Need help....Have a cva hawken rifle with ball stuck in it,,,

[dan101955]

I have a .54 cal. CVA Hawken rifle that has a ball and a possible patch stuck in it. I bought it from a friend in the fire dept.
Didn't know there was a problem with it till I went to shoot it.

Just would not shoot right. put inspection camera down the bore and could not believe what I saw.
A stuck ball and patch in it.

Need to know how to remove the breach plug. Where can I get a breach plug wrench? Is it a right handed thread or Left hand thread?

Thanks for any help,

Dan

 

[garypl]

I have a .54 cal. CVA Hawken rifle that has a ball and a possible patch stuck in it. I bought it from a friend in the fire dept.
Didn't know there was a problem with it till I went to shoot it.

Just would not shoot right. put inspection camera down the bore and could not believe what I saw.
A stuck ball and patch in it.

Need to know how to remove the breach plug. Where can I get a breach plug wrench? Is it a right handed thread or Left hand thread?

Thanks for any help,

Dan

I woud try to pull the ball with a range rod and ball puller. You might also be able to blow it out with compressed air or a grease gun. Try the easy methods first before pulling the plug.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Due to the breech design, removing the breech plug on a CVA gun is the last of the means to remove a stuck ball.

Since you do not know if your CVA Hawken rifle is loaded with whatever powder, the CO2 discharger or compressed air is the first choice to use for removing the obstruction. The second choice is to get the grease fitting (6x1.00mm) to push the ball out. This isn't as messy as it sounds.

@Idaho Ron has an excellent video on the use of a grease gun to remove the stuck ball.

 

[deermanok]

You could remove the nipple and pack some black powder in there. Reinstall nipple cap and fire. That should blow out the patch and ball. Might have to repeat the process but it should work on the first go.

 

[chorizo]

https://smile.amazon.com/Prolube-46200-Grease-Fitting-Straight/dp/B01MXM7PDS/ref=sr_1_10?crid=1YB7NQY3VAJWH&keywords=m6x1+grease+zerk&qid=1666304632&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjAwIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=m6x1+grease+zirk%2Caps%2C140&sr=8-10

 

[TreeMan]

You stated that it “just wouldn’t shoot right”. Does that mean you did shoot it and it didn’t shoot “right”, or did you load it and it never went off at all? If it shot at all then it doesn’t have a ball stuck in it unless you got one stuck yourself. I’m confused.

 

[jdw276]

You could remove the nipple and pack some black powder in there. Reinstall nipple cap and fire. That should blow out the patch and ball. Might have to repeat the process but it should work on the first go.

That is what I did today. Third dryball in my career. No clue why.. wait thats it, i was distracted......

 

[nchawkeye]

You could remove the nipple and pack some black powder in there. Reinstall nipple cap and fire. That should blow out the patch and ball. Might have to repeat the process but it should work on the first go.

What if the previous owner loaded with smokeless powder?? Then you will blow the barrel...Not recommended if you didn't load yourself...Either pull or blow with compressed air as previously mentioned..

 

[S.Kenton]

I’d try compressed air first, then if that don’t work, pull it. Before you pull it spray some WD-40 down the muzzle, remove the nipple and use the red straw and spray the same in the drum as far in as possible. Depending on how long the ball and patch has been In the barrel,l and what lubed was used, the Wd-40 will help loosen it up if needed…I’d hate to remove that breech. I wouldn’t try and dribble black powder in nipple drum, just because you don’t know what powder the previous owner loaded in it. Better be safe than sorry.. just my 2 cents

 

[Dave Markowitz]

My $0.02:

I'd try to pull the ball using a collared ball screw on a range rod. Before putting the screw down the bore, squirt some good penetrating oil -- WD40, PB Blaster, or Kroil -- down on top of the ball and let it soak for a little while.

This page on Track of the Wolf's site has the collared ball screws: Ball Pullers, steel screws with brass collars - Track of the Wolf

I've had to use one a couple times recently and it worked really well. The collar keeps it centered in the bore and they are sharp enough to screw into the soft lead ball without too much effort.

Once you get the ball out of course clean the bore really well. If the powder has been in there for awhile it may be compacted into a semi-solid mass, so the ball screw and/or a fouling scraper will help to break it up.

 

[Flint Striker]

I’ve put powder in through the vent liner hole on a flintlock before, but it was a dry ball I loaded myself. It’s easy enough to try pulling the ball yourself with a puller, or call a gun store and ask for help. Call first - they get nervous if you take a potentially loaded rifle in without asking. But any real gun store that sells muzzleloaders could probably help.

 

[deerstalkert]

Dan, should you try the ball screw method, and it fails, you can still use the grease zerk and pump it out. if the screw penetrates through the ball, screw it in as far as it will go and then tap on the end of the rod. this will upset the lead ball enough to seal around the threads.
personally anymore i try to trickle powder behind the ball first and shoot it out. failing that i pump the thing out.
you can unscrew the drum on the cva and see if there is powder behind the ball, but pumping it out is the best method i have found.

 

[M. De Land]

Due to the breech design, removing the breech plug on a CVA gun is the last of the means to remove a stuck ball.

Since you do not know if your CVA Hawken rifle is loaded with whatever powder, the CO2 discharger or compressed air is the first choice to use for removing the obstruction. The second choice is to get the grease fitting (6x1.00mm) to push the ball out. This isn't as messy as it sounds.

@Idaho Ron has an excellent video on the use of a grease gun to remove the stuck ball.

I've never stuck a ball that my ball puller couldn't retrieve. I do use a 5/16s on piece steel range rod with a 1.5 inch ball threaded to the end though . I have stuck lead laps that had to be melted out. No big deal and a heck of a lot less time and mess than the grease gun gig !

 

[10 Ga.]

I’ve used both a ball puller and grease gun. Ball puller is my first choice. If you won’t want to wait for a ball puller to ship then you can find the parts you need for the grease gun method at the local hardware store or tractor supply. It’s super easy and less messy than you would expect. It’s still messier than the ball puller though. If your going to use your muzzle loader frequently I would get a collared ball puller and a cleaning jag that threads to your ram rod for your kit in the field. Should cost around $12 from track of the wolf.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

You could remove the nipple and pack some black powder in there. Reinstall nipple cap and fire. That should blow out the patch and ball. Might have to repeat the process but it should work on the first go.

If I didn't load it, I personally would not assume real black is in there. Could be smokeless. Some real dummies loading out there. JMO.
Larry

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

If he works at a fire department, try one of their air tanks with a nozzle on the nipple & blow it out.
Something like this:


If you can't do that, you can try shooting it out.
Be sure you ask him what type powder he loaded it with 1st.
If he used smokeless powder, go back to the above video.

 

[Trot]

You stated that it “just wouldn’t shoot right”. Does that mean you did shoot it and it didn’t shoot “right”, or did you load it and it never went off at all? If it shot at all then it doesn’t have a ball stuck in it unless you got one stuck yourself. I’m confused.

Yep, this needs to be answered first!

 

[French Colonial]

I have a .54 cal. CVA Hawken rifle that has a ball and a possible patch stuck in it. I bought it from a friend in the fire dept.
Didn't know there was a problem with it till I went to shoot it.

Just would not shoot right. put inspection camera down the bore and could not believe what I saw.
A stuck ball and patch in it.

Need to know how to remove the breach plug. Where can I get a breach plug wrench? Is it a right handed thread or Left hand thread?

Thanks for any help,

Dan

So it is shooting............

But there is a patch and ball in it?????

Show us a picture of what that bore camera is showing you, can not wait to see this.

 

[johnraleksa]

So it is shooting............

But there is a patch and ball in it?????

Show us a picture of what that bore camera is showing you, can not wait to see this.

I got hold of a 50 T.C once, the owner told me he only shot it 4 times. Tryed to shoot it my self ,hesitated when shoot 2or 3 times . When cleaning it realized something was in the barrel. Patch and ball. Got that out then shot it . Great shooting gun.

 

[Lawdawg98]

I have a .54 cal. CVA Hawken rifle that has a ball and a possible patch stuck in it. I bought it from a friend in the fire dept.
Didn't know there was a problem with it till I went to shoot it.

Just would not shoot right. put inspection camera down the bore and could not believe what I saw.
A stuck ball and patch in it.

Need to know how to remove the breach plug. Where can I get a breach plug wrench? Is it a right handed thread or Left hand thread?

Thanks for any help,

Dan

If the ball won’t come out using a ball puller and just normal elbow grease, try building this. I designed and built it when I couldn’t get a stuck round out through firing. I removed the vent hole liner and soaked the breach end of my barrel in a bucket of warm soapy water for two hours while I built this jig. After flushing out all the powder I put my barrel in a vise. I ran my range rod through the center hole of this jig and attached and a ball puller jag to the end. I got the jag firmly seated into the ball and began turning the nuts seen in the photo near my thumbs. The process is slow but it got the ball and patch out in about an hour. The piece of flat steel pushes against the handle on the range rod pulling the ball down the barrel. The whole thing cost me some time and about twenty bucks from lowes.