Big diameter ball, small diameter puller solution

[stewart.leach]

Yesterday at the range I got to be clever. A shooter with a European made Civil War* rifle suffered a cracked nipple. No replacement was available,. and there was a load in the barrel. Relatively new to muzzle loading, he did not have a screw-type ball puller.

Well, I had one in the patchbox of the rifle I was shooting, but it is a 40 caliber versus his 58 caliber. This much disparity in diameter could lead to serious misalignment of screw with ball, perhaps even barrel damage.

Solution? Slip patches over the pointy end of the device until they accumulated to a snug, centering fit in the bore. Ball and patch came out without difficulty.

* Also known as War Between the States, War of Northern Aggression, and Late Great Unpleasantry.

 

[firestick]

Excellent rescue. Attempting to use such a big difference could have resulted in slippage to the side and marring up the barrel whilst you attempted to screw the puller in leaving a rough surface there and a place for corrosion to start from trapped debris and/or moisture.