A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Bolt action rifles, lever action, pump action, self loading rifles and other miscellaneous longarms.

A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by Keith » 07 Jun 2018, 10:33 am

For those of you who use a muzzle-loading rifle, you may at some time get a stuck ball. This most often happens when you lose concentration & load a patched ball without a powder charge! With a smoothbore this stuck ball is easy to pull, but with a rifle it can be tricky. I carry a good strong leather thong in my shot pouch just in case. This habit is left over from my rifle shooting days. Once you have attached the screw to your ramrod & screwed the screw into the stuck ball, take your leather thong & tie it to the end of the ramrod. Tie the other end to a sturdy sapling. Now you can pull on the gun/rifle rather than using just one hand to pull on the ramrod. Safer too if the gun is loaded. This method is also good when pulling a load. This is when you have a loaded gun & you want to unload it before putting it away or if you want to load again with a fresh load.
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by in2anity » 07 Jun 2018, 11:16 am

<obligatory balls joke>
At what point does lack of maintenance become patina?
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by bigpete » 07 Jun 2018, 11:23 am

Touch wood,I've never had a stuck ball. I honestly can't see myself doing it. But if I do,I'm in favour of the technique where you feed powder in through the flash vent as I don't have a bullet puller to fit all of my ramrods
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by marksman » 07 Jun 2018, 11:43 am

the things that went through my head after reading the title
nearly did not look :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by Sergeant Hartman » 07 Jun 2018, 11:54 am

Just don't put your ding a ling in a vacuum in the first place and you won't have stuck balls.... my suggestion is to goto the ED... and don't tie it to a tree and pull
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by No1_49er » 07 Jun 2018, 12:25 pm

I keep an EC-Unloader in my kit. Got it many years ago and only ever used it once: for a fellow who did the inevitable - no powder.
I don't think the EC is made any more but the same thing is available here:-

https://www.cabelas.com/ensemble/Shooti ... r/4225.uts
or Google search Muzzleloader CO2 Unloaders/Dischargers.

Adapters fit all ignition types.
If you're shooting in a competition match you don't have time to dick around with a ball screw, or trying to dribble powder through the vent. This thing does it virtually instantly. The only effort required is the pressure to hold it and squeeze the trigger.
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by bladeracer » 07 Jun 2018, 12:29 pm

Keith wrote:For those of you who use a muzzle-loading rifle, you may at some time get a stuck ball. This most often happens when you lose concentration & load a patched ball without a powder charge! With a smoothbore this stuck ball is easy to pull, but with a rifle it can be tricky. I carry a good strong leather thong in my shot pouch just in case. This habit is left over from my rifle shooting days. Once you have attached the screw to your ramrod & screwed the screw into the stuck ball, take your leather thong & tie it to the end of the ramrod. Tie the other end to a sturdy sapling. Now you can pull on the gun/rifle rather than using just one hand to pull on the ramrod. Safer too if the gun is loaded. This method is also good when pulling a load. This is when you have a loaded gun & you want to unload it before putting it away or if you want to load again with a fresh load.
Keith.
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http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com/2010/06/contents-of-my-shot-pouch.html


I've seen video of people trickling enough fine powder in through the nipple to be able to shoot the ball out. A can of compressed air would probably work too?
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by bigpete » 07 Jun 2018, 12:36 pm

Compressed air kinda defeats the mentality of using a muzzleloader in the first place,much like the use of scoped in lines IMO
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by Keith » 07 Jun 2018, 1:30 pm

bigpete wrote:Compressed air kinda defeats the mentality of using a muzzleloader in the first place,much like the use of scoped in lines IMO

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Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference.
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http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com/
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by No1_49er » 07 Jun 2018, 2:18 pm

bigpete wrote:Compressed air kinda defeats the mentality of using a muzzleloader in the first place,much like the use of scoped in lines IMO


Firearm development did NOT end at the muzzle loader.
There were hand gonnes, cannon, flint locks, match locks, wheel locks, percussion locks of the muzzle loading period, all progressing one from the other. Mechanical and chemical advances brought about the cartridge rifle and smokeless powder, amongst other things.
Where is it said that a muzzle loader might not have progressed to in-line ignition? Should the under-hammer also be a development to bring into question? Not to mention the closing days of the black powder era in which scopes were used!
Progress never stops. It just goes off in different directions sometimes.
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by Stix » 07 Jun 2018, 2:30 pm

marksman wrote:the things that went through my head after reading the title
nearly did not look :lol: :lol: :lol:


:lol: ...yup...!
I was wondering what all the black powder/muzzle loader guys meant when they've all told me over the years how they got "sucked in" & "addicted" once they had a taste... :shock: :lol:


Ziad wrote:Just don't put your ding a ling in a vacuum in the first place and you won't have stuck balls.... my suggestion is to goto the ED... and don't tie it to a tree and pull


You sound as if youre speaking as an authority on the subject Ziad...??!!? :sarcasm: :lol:
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by bigpete » 07 Jun 2018, 2:34 pm

Actually, there was an early in line.
The point is, why bother getting a muzzleloader if you're going to use modern gadgets with it ? I can kinda see why they do in America,coz then they can capitalize on muzzleloader season,but aside from that,why not just use a centre fire rifle ?
And as I said,its an opinion. Both Keith and I like to shoot and practice old fashioned,traditional methods. If one were to just want the most effective method of harvesting an animal or hitting a target,there are a lot better options than any form of muzzleloader
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by Keith » 07 Jun 2018, 5:53 pm

No1_49er wrote:
bigpete wrote:Compressed air kinda defeats the mentality of using a muzzleloader in the first place,much like the use of scoped in lines IMO


Firearm development did NOT end at the muzzle loader.
There were hand gonnes, cannon, flint locks, match locks, wheel locks, percussion locks of the muzzle loading period, all progressing one from the other. Mechanical and chemical advances brought about the cartridge rifle and smokeless powder, amongst other things.
Where is it said that a muzzle loader might not have progressed to in-line ignition? Should the under-hammer also be a development to bring into question? Not to mention the closing days of the black powder era in which scopes were used!
Progress never stops. It just goes off in different directions sometimes.


Most of the guns you mention came before the flintlock, but the point is, those of us who choose to use a "Traditional" muzzle-loading firearm don't see the point in a new invention. Shooting a flintlock is all about using a flintlock, we don't want to make it any easier, surer, more waterproof, we like it for what it is because of what it is. Primitive technology.
Keith.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost.
http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com/
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by Keith » 07 Jun 2018, 6:00 pm

bigpete wrote:Actually, there was an early in line.
The point is, why bother getting a muzzleloader if you're going to use modern gadgets with it ? I can kinda see why they do in America,coz then they can capitalize on muzzleloader season,but aside from that,why not just use a centre fire rifle ?
And as I said,its an opinion. Both Keith and I like to shoot and practice old fashioned,traditional methods. If one were to just want the most effective method of harvesting an animal or hitting a target,there are a lot better options than any form of muzzleloader


I should have read your post first mate before writing my reply. I seem to have mirrored your sentiments.
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Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost.
http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com/
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by bigpete » 07 Jun 2018, 6:27 pm

Idiots seldom differ Keith :D
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by Noisydad » 07 Jun 2018, 6:40 pm

There’s an old adage that goes;
There are only two kinds of muzzleloading enthusiast - those that have dry balled and those that will dry ball!
There's still a few of Wile. E Coyote's ideas that I haven't tried yet.
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by Oldbloke » 07 Jun 2018, 8:29 pm

"Once you have attached the screw to your ramrod & screwed the screw into the stuck ball, "

Soooo,,, any more info on that. I'm very new to muzzle loafing so please be gentle.
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by bigpete » 07 Jun 2018, 8:48 pm

It quite simply a self tapping screw that attaches to the end of your ramrod that you screw into the ball. Some people actually have a drill bit that can attach so they can predrill a whole in the ball,the idea being then the self tapping screw won't expand the ball too much in the bore and make the job harder
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by Oldbloke » 07 Jun 2018, 9:00 pm

"Some people actually have a drill bit that can attach so they can predrill a hole"

Makes sense. Ill have to look into that.
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by Keith » 08 Jun 2018, 7:39 am

Oldbloke wrote:"Once you have attached the screw to your ramrod & screwed the screw into the stuck ball, "

Soooo,,, any more info on that. I'm very new to muzzle loafing so please be gentle.


Image
The screw is on the right.
Image
This is the rammer end of my steel ramrod. This part unscrews so that I can attach the screw to the end of the ramrod.
The screw bites into the soft lead ball & you can pull it out of the barrel.
Keith.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost.
http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com/
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Re: A Tip for Stuck Balls.

Post by bigpete » 08 Jun 2018, 8:16 am

I think,if your getting your balls stuck regularly,then you're ramming your rod in too hard :D
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