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Stuck minnie ball

te1980te1980 Member Posts: 5 ✭✭
Well, I've got a Minnie stuck about 6 inches above the powder charge. I've tried pulling it but the puller just pulled out of the soft lead and now will not bite into the bullet. Should I seat the ball down to the charge by driving it down with a hammer and a steel rod and then shoot it out or not? I'm thinking that with the ball being that tight in the bore, the pressure might be too high and buldge or split the barrel but I'm fairly new to blackpowder shooting so any help would be great. Thanks

Comments

  • Chief ShawayChief Shaway Member, Moderator Posts: 6,191 ******
    edited November -1
    How did it get stuck? What type of weapon is it and how old? With a quality barrel it shouldn't hurt to drive it down and fire it out. Most ML rifle barells are fairly thick.
    I've seen double charged rounds go off as well as double loaded charges with no problem. Just make sure that it is seated on the powder charge and you should be fine.
    If you do feel worried, tie it to a tire and fix a string to the trigger.
  • te1980te1980 Member Posts: 5 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    It's a reproduction .577 cal. 1853 Enfield musket. It is only about a year old so it is good steel but it has a round barrel so I'm not sure about the thickness of it. It got stuck because I forgot to swab out the barrel after 3 or 4 shots as I usually do so it was fouled pretty bad. I remembered on the 5th load when the ball jammed up 3/4 of the way down and I got that sick "oh crap" feeling. I have got by with it before, just not this time. I'm shooting .575 Minnie balls and they're a bit snug, but I've never had a problem as long as I swab out every few rounds.
  • hunterXhunterX Member Posts: 75 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Dumping an amount of shooters choice lead remover down the bore and letting it stand overnight would loosen it up.
    If your gun had a removal breech plug , which I assume it does not , I would then push it out either end with the rod. But letting it soak should free it up enough that you may be able to grab it and pull it out if loose enough.
    I would probably try that before risk ruining the barrel ..... but like the man said , if you got it seated against the powder , I would think it would shoot out alright.
    If you soak it overnight with the lead remover keep in mind that ruins the chance due to wet powder of shooting it out.
  • Chief ShawayChief Shaway Member, Moderator Posts: 6,191 ******
    edited November -1
    Pound it down and shoot it out. No worries.
  • bull300wsmbull300wsm Member Posts: 3,289
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Chief Shaway
    Pound it down and shoot it out. No worries.


    +1...if the lead is that soft it will go on down with a little more force....Bull
  • hunter86004hunter86004 Member Posts: 1,222 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Having shot mini balls almost exclusivly for almost 50 years, I would drive it home and shoot it out.
    I also have a mold (Lee) that casts mini ball a tad bit tighter than I like and solved the problem by rolling them, with pressure, between two pieces of oak 1x3 to make 'em a bit smaller.
    One other thing I learned when I first started shooting minis, was to put lube in the cavity along with the grease groves. I've always used Crisco and have never had to swab the barrel. My bore always looks wet (no sticky fouling) and it's easy to clean with dish soap and hot water.
  • te1980te1980 Member Posts: 5 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Thanks to all of you for the advice! I got it cleared. I seated the ball down and clamped it into a shooting vice and fired it off with a string looped around the trigger. As tight as it was, I wasn't taking any chances on my face being that close to a barrel burst. I had to use a 3/8" steel rod and a 3lb. hammer to seat the ball the rest of the way down so I was concerned with that much pressure. Thanks again.
  • team roper ozzyteam roper ozzy Member Posts: 411 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    i agree shoot lubed rounds ..i use 50/50 of Crisco and bee's wax...after around 10 rounds or so swab out the barrel,,have the same model as you and never had one problem with it live fire or re-enacting blanks. fun toys [:D]
  • dandak1dandak1 Member Posts: 450 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    EXACTLY what happens to me when I shoot my muzzleloader with black powder...MAYBE I can get 3 shots...usually get a ball stuck at shot #2 or 3. Switched to pyrodex RS and have done 30 straight w/o a problem.
    Something tells me they didnt have this problem in the old days, I cant see soldiers swabbing their bores every 3 shots or so. Me thinks the bp of today burns dryer than the bp of yesteryear.
  • odenthevikingodentheviking Member Posts: 523 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by dandak1
    Something tells me they didnt have this problem in the old days, I cant see soldiers swabbing their bores every 3 shots or so. Me thinks the bp of today burns dryer than the bp of yesteryear.


    In fact they DID have this problem! The Whitworth Rifle,(that fired a 5 sided bolt, not a minnie or round ball), required cleaning after every round fired. Civil War Soldiers have written about dropping thier musket for a cleaner one, putting canteen water and peeing down the barrel to clean out fowl, and so on. If i remember correctly the tenth round in a cartridge pack was a cleaner bullet. It had a hard metal disk on the bottom to scrap the fowl from the barrel.
  • te1980te1980 Member Posts: 5 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    You are correct. Durring the Civil War, cartridges came in packs of 15-20 musket caps, 9 rounds with minnie balls, and 1 round with a Williams cleaner bullet. the Williams bullet had a "scraper" made out of brass or tin attached to the base of the ball to remove the fouling as it left the bore. But sometimes the barrels fouled before they could get to the cleaner round and they had the same problems with balls sticking as we do today. Most soldiers carried cleaning jags and a bore scraper in his cartridge box. But in the heat of battle, who's going to stop to clean thier rifle when there would be others available?

    As for my stuck ball problem. I must have had one ball that was out of round or oversized. I've probably put 25-30 rounds through it since, without a problem. I even shot off 48 rounds of blanks reenacting two weekends ago and shot 5 or 6 live rounds the following Monday afternoon without cleaning at all before the minnies started to get tight in the bore.
  • theoriginaljunkmantheoriginaljunkman Member Posts: 6 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    right on!!!! ive tried a ton of lubes/grease. i shot competition musket and the crisco/ beeswax works great also i shoot a little white lithieum sp? grease in the base of the bullet and can shoot about 35-50 rounds before having to patch the barrel



    quote:Originally posted by team roper ozzy
    i agree shoot lubed rounds ..i use 50/50 of Crisco and bee's wax...after around 10 rounds or so swab out the barrel,,have the same model as you and never had one problem with it live fire or re-enacting blanks. fun toys [:D]
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