What happens when.....

[MrTuffPaws]

I have never shot black powder anything, but I have a question for you that shoot muskets that has been bothering me for a while now.

Say you go brain dead while loading your musket and you load the gun in the wrong order and ram home the wad and ball before the power. How do you get the ball and wad out of the gun?

 

[A. Patriot]

I brazed a wood screw onto the end of a brass brazing rod. Bent the other end at 90 degrees to use as a handle. I wrapped some electrical tape just above the screw so as to center it when I stuck it down the bore. Just screw it a few turns and pull the ball out.

I use this mainly after I went hunting and didn't want to have to clean the gun after discharging it just to empty it.

I'm sure there are some commercially made ball pullers.

It's more fun to load the rifle with one charge, get distracted, then load it again. BIG BOOM!!

 

[Froggy]

I'm sure there are some commercially made ball pullers.

Yep. Most are pretty much made just as you described... a screw attached to a brass fitting you can screw onto the end of your cleaning rod. There is usually a brass "collar" that keeps the screw centered in the barrel so it gets a good bite on the ....er... ball. Photo here.

There is also a gizmo that allows you to attach a CO2 cartridge to the vent / nipple and blow the barrel clear.

Some folks have had success trickling a bit of powder in through the vent / nipple and shooting the ball out.

 

[ccyooper]

GOOD GOLLY Mr Tuffpaws...You've never touched off a load of black? The next time you come to the U P look me up. I'll take ya out and you can enjoy all of the associated sesations for yourself...

 

[Plink]

Dry balling is unfortunately rather common. You can use a ball puller or CO2 discharger to get it out easily enough. Removing the nipple or vent liner and trickling powder works too, but can be dangerous in patent breech guns as you can't always seat the ball down against the powder because of breech design.

 

[4v50 Gary]

See above

1) Stuck Ball Puller - a screw with a centering piece that fits on your ramrod. You twist the rod until the stuck ball puller is screwed into the ball and then yank the darn ball out (and yep, I've then shot the ball afterwards).

2) Co2 Discharger. Attach to nipple (or with adapter to touchhole) and give it a blast of air to blow the ball out (mindful of the muzzle of course).

3) Worse case scenario. You remove the breechplug and pound the ball out.

Don't do as one Confederate sharpshooter did and try to melt the ball out. He destroyed his scare and higly prized target gun that way.