Ball Stuck in 1858 Remington Bore

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Noah

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After church, I took my brother shooting out in the boonies in Indiana. Took the .50 Hawken, 1858 Remington, and my AR. Near the end of our day, after a few hours of marvelous fun, lots of sweat, and great groups, I was shooting my AR while my brother loaded the 1858. After I finished my 3 shot group, he shot my 1858, probably the fourth cylinder full of the day. First five shots were all good fun, but the sixth sounded a little off. After double checking all of the chambers were empty, I checked the bore, and sure enough, there was something in there. I checked the powder measure, and it was empty. Seems that it ran out on the last cylinder or only had a lot less than the 30 grains of FF we usually load. He was very disappointed in himself for not noticing.

So now I have a ball lodged about 1" down the bore, and it doesn't seem to have budged even after tapping at it with a wooden dowel and hammer for a good while. Any ideas?
 
Loose the wooden dowel, fast!!
If it breaks off / splits sideways in the bore you will have an impossible to remove bore obstruction to deal with.

Get a brass rod at the hardware store.
The squirt some oil in the bore behind the ball, and tap it back out the same way it went in.

Shouldn't be hard.

rc
 
Put some oil down their to make the ball and barrel slippery and take a metal rod and tap it out.

Rc beat me to it.
 
Thanks guys. I was planning on hitting up the hardware store for a better dowel tomorrow morning before work. My grandfather down the street has a vice I can use.
 
Hit the dowel harder.
Click to expand...
Dont hit the dowel at all.

Go buy a 12" long piece of brass rod at any hardware store.

Again, a split wood dowel wedged in the bore is nearly impossible to remove without ruining the barrel.

rc
 
Howdy... If you have a 5 or 6" vise with soft jaws,say bronze or aluminum,wrap the barrel in a soft shop towel and secure it in the vise. Use a brass or bronze drift (so you don't damage the bore) and a 6/8 oz.ball peen. It may take a couple of good whacks,but that should do it... Shaniko Sam p
 
rcmodel said:
Dont hit the dowel at all.

Go buy a 12" long piece of brass rod at any hardware store.

Again, a split wood dowel wedged in the bore is nearly impossible to remove without ruining the barrel.

rc
Click to expand...
You could use a 12inch brass rod to dislodge the dowel :D

I have never had a dowel get wedged, but agree a brass rod would be preferable.
 
Seriously, get the brass rod. They work and anything else has serious drawbacks. Good thing to have in the range bag anyway.
 
Brass rod can be hard to find sometimes. If you run into a tough search a steel rod can be used. But pad the outside first with a wrap of electrical tape to avoid it rubbing the rifling. A few extra turns right at the end going into the bore that brings the diameter up to just shy of the bore will also serve to hold the bare end face of the rod in the center of the bore.
 
Can't find brass rod at a hardware store? Try a welding supply place.
 
We were using a Powder flask which has a 30 grain spout. Each chamber gets 30 grains and a lead ball.

It was my error not to have kept a closer eye on him while he was loading the gun. He has been shooting the Hawken for a year now and the Remington for a few months now and only been completely safe and responsible.

I really can't be 100% certain as to what happened, but my reconstruction of events was based on the fact that the last ball sounded like a squib and that the powder flask was empty when I checked it.

Like I said, he is very disappointed in himself and learned a lesson he will never forget about carefully checking every step of the loading process.

I posted this thread because I had not had any luck with a wooden dowel which was just shy of the width of the bore and a small hammer, and was looking for new or better ideas from more experienced blackpowder shooters.
 
aahhh now we get a more detailed explanation.

been doing BP nigh onto 40 yrs.
Used a precut spout on a flask most of them.
hold finger over spout. tip flask upside down, open gate let fill.
close gate, turn right side up, remove finger observe spout confirm it is indeed full, then pour in cylinder.
Never had a short load that way.
And in a revolver I confirm no burning embers are left before reloading,
I feel straight from the flask if you use a little caution is just as safe as pour into a measure then into a cylinder.

Last 10 yr or so been using paper cartridges. Can't really miss seeing that white paper in the chamber. So yep easier to confirm you do have a charged chamber before placing the projectile.!

Really does suck to learn the hard way though. Especially at the range, with no way to correct the issue!
 
Notwithstanding all the side commentary.... ;)

- Use the metal rod already advised by all above
- Pour a little oil (gun oil, CLP, motor oil -- it doesn't matter) below the ball (in the 1" part)
- Insert rod in muzzle/against the ball
- Hold gun/barrel an left hand
- Smack it hard (HARD). Don't try to baby it (you'll just irritate the ani-mule) :D




(after the first time, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about)
 
IMO the only thing that chewing the guy out accomplishes is to keep him from asking questions and learning the ways to get out of problems.

He's not in boot camp.
 
Now if you did it to a Colt you would have the option of attacking it from either end!
I stuck a .45 colt in a Derringer once while experimenting with ultralight smokeless loads, it was no problem knocking it out.
 
It was a lesson that all have learned.

I've found that it's not at all unusual to mis-time my hand flip and the cutoff flap lever and have some of the powder in the spout fall back in before it closed. I'll bet this is what happened to Noah's buddy. Or sometimes the lever and flap stick in place and fail to close. I've since pulled apart and cleaned my valve components and lubed them with a dry film lube to hopefully avoid that in the future... At least until they need cleaning again in a few years.

But yeah, "stuff" happens. He's learned his lesson. Let's move on.

Noah, squibs and stuck bullets just happen from time to time. Don't loose sleep over it. Find some brass rod and make up "range rods" and carry them in your shooting kit. Or another easier and likely just as cheap option is to use 1/4 or 5/16" steel and cover it with a layer of heat shrink tubing. The electrical tape I mentioned works too but the tape creeps and goes gummy over time. The heat shrink is a far tidier way to makeup a longer term tool. If you do that double or triple up the tubing on the one end to aid in centering the rod. And because it's steel keep an eye on the condition of the heat shrink at the end that goes into the bore.

On the other end get a piece of leather such as a square off an old belt that is to be thrown out and cut a small tight fitting hole in the middle. Fit that over the hammered end of the rod so it's a pad in case the rod flies through the bore and the hammer or rock you're using as a hammer doesn't hit the end of the barrel. I've put such bumper leathers on all my range rods. Haven't "used" them yet but a few squibs of my own or others have been cleared with my rods.

I had a rough time a couple of years back from using VERY old Bullseye powder. I figured I should just give up reloading because I was getting roughly 1:80 squibs. Then I discovered that a few squibs DID have powder in them and that the old powder simply wasn't igniting from the primer flash. It was REALLY old. The remainder was used for plant fertilizing. But it proved that it's handy to have a range rod in my kit.
 
I've used sections from an aluminum Birchwood Casey shotgun rod when I couldn't find my brass rods. Brass is better overall, but the aluminum rod did work in a pinch due to the larger OD of the shotgun cleaning rod sections.
 
Twenty five posts - including this one - and the solution to the problem was in post #2.
Pete
 
also stuck

Last week I was going to swab my my CVA Mountain pistol at the range with the ram rod. The patch was too tight but it went in, but not out. I took the barrel into the shop to get the rod out. The brass end pulled off leaving it as well as the patch stuck.
It is out now and the end back on the rod, but it is my secret!!
 
What rcmodel suggested. Get a brass rod.

Remove the cylinder (of course), put the frame in a padded vise. Tap away.
 
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