Stupid, stupid, stupid

[deerstalkert]

The ball is round, the breech is square,, so there is always enough space to hold a bit of powder,
,it doesn't take much at all,

SAY WHAT????????????????

 

[deerstalkert]

Don't take offence necchi! my poor addled old brain instantly envisioned a square box instead of the flat face of the breech plug. just tickled me, but i am easily amused.

 

[Whitworth]

Welcome to the Dry Ball Club, always accepting new members

 

[HighUintas]

Well how about a picture of that fine rifle?

 

[Mike in FL]

Next time, and hopefully there won't be a next time, I will try the trickle trick. Thanks. Pulling one out by brute force ain't fun.

 

[sheriff john]

And you'll never be a true duck hunter 'til you float your hat (fall in). Can't think of a single muzzloader I ever shot or hunted with that didn't dryball. There are worse things if you live a long time.

 

[1950DAVE]

I was told early on that there ar two kinds of muzzle loaders, those who have dry-balled and those who will.
Only time(s) I have done it I was talking and not thinking of the task at hand. Kind of like driving and talking on a cell phone. I hav demoed the powder-trickle method of ball removal to a few newbies without really intending to.

 

[Justin.44]

Welcome to the Dry Ball Club, always accepting new members

I call my wife the Dryball Queen. Every match or range session she manages to do it at least once and I heckle her incessantly. Well, at the last match I ended up doing it TWICE! Lucky for me she wasn't there that day so she didn't find out Ha!

 

[smoothshooter]

Re. trickling 4F in touchhole, isn't the ball in the way? I mean if you could look thru the hole, wouldn't you see the ball? If so, how does the powder get behind it?

The ball is not in the way. The ball is round. The breech face is flat. There is air space all the way around the rear of the ball.

 

[Trooper]

I’ve had the same thing happen to me. During a match, I saw a fellow launch his ram rod down range, another “oops”.

 

[John May]

I had a reflective jacket with ‘Do Not Disturb’ plastered across the back because I was fed up of being hassled during competition/postal shoots. Now I am fed up with people tapping me on the shoulder asking me if I am a Range Warden…. Arghhh you can’t win!

 

[Daveboone]

I have the same rifle, new to me last spring.....54 cal. Pedersoli/Lyman GPR flinter. She is a shooter, but I am glad I dont lug it all day! First time out with mine, I also dry/balled it. I am able to trickle ...slowly, true...4f into the flash hole, poking in with the touch hole pin. Be sure to poke in more than what you think you need, or you may just poop it further down the barrel, and need to start over.
I have to admit...I wish it was lighter, perhaps splitting the difference with the previous Lyman GPR incarnation which I also have.
I am planning to use the flinter this fall for our ML season, and hopefully get out today but it looks to be rainy.

 

[jonathan butcher]

Yeah, chatting and loading muzzleloaders can be a bad mix.

That really is the key. Every mistake I’ve ever made at the range w/ muzzleloaders had a chat/ distraction attached to it. Now when I stop to socialize even for a second I restart by first emptying the rifle of powder, if there’s powder to dump. Then I recharge the rifle w/ powder and only then send a ball down the barrel. I don’t load a ball w/o first dumping out a powder charge if I’ve been chatting. This system works for me and keeps the loading ritual straight.

 

[Billy Boy]

well! what is wrong with all of you?? none of those things ever happened to me

Me neither, of course I don’t have any family, friends, orpets..

 

[Centurion]

Balls don’t whistle when they head downrange. Ramrods do.

Fella told me that one time…

don

 

[olskool]

about 3 years ago i bought a new custom 40cal. SMR, i have a range at my house. my buddy was over and i said let's give it a shot. i had and old measure in my handloading loading / gunsmith room out back. i set the scale and i put in 40gr. and dumped it down the barrel. put it on the bench, filled the pan, and fired, pan flash no boom. i did it 3 more times, same thing, pan flash no boom! i was scratching my head, i ask my friend, you saw me pour in the powder right? he said sure. i opened the measure and there was the 40gr. charge! i looked in the end of the nozzle and a dirt Dober wasp had the hole clogged with dirt!

 

[Satokad]

…..The ramrod still seemed to contact an obstacle at the breech. Apparently the ball was gone after the first shot and the obstacle was the breech.

I’ve never “witnessed” that.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

What I have inscribed on my powder horn: (With my best attempt at all "s" letters looking like "f", a la 1700's) "Of all the leffons ye muft recall, Firft the powder, then the ball.."

who is speaking? Daffy Duck?

 

[Grenadier1758]

I had walked up as they were ready to fire the squib load off. I heard the slight pop and saw the ball skip down range. There was no smoke from the tiny load coming from the muzzle. I guess that the smoke was what everyone else was looking for. They ran the rod down the bore and again no smoke from the nipple and the rod clinked. They had not marked the rod to see if the ball had moved. They were surprised that the ball had not moved away from the breech. So, it was remove the nipple, and refire. I mentioned that the ball was already gone, but they tried several more times.

 

[John Spartan]

Almost double loaded once talking to someone at the range. Luckily I caught myself at the last minute.
Should get a shirt that says “Don’t talk to me while shooting.”