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If you have a worm that fits a rod such as used for tow, just use that and put it down the barrels and gently twist, dump the old powder out and repeat until they are cleared, I would not put any oil in the barrel's first, yes you could work some powder into the nipples and shoot it out but not the route I would go. Also I would not place fresh powder on top of the old loads. At this point a air compressor may also be a good ideal to blow out the old loads especially if they move as stated. Not knowing what the gun was loaded with, loose powder, pellets of some kind I think the air compressor would be worth a first try.
 
Don't have access to either compressor or grease gun. I will enquire locally.
Bores are clean. With drums off, I have used a series of bent wooden kabob skewers to dislodge most of charges behind balls. There may be a small amount left, but I think negligible. It appears to be FG. A little over 40 gr in each. I now find that hand pressure alone moves balls and patches toward breech. This is now basically a dry ball situation and I comfortable shooting it out if no other solution is easily at hand.
 
Since neither grease gun nor compressor are at hand, why not buy one of the CO2 cylinder-based ejectors. I've used mine successfully on a .50 flintlock rifle and a .58 CW repro musket. It should work well on yours, especially since you've established that the balls are mobile. You might not have to replace the nipples, but it would probably work better with them in. You'll need one cylinder per barrel.
It's a handy tool to have in your kit anyway.
Good luck.
 
Never ever , fire a unknown load out of a muzzleloader. Some idiot could have poured smokeless powder down there.
 
Never ever , fire a unknown load out of a muzzleloader. Some idiot could have poured smokeless powder down there.
The powder I have scraped out is absolutely FG black powder. If I go this route, I will push balls and patches down to just in front of drum hole. Any residual powder should drop down and be easily removed. One shop with compressor gave me a hard NO. Not sure what he thinks is going to happen. There's a couple of acres of woods behind his shop.
 
Gave the loads a tap with rod and they moved a little. So I believe I will try and shoot them out. Should I put a little oil down the bore to soak into patches and then load powder? How many grains FFG? 15? 20? Less/more? Thanks for the help and advice.
4 or 5 grains is usually enough to give a ball the old heave ho and out the barrel, especially if you got it to move.
CLEAN the barrel in front of the stuck ball - NO OIL.
Lube the barrel with a grease or tallow - Crisco or better (like mink tallow).
Point in a safe direction - you are almost there.
 
Grease gun might be your best friend about now.
Walk
I hate the grease method, what a mess. An (IMHO) unnecessary mess) If there is not a good seal between ball and barrel - all you do is make an even bigger mess than you started with. Visual a barrel FILLED with grease - with the ball and old powder still in the barrel......
 
I am currently looking at the base of the patched balls poking into the chamber through the vent holes. That pushed the rest of the BP out and I scraped out with wooden picks. I can push the patched balls forward with very little pressure using a small wooden dowel. Wonder if they are .44 balls? All of the powder I removed went "woosh!" when touched with long fireplace match. Tomorrow I will shoot them out at our rural property. Gotta go cut trees anyway. Then I clean, lube and start the restoration project.
 
I hate the grease method, what a mess. An (IMHO) unnecessary mess) If there is not a good seal between ball and barrel - all you do is make an even bigger mess than you started with. Visual a barrel FILLED with grease - with the ball and old powder still in the barrel......
Hate it all you want, I’m guessing it has worked well for many on here, myself included (more than once).
Walk
 
Hate it all you want, I’m guessing it has worked well for many on here, myself included (more than once).
Walk
If that's your method and it works for you - then all is good and the Force is with you.
I (or anyone I have helped) have never had anything stuck in a barrel that I could not get out with either compressed air, co2, a few grains of powder or a screw puller. The grease thing is just too reminiscent of the multitude of times I rebuilt the locking hubs on my crawler. A sticky ugly grease mess - (shivers running down my spine)
 
My Googling could not find a CO2 contraption for this specific purpose. Source, please and thank you.
Fishdfly beat me to suggest Log Cabin Shop, Lodi, Ohio, but I'm pretty sure both Track of the Wolf and Dixie Gun Works also carry this useful tool. It's basically the same rig some bicyclists carry for fast refill in flats that they've fixed on the road.

One alert, not all CO2 cylinders will fit properly inside the discharger. I believe it comes with at least a couple cylinders, but I'd buy refills where you get the tool.
 
No one seems to suggest it yet, so I'll crawl out on the limb.

If the balls are as easily moved as you describe, have you considered padding the floor - to protect both the muzzles and the floor;n upending the rifle, and carefully pound it on the floor, to let gravity extract the balls?

Given the choice, I'd try blowing the balls out with CO2, compressed air, grease, or a small charge of powder first, but it might work.

You're making progress. Hang in, just don't let frustration lead you to damaging the gun- or yourself.
 
2 cents here. I purchased a first time T/C ML and it looked great in pictures; just what I wanted. When I unboxed it, it still looked great plus the barrel was in excellent condition. Very happy. I then couldn't wait to spend at least $10,000 on all the "stuff" I would need to shoot it (little did I know). Then one day in the sunlight, I noticed a formerly unnoticeable hairline crack from the breech to the screw on the opposite side of the lock. Hmmmmmmmmmmm, so I took it to my gunsmith and he said that he could fix the crack by taking the barrel off and putting a screw inside to stop the crack and then glass bedding the area. $100.00. I called the seller's shop and told him what happened and would he be willing to share the cost. He told me no, but I could ship the gun back (at my expense) and he would give me a full refund; but I still loved the gun?? So now I have the cost of the gun, the original shipping cost and a reshipping cost to send it back or keep the gun and have the gunsmith fix it for $100. So I decided to keep it and pay $100. He fixed it and said "it wasn't going anywhere"; which I assumed it wasn't. At that point I decided to just shoot PRBs so as not to give it too much stress by trying to shoot conical or whatever. Then after doing some shooting, I took the barrel off and noticed there seemed to be some holes on the edge of the bedding around the breech on the lock side. Being "new" to ML, I determined that they must be some sort of VENT HOLES??. Then one day while I was sitting under a tree in the snow during deer season, I wondered what the walnut stock looked like beneath the factory sprayed finish which was somewhat orange and didn't fill in the grain? Maybe I should get the stock refinished I thought. I sent it off to have that done and then got an email that said, "those holes were part of a long crack in the bedding that was maybe 8" long. OK. Well, being that I still really "loved" the gun, I had him epoxy and fix the holes and crack. Once that was done, I had him refinish it for more money, and after several weeks, he then sent it back. It was beautiful curly walnut and what a great job he did.. But then when sighting it in, I found that the elevation screw on the rear sight wasn't working and I needed to get a new screw to fix it. After weeks of searching, and I mean searching, I found that the screw did not exist in the world anymore. Gone! ##*&$@$@3##%!! thought I, (looking back on what I had spent so far), was all of this for a gun I couldn't shoot anymore?? And what would my wife say if I ever decided to tell her that I bought a muzzle loader??? Then after calling TOTW, they said they just got in a completely functional used rear sight that would fit my gun. $85 later because it was considered "rare", they sent the sight (not including shipping). I then had my very rich gunsmith install it for $40. My point for Big Sky is, unless you REALLY, REALLY, love that gun, send it back for a refund. Trying to get compensation for this or for that, is going to start to ---- off the dealer. Plus, suppose you do come to a financial agreement and you work it out, but then you find something else you hadn't planned on or didn't see, what then? Good luck. And do I still really love my gun? Of course.
 
Sounds like a gun in help of need, or need of help whichever one.

I’d try my very best to honor the legacy and spirit of the piece and fix it up. I wasn’t rasied to pass on my problems to someone else. Simply pull the charge and do what you can to bring the piece back up to order. Lots of instruction on how to do that elsewhere on the board. Any wear or damage is how an original with character would of looked and if you shoot the gun much in the field it’ll be dinged as well.

That’s an uncommon gun that deserves respect. You’ll be a lot more ahead as a human being if you don’t take the easy route on this one.
 
Smokey Plainsman. That is my intent. I will admit that I have had my doubts, but decided that I will move forward with original plan. I will add wood side panels, lose one of the ramrods and brown the barrels. I also need to see if it is possible to put a heavier mainspring in it, as these guns have a manure original. With the insurance settlement for stock damage, plus the bit the shop offered for my trouble getting the thing unloaded, I have ordered a NOS buttplate from Numrich since original cracked right at bend when I removed it. Get the stock repaired and it's good to go.
 
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