Texas Phil Peeno #50923 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I gone done it. I got a minie ball stuck in the barrel. I am afraid to further ram the ball down and I definitely could not pull it out. (I started to feel sorry for the boys fighting in the Civil War. Them boys must be cursing the world when they realize that their rifle is jammed and the enemy is shoot at them.) My mistake is letting the barrel cool down then shoot it again. I had a dozen or so shots before I let the musket down to shoot something else. After shooting the other rifle I told my nephew to go ahead shoot the musket w/o cleaning the barrel. Then the problem started. 1) The ball got tight 4 inches down the barrel. Got my wooden dowel and assisted the ball down. The ball started to go down up until 6 inches later. 2) Tried really hard to ram the ball down with the ramrod. Nothin. Gave up, went home to fix the problem. 3) Got my trusty bullet puller. Nope! That ball is stuck good. Thinking about getting a 1/2" x 4" dowel and ram that bullet down. Decided to ask y'all first before I go do more stupid things. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kougarok George Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I wonder if you could put some powder in through the flash hole, or with nipple romoved and push it out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jefro, SASS#69420 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Ram it home, it'll go. Good Luck Jefro Relax Enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitterroot Jake, SASS #9532 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 try a little water down the barrel as a lube and to soften the fouling. then try to pull out the ball. It this fails unbreech the barrel and try pulling the ball back out of the muzzle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Buy/borrow a CO2 cartridge powered "ball removal" kit, most BP suppliers and even "standard" gun shops have these. It attaches at the nipple, and blows out almost all stuck balls/bullets. With the ball stuck way up toward the muzzle (lots of air space), you DO NOT want to try to fire it out with a charge, either the charge in the barrel now or by adding powder. Most folks find that trying to unscrew the breech plug is harder than trying to pull the stuck bullet out. Good luck, GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Hand Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 My air compressor has a nozzel that just fits the opening in a musket nipple. Run it up to about 200 psi and give it a shot (so to speak). Point it at some soft ground so you can see the projectile come out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trueno del Diablo, SASS#22364L Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 The aforementioned water dribbling trick has worked for me in the past. Loosened the fouling up enough so the ball could be fully seated and shot out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Phil Peeno #50923 Posted July 6, 2011 Author Share Posted July 6, 2011 The ball is wedged in tight. Won't go down or give me hope that I can pull it out. The barrel is soaked with Balistol and swabbed down. The bullet is about over 12" down from the muzzle. I don't have an air compressor. If I can't get any play when pulling will blowing it our be more effective? Going to hardware store to get an aluminum tube to line the barrel so I don't screw up the rifling. Did I mentioned that it is a rifled barrel? Is it gunsmith time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 The ball is wedged in tight. Won't go down or give me hope that I can pull it out. The barrel is soaked with Balistol and swabbed down. The bullet is about over 12" down from the muzzle. I don't have an air compressor. If I can't get any play when pulling will blowing it our be more effective? Going to hardware store to get an aluminum tube to line the barrel so I don't screw up the rifling. Did I mentioned that it is a rifled barrel? Is it gunsmith time? Well, if you are at the point of disregarding suggestions that actually work (CO2 ball remover), and are talking about sticking an aluminum liner in the barrel to keep, I guess, a steel rod from scratching up the rifling, yep, I suppose you will be better off carrying it (safely) to a gunsmith than continuing on with your experiments to invent a way to do it your own self. It is certainly easier to blow it out with high pressure air or CO2 than it is to pull it. But, I'd also expect a large brass rod (one piece) would allow you to drive it down on the powder charge, without damaging the rifling. You know, you don't have to own an air compressor. All you need is a friend who owns an air compressor. Anyway, good luck, GJ Here's a similar recommendation that did work for a fellow BP shooter who stuck a cleaning jag in his barrel: "I took the advice about loading the barrel pretty heavily with bore butter. Squeezed about a teaspoon or so into the barrel and then pushed it down with a lubed patch. Waited a little bit and used the CO2 ball remover to blow the patch and the jag right out into an empty grain bag" And another trick - find a way to screw a grease fitting into your nipple threads. Make sure threads match! Dump out what powder will come out of the nipple threaded hole. Then, using a good grease gun or an air-powered grease gun at the local auto or farm implement repair shop, fill barrel full of grease until the pressure forces the ball out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nichols Creek, SASS #77627 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I gone done it. I got a minie ball stuck in the barrel. I am afraid to further ram the ball down and I definitely could not pull it out. (I started to feel sorry for the boys fighting in the Civil War. Them boys must be cursing the world when they realize that their rifle is jammed and the enemy is shoot at them.) My mistake is letting the barrel cool down then shoot it again. I had a dozen or so shots before I let the musket down to shoot something else. After shooting the other rifle I told my nephew to go ahead shoot the musket w/o cleaning the barrel. Then the problem started. 1) The ball got tight 4 inches down the barrel. Got my wooden dowel and assisted the ball down. The ball started to go down up until 6 inches later. 2) Tried really hard to ram the ball down with the ramrod. Nothin. Gave up, went home to fix the problem. 3) Got my trusty bullet puller. Nope! That ball is stuck good. Thinking about getting a 1/2" x 4" dowel and ram that bullet down. Decided to ask y'all first before I go do more stupid things. Any suggestions? All good suggestions. keep trying the bullet puller. I have, for one reason or another, had to pull more than one. The bullet puller will remove a little lead each time you try and pull it out. Sooner or later the bullet will give. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goody, SASS #26190 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I don't know much, but don't most ML's have a removable breach plug? Can't you take that out and hit from the behind side? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Phil Peeno #50923 Posted July 6, 2011 Author Share Posted July 6, 2011 I don't know much, but don't most ML's have a removable breach plug? Can't you take that out and hit from the behind side? I wish that is the case. This is a Zouave. In and out of the same hole. (That didn't sound good). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kajun Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 I don't shoot that kind of gun so I'm not experienced on all the methods discussed so far but I had a thought. If the barrel cooled down and contracted is there some way to warm the barrel up along with the minie ball. Maybe run hot water on the outside of the barrel in the area where the minie ball is stuck. This might heat up the barrel and minie ball enough to loosen it up enough so you can drive in down the rest of the way. Just a thought! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Most of the standard bullet puller worms and screws are not very thick or stout. Folks report they can have good luck on hard-stuck bullets using a #12 or larger sheet metal screw fastened tight to a cleaning jag or epoxied in an old shotgun one piece cleaning rod. Tap it a couple of times to start the threads into the slug, then screw the rod tight, well down into the top of bullet. Being a .58 cal, it may take a man and two boys pulling on the rod to move that minie ball. Drop some Kroil or some P-A-M cleaning solution (my choice) down the bore to lube up the bore around the bullet. P-A-M is equal parts hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol and Murphys Oil Soap. Good luck, GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nota John, SASS #51089L Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Personally, I would not drive the Minie any further into the barrel, you're already in a bad situation, don't make it worse. If your Zouave is like mine, it will be a lot easier to pull the bullet out from your stated 12" depth rather than fight it from the 33" depth. Garrison Joe has a good idea, maybe even holding the muzzle up with the sturdy puller in place hanging from a tree limb, then pouring boiling water on the barrel from the muzzle down to the stuck point, hopefully expanding the barrel to allow the Minie to slide as well as allowing his stated lube to work down alongside the Minie. Check with Dixie Gun Works to see what they have available in sturdy pullers as they are the black powder experts. Keep us advised as to your progress, best of luck. Nota John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adirondack Jack, SASS #53440 Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 CO2 or AIR, or yer gonna screw up the barrel. it is not rocket ships to use a CO2 kit, or to get a nipple attached to some sort of fitting you can then attach to an air gun. Air or CO2 will get it out without ya wreck the rifling mucking around with pointy instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castalia,SASS#18915 Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Here is a link for a CO2 load discharger. http://www.gunaccessories.com/RMC/EC_Unloader.asp Cabelas also have one. Hope this helps. Good luck, Castalia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.