# Stuck round ball



## shawn dooley (Nov 26, 2012)

My grandfather  gave me a old muzzleloader.it hasn't been shot in 20 years.he told me there was the bullet stuck in the gun.with the gun being as old as it is would you try to get it out or just buy a new a new barrel


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## donald-f (Nov 27, 2012)

Remove nipple and soak the weapon in water, if there is a bullet in there, there is powder behind it. I would use wire brush and clean the barrel to remove any rust and pour some oil in barrel and let it soak for a while. Use a bullet puller and try to remove the bullet. If the gun is 20 years old chances are you will not get another barrel for it.


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## Whiteeagle (Nov 27, 2012)

Any "competent" gunsmith could pull it for you. You may do i yourself if you try. after wetting the powder per above post, clean barrel in front of ball then pour sone penetrating type oil(Kroil) on top of ball and let soak a couple of days. use a ball puller on a range rod fpr more pulling power. Hope you can get it back in shooting condition since Grand Pa gave it to ya!


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## mwood1985 (Nov 27, 2012)

shawn if you can get it down to marietta Deer Creek Gunshop on fairground street is run by a couple older gentlemen that are big blackpowder guys. as far as experience im sure the've fixed your problem before. I bought a British No4 Enfield .303 at a yard sale and had them check it out. first thing he said was son i remember the brits first started carrying those, good rifle for killing Germans... seeing how that was 1939-1940 i took it to mean hes been around guns a while lol


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## 7Mag Hunter (Nov 27, 2012)

Remove nipple and put some water down into nipple opening
to ensure powder is wet....
Brass brush to clean rust from barrel before trying to pull the
ball....Soak barrel with oil or WD-40 after brushing, and using range rod
and screw ball puller into the ball as far as you can.....
Now pull.................
Should come out......


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## collardncornbread (Nov 28, 2012)

One more thing.
I bought a 54 cal renigade for my son several years ago. Got it home, something didnt feel right when I dropped the ramrod down the empty( so I thought ) barrel. I pulled it by above instructions. 
When we started trying to use a 45 cal bullet with sabots is went like quail. I couldnt make it shoot straight, or even close to it. It was bad.
 We decided to pour some maxi balls., since the barrel had several small pits from rust. well- that old gun shoots as well as My old 54 with those maxi balls. So When you get the ball out and clean it real good. you may decide to try some home poured bullets of the full barrel size. Im sure its not an inline.
If you decide the barrel is not safe you can give green mountain a try. I bought some replacement barrels for a couple T.C. Hawkins.


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## TarponStalker (Nov 30, 2012)

If you decide to try the wire brush, be very careful. Many people push wire brushes into the muzzle only to find the brush will not back out. Then you not only have a stuck ball but a wire brush as well. Brass bristles don't reverse direction very well.


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## Desert Rat (Nov 30, 2012)

TarponStalker said:


> If you decide to try the wire brush, be very careful. Many people push wire brushes into the muzzle only to find the brush will not back out. Then you not only have a stuck ball but a wire brush as well. Brass bristles don't reverse direction very well.



I like the Tornado brush, just for that reason. The coiled bristles don't get stuck.


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## 7Mag Hunter (Dec 2, 2012)

Did you get the ball out ????????


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## Anvil Head (Dec 3, 2012)

Who made the gun? If it's a production gun, the breech plug will be threaded and can be pulled.....this requires skill and correct shop tools....the ball can be pushed out the breech end without risking damage to the rifling or muzzle. If it is a vintage custom rifle you'll probably have to pull from the front. Pulling from the muzzle is not as easy as it sounds if the load has been in 20years+, even with heavy cleaning and lube, so be prepared. A thing to note, the screw-in type puller actually distorts the bullet and makes it fit tighter in the bore. Any minor obstruction such as rust dirt corrosion will be a tough obstacle to pull through. Make sure the screw and pulling rod are mechanically sound and stout enough to do the job or you will wind up with a screw stuck in a ball.
Penetrating oil will kill the powder more surely than water through the nipple or touch hole.
Shawn, do the math on the Deer Creek boys......neither one are that old.


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## Bernard goldsmith (Dec 3, 2012)

Clean barrel good, use compressed air through the nipple. Be careful, the ball will come out like it was shot out!!!
Bernie Goldsmith
Field Rep NMLRA


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## Anvil Head (Dec 4, 2012)

Keep in mind, none of these methods are foolproof. Use your intellect and Bernie indicated be safe. Good luck.


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## shawn dooley (Dec 5, 2012)

I haven't got the ball out.tried to remove the breech and broke of the end of the plug.wood it b cheeper to go to a gun smith and pay him to get it outor buy a new barrel.any suggestion


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## Supercracker (Dec 6, 2012)

What do you mean exactly when you say "broke the end of the plug"?

Can you snap a pic and post it. I'm sure we can figure it out.


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## Flintrock (Dec 6, 2012)

You could have used your ram rod to measure the inside v/s outside to see it there was only a bullet. If so. remove the nipple and add a little powder into the nipple opening a shoot it out.
If you feel unsafe about pulling the trigger. Tie it down pointing into the ground and tie a string to the trigger and fire it that way.
,
if you measure it out and there appears to be a charge with it then I would pull it out.
,
based on your last statement it sounds like you broke off the back end of the tang/breech plug depending on how the rifle is made you may be able to just replace the breech plug


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## Supercracker (Dec 6, 2012)

Flintrock said:


> ,
> based on your last statement it sounds like you broke off the back end of the tang/breech plug depending on how the rifle is made you may be able to just replace the breech plug



The tang breaking off is what I was thinking it sounded like to and would make sense with a cast plug. 

From the thread so far I'm thinking that fitting a new breech plug is perhaps a bit beyond what he wants to do right now. It's truly one of the more frustrating things you can do on a ML.


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## jesnic (Dec 6, 2012)

To the OP. A new green mountain barrel is about $150. A gunsmith wouldn't charge near that to pull a ball. A broken nipple is faily easy to deal with as well. Just soak with oil and use an ez out and remove it and thread in a new one with antiseize. Or drill it out and tap a larger thread and screw a new one in with the correct new thread. Many people use larger nipples on sideloaders. The ball should come out after soaking for a while. Just use a ball puller and screw it in and and pull. Just make sure the barrel is clean, so the ball can be puled out easily.


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## shawn dooley (Dec 6, 2012)

Yes I broke the tang off the breech plug.I tried too blow the load out with the air compressor didn't work. I got it soaking in oil .ill try again in  a couple of days


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## JustUs4All (Dec 6, 2012)

If you use a screw type puller and a ramrod, you will be able to get a lot more force on the pull if you tie the end of the ramrod to something solid like an oak tree and then pull the rifle.


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## Anvil Head (Dec 7, 2012)

Take it to a gunsmith who specializes in BP weapons. Your experiences so far indicate that you do not have the tools or skills to remove the ball correctly. Please understand that I am not trying to discredit you, just that we all have different skills and abilities.
The barrel can be salvaged right now with a possible breechplug replacement. More mistakes may render it useless.
You never said whether it was a factory gun or a custom....my guess is factory if the tang broke off. Can you supply pics? I have run accross some factory gun that have "pinned" breech plugs (early cheap european imports that flooded in in the late 60's...very scary stuff).


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## Desert Rat (Dec 7, 2012)

It may not have a breech plug. Mine has a breech that screws into the barrel. The breech has all the business components. The barrel just holds up the sights and gives the ball a direction to go.


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## Supercracker (Dec 7, 2012)

That's the breech plug

Probably looks a lot like this.


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## tim scott (Dec 7, 2012)

shawn, 
sorry to hear of your problems. your luck is the same most people have. in my forty years of custom gun making have seen everyone do similar damage to their gun trying to pull a ball, the first time. eveyone has good info. problem is they all give incomplete info. your never going to get a ball out using just a screw type puller.... you need two tools one the screw puller and second a similar looking tool but with a drill bit... you have to first drill a hole thru the ball. this relieves the pressure against the barrel and gives a way for the screw to grab without the screw acting like a wedge... done this way the ball comes right out. but since you've already done damage that will take a gunsmith to fix... cut your losses and have a pro fix it for you.... get the proper tools so next time... there will be a next time... always takes two or three times of loading a ball without powder before they learn the proper order of loading.... and you don't want to take your gun into a gunsmith more than once..... i'd pull their first ball for $25.00, second time i charged $50, third time $100. never had anyone go past that.... but i just know the one guy that made three with me, did it again and found another gunsmith to bother. i tried but you just can't fix stupid. lol
tim


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## shawn dooley (Dec 9, 2012)

Thanks for the help guys I dropped it off Friday.he said he would try to get it out. But made no promises. So we will see. And it will go on the wall if he can't get it out.


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