Stuck round ball

[Electric Miner]

Disassembling it and cleaning. Lots of greasy dirt, but no rust to speak of yet. No idea what the breech end of the barrel looks like yet, though.

 

[lonehorseman]

Good looking rifle. Hope all is well when you get it unloaded. I am sure the CO2 thingy is great, but I don't have one. I do have a heavy, solid brass 3/8" range rod that, when coupled with a well made ball puller, will remove just about anything from a barrel. Mine has removed several roundballs from various calibers.(For my shooting Buddies, of course.) It is heavy enough to drive deep into the lead ball, and strong enough to withstand the turns required to run the screw-tip into the lead. When using this method, I usually secure the handle to a piece of rope and tie the other end to a tree, or other stationary object. I have just never felt very comfortable having a gun barrel pointed at my chest as I struggle to pull a ball. A few shots of penetrating oil will usually make the job a lot easier, especially with a ball that has been there for "who knows how long". Be sure to let us know how it turns out.

 

[Electric Miner]

That's a good idea.

 

[ShawneeB]

CO2 may not either. Compressed gas is compressed gas however the CO2 discharger is probably a better seal since it's made to do that.

 

[M. De Land]

I would remove the plug if it were mine as I would want to inspect the plug seat and barrel at that end. Quite a few of these production guns have breech plugs that are not properly seated and now would be the time to take a look see and make any necessary correction. Mike D.

 

[dikman]

I bought a borescope off ebay for $15, plugs into a laptop, very handy for seeing what's in a barrel.

I also bought ball puller (the one with a collar) from TOW. Thought I'd better try it, so I rammed a ball down (no powder, of course) and found that the puller worked very well, much to my surprise.

I also made my own CO2 discharger. Went to a bike shop and bought one of those bike inflators, one that uses screw-in cartridges. Mine has a knob on it to turn it on and adjust the pressure. I made up a fitting from valve bits, with an o-ring, that slips over the nipple. Believe it or not, I had to use it a couple of days later when I dryballed - again!! .

There are lots of these bike inflators on ebay, along with bulk boxes of CO2 cartridges (I guess bike riders get lots of punctures.....).

 

[Electric Miner]

I also bought ball puller (the one with a collar) from TOW. Thought I'd better try it, so I rammed a ball down (no powder, of course) and found that the puller worked very well, much to my surprise.

Glad to hear that, since UPS should be deivering one of these to my house today.

 

[mmahlock]

Since it (patch and ball) has been in there a while I'd strongly recommend that you pour liquid patch lube or bore cleaner (not just plain water) down the bore and let it set over night to soften the patch. It makes it a lot easier since the patch in cases like this often become glued to the barrel.

I was recently approached to get a patched ball out of a rifle that had been setting for about 10 years according to the owner. A friend had tried to help him with solid brass rod and a screw on "T" handle but had broken the handle off trying to get the ball out. I added patch lube and also broke the patch and ball loose from the barrel by tapping lightly on the rod with a hammer to start movement. After removing the ball and powder we found a patch under the powder which was so compressed and dry we had to put powder in through the touch hole and shoot it out.

 

[Electric Miner]

No doubt.

 

[Electric Miner]

Got in my order from Track of the wolf, including a couple different styles of bullet pullers.

Squirted some Muzzle Magic Cleaner down the bore and let it sit a couple hours. Screwed a bullet puller onto one of my one-piece cleaning rods, started it with a rap from a rubber mallet, and screwed it home.

Tied the handle of the rod to a post in the yard, and yanked back on the rifle. Heard a pop and it felt like the rod pulled free, but when I pulled the rod out, the ball was on the end of the rod.


And is it odd looking...

It looks a bit like some sort of shotgun slug seated down the barrel flat side forward. The patch it was wrapped in feels like felt. Scrubbed the bore down with hot, soapy water until the water came out clear. Then dried it and oiled it.


Now for the test firing (Who knows when I'll have time for that, though I got in a batch of British flints from TOW this morning)

 

[illuveatar]

That is an odd looking projectile. I wonder what else has been shot from that gun. I'd check the barrel for bulges.

 

[Electric Miner]

Already did. Looks good. I've had a couple of people say it's flat from the guy pounding on it with the ramrod, but it looks too symmetrical for that to me.

 

[dikman]

I shouldn't have mentioned the CO2 discharger - guess who had to use it today? :cursing:

(Thinks - "I really should learn to concentrate more on what I'm doing" - end thinks).

And yep, my first thought would be that someone hammered that ball home pretty hard!

 

[satwel]

Glad to see you got the ball out pretty easily. IMHO that is a roundball deformed from pounding on it. Nice score on the rifle! It seems to be in great shape.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Glad you got it out. The deformation may have come when you whacked the rod and puller with a mallet. Hard to say. :idunno: I'm surprised there are no rifling marks on the ball. As tight as it was I would think it would have engraved. Do inspect the bore with a good light before trying to shoot just as a precaution.

 

[Electric Miner]

Already done, and it wasn't all that tight.

 

[Rifleman1776]

:thumbsup:

 

[Wes/Tex]

"Nothing succeeds like success!" :hatsoff: