dry ball again

All I can say is it happens...I cant tell you about the last time but I certainly can tell you about the first time I dryballed!
I was about 15, and had had my 45 cal rifle about 6 months when a friend showed up to watch me shoot this marvelous thing...and he brought his sister! Oh my, long flowing blond hair, pretty smile, dazzling blue eyes...I didn't know up from down and right from left!! :grin:

I was talking and trying like hell to impress her when suddenly realized the thing wouldn't shoot! You guessed it...dryballed it there in front of her. Even worse, I had no idea how to fix it and had to do the unthinkable....yep, that's it, I had to ask dad for help! :haha:

He pulled the nipple and got a few grains of powder in there and poof, the ball bounced along the side of the barn...
and the love of my life??? She went inside to play with her sisters.. :redface:

Beat That!!!!
:v:

Eterry

I would discourage the use of a nipple primer. Packing powder in the nipple is most likely to create a fuse effect and resulting hang fires.

Not sure a hang fire would be disturbing if one is simply trying to prime for a dryball removal? I have one somewhere(?) and it beats pulling the nipple to add the powder?

So far to date I have yet to dry ball a rifle.
Now I have done it more times than I care to admit with pistols. :redface:

The nipple primers I've seen just put a tiny amount of powder in the mouth of the nipple.

The hole thru the nipple is far too small to actually get any powder thru it. This leaves just the volume above the hole to receive any powder the primer might dispense.

This small quantity might help to light off one of the synthetic black powders but it is far too light of a load to blow a dry ball out of the barrel.

Anyone wanting to get a dry ball out of the bore is well advised to remove the nipple and work as much powder as is possible down thru the flame channel hole that connects the nipple with the breech. Once this is done, reinstalling the nipple and capping it is all that's needed.

Your not a real muzzleloader until you dry ball twice in a row to become a Master muzzle loader you need to shoot your ramrod down range on a woodswalk. It makes it harder to find than on a range more bushes and trees. Then every one will look at you looks of wonder and try to figure out you have managed to survive this long on Mother Earth.

Dang, love this forum. I just hated the helplessness of that dry ball down there, but at least I knew from you guys the FIRST time giving me the remove the nipple and put powder down trick I felt more in control. Then the not feeling or seeing that it had actually worked till I saw that my ramrod mark was showing me at an empty barrel. But as my tale of woe says I followed more advice here and all came out well.

For me, it's like said here, don't let anything distract you from the mantra, not even the gorgeous lady nearby. POWDER, patch, ball, start, SEAT. That's mine.

Glad I ordered that CO2 kit, another possibility just in case. And I got a Spitfire nipple on the way for her, too. Had already replaced the nipple on my Hawken for one for her, too.

But again, for me, it's that mantra. I see on another new topic here, a guy got into a predicament with a ball and patch. I want to give him a reply, very seriously, I feel your pain!

I did a new one a couple weeks ago and it was someone heres fault as he did it first and asked about it. I was Loading and the patch was crooked so instead of removing the ball I tried to adjust the patch and the ball fell in with no patch. Relatively easy compared to a dryball.

At least dry balling is not in and of itself dangerous. These kinds of things will happen to pretty much everyone and isn't a big deal.

A regular inability to keep from dry balling or some other activity that requires focus and a distinct pattern of behaviour may be an indication that it is time to go get checked out at the doctors. A little forgetfulness is very normal in all people, young or old.

No matter how much we hate getting old it happens. A lot of problems remembering or being distracted is often a sign of something else and a good percentage of it is treatable. :hmm: :grin:

Hi, yep , when I made my Hawken I thought this will happen, so I made up some screw on bits for my range ramrod . one was a small drill bit to put a hole in a stuck ball, and number two was a wood screw to screw into the ball and pull it out. On the range, ooops! on powder, range officer looks and says no problem , your breech plug has a side screw,so a bit of 4f in, screw back in ,fired down range at target,!! !Bloody bulls eye. :rotf: Ceers, Homebrew.357.