless rated, certified, gun barrel grade steel. The Gunner's Mate tool in the proper caliber for your rifle is going to be the best $65.00 that you ever spent on your gun. It's heirloom quality, and worth every penny.

People that wouldn't think twice about spending $65.00 on a Leatherman tool will complain mightily about ANYTHING costing $65.00 for their muzzleloader.

As soon as I saw Dave Crissalli's Gunner's Mate tool in a thread on ALR several years ago, I instantly knew that as soon as I was in the process of getting a new muzzleloader, flint or percussion, I would invest in one. It's been on every list I have made since I first saw it. Don't have the rifle yet, but when I do it will be one of the first things I buy. Before the first shot is ever fired. PRIMARILY, because of its ability to get a dry ball out of a barrel while out in the field, WITHOUT the need for a steel-shafted range rod.

The KEY to the Gunner's Mate's ability to do this with ordinary hickory ramrods is the caliber specific bore adapters that keep the entire assembly centered in the barrel's bore. Allowing a shooter to drill a perfectly centered hole through the ball, and then thread the screw into the ball without the screw wandering off course. With the solid brass T-handle attached to the ramrod with precision STEEL threads, and ONLY turning the T-handle/ramrod/tool assembly w/ball screw in a CLOCKWISE direction; a shooter can be assured of removing a stuck/dry ball without having to go back home.

 

[Sudsy]

Got it
Swapped the brass guide on the .45 ball puller with the one on the .50 ball puller
Screwed in in tight, sealed the hole
Put in about 10 gr of ground down fff (only way to get it though the flash hole with a lot of tapping and using a pick)
Shot the brass range rod about 40 yards, still had the ball attached

 

[RicM]

We're not kids anymore? Myself, I left playing games with smokeless powder behind when I was a teenager. There's no way I would use smokeless powder in a muzzleloading barrel, the steel in most modern barrels IS NOT smokeless rated, certified, gun barrel grade steel. The Gunner's Mate tool in the proper caliber for your rifle is going to be the best $65.00 that you ever spent on your gun. It's heirloom quality, and worth every penny.

People that wouldn't think twice about spending $65.00 on a Leatherman tool will complain mightily about ANYTHING costing $65.00 for their muzzleloader.

As soon as I saw Dave Crissalli's Gunner's Mate tool in a thread on ALR several years ago, I instantly knew that as soon as I was in the process of getting a new muzzleloader, flint or percussion, I would invest in one. It's been on every list I have made since I first saw it. Don't have the rifle yet, but when I do it will be one of the first things I buy. Before the first shot is ever fired. PRIMARILY, because of its ability to get a dry ball out of a barrel while out in the field, WITHOUT the need for a steel-shafted range rod.

The KEY to the Gunner's Mate's ability to do this with ordinary hickory ramrods is the caliber specific bore adapters that keep the entire assembly centered in the barrel's bore. Allowing a shooter to drill a perfectly centered hole through the ball, and then thread the screw into the ball without the screw wandering off course. With the solid brass T-handle attached to the ramrod with precision STEEL threads, and ONLY turning the T-handle/ramrod/tool assembly w/ball screw in a CLOCKWISE direction; a shooter can be assured of removing a stuck/dry ball without having to go back home.

RJ
Great info to a new-bee like me. Owning 3 muzzle loader one being a pistol, I found the site you spoke of and ordered the kit and extra rod for the pistol. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. And no worries on doing damage to the guns. Quality looks excellent. Thumbs up thanks for posting it !!

 

[R.J.Bruce]

RJ
Great info to a new-bee like me. Owning 3 muzzle loader one being a pistol, I found the site you spoke of and ordered the kit and extra rod for the pistol. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. And no worries on doing damage to the guns. Quality looks excellent. Thumbs up thanks for posting it !!

You are welcome.

 

[Red Owl]

Along similar lines, be real careful about wire brushes in a muzzleloader, the bristles will be angled back toward the muzzle as you push the brush toward the breach but then impossible to pull back, I rotated the brush and bit by bit got the bristles sideways and then I was able to pull it out but pretty troubling. Muzzle loaders were made for a patched round ball. No barrel leading with the patch. On stuck balls, if you forgot the powder charge- carefully trickle some grains into the cone area.