Very stuck minie ball, tried everything having to pull the breech plug

[The Crisco Kid]

I wouldn't bother trying to make a ball puller out a wood ramrod. Spend the money and buy a good brass field rod that will be threaded for a good ball puller. You or someone you shoot with will need it some time anyway.

 

[Sam squanch]

Since it’s an original, the breech plug should be way easier to remove than a reproduction one. Rest easy and let lodgewood do the magic!

 

[SDSmlf]

I'm guessing the minie is covering the nipple vent. So no amount of powder or compressed air will remove it.

I would have thought that, but OP has implied powder (Pyrodex) was under Minie. It should be in front of the nipple vent. Claims the Pyrodex is triple dead.

The grease killed any pyrodex in it, with the water and oil killing it even more.

A couple of possibilities, though not inclusive, would be there is a hole through the Minie from the attempts with the puller (explains the grease and nitrogen not working), or maybe, just maybe, there isn’t a Minie in the bore, it could be long gone. I’ve seen it before. Explains the grease and nitrogen going ‘around’ the Minie. Would have to see the gun. It takes an extraordinary effort to get a Minie stuck to the point you have to un-breech the barrel.

 

[PathfinderNC]

It’s an antique, original rifled musket. Treat it as such. At this point, stop toying with ideas and get someone who actually knows what to do handle it.
The high cost to have it rectified will help reinforce a lesson for you on learning the proper way to use your firearm.

 

[Sam squanch]

Talk to some of the NSSA folks , they will have some good tips I’m sure. There are a few on here. Don’t feel bad , we have ALL screwed up with these guns at one time or another. Except for Pathfinder….

 

[Never_Lucky_Rubber_Ducky]

It’s an antique, original rifled musket. Treat it as such. At this point, stop toying with ideas and get someone who actually knows what to do handle it.
The high cost to have it rectified will help reinforce a lesson for you on learning the proper way to use your firearm.

Thank you for your lesson and I’m not an all knowing god like some, but the only mistake I see that I made was using pyrodex instead of black powder. I don’t think there’s much else of a mistake to learn from here friend

 

[wiscoaster]

No worries, we all learn from mistakes. I think you should be able to remove the breach plug yourself, but if you don't have the tools or the confidence to try it, by all means get a professional to do it.

PS, and I have dry-balled and the grease gun method worked best for me. But that was with a patched round ball, not a Minie ball. I can see that with rifling grooves and a non-expanded Minie ball the grease gun method might not work.

 

[PathfinderNC]

Thank you for your lesson and I’m not an all knowing god like some, but the only mistake I see that I made was using pyrodex instead of black powder. I don’t think there’s much else of a mistake to learn from here

Apparently there is a lot to be learned here, friend.

 

[Never_Lucky_Rubber_Ducky]

Apparently there is a lot to be learned here

So you’re one of those people, I love you too buddy

 

[ETipp]

Good luck.

 

[COTNTOP]

A friend had a stuck ball that would not budge. After he tried every method known with no success he contacted me. The barrel was gummed up with grease so no chance of shooting it out. I welded a course thread decking screw to a mild steel rod, ran some surgical tubing over rod from the back side. Then clamped a vice grip to the rod and gently tapped the ball out with no problem. Probably got lucky but that was all I could come up with at the time.

 

[PathfinderNC]

So you’re one of those people, I love you too buddy

Any new shooter would do well learning from others who have experience. Start with the basics. This was your first outing and it went badly. Very badly. Now it’s getting even more frustrating for you, I imagine.
I am not trying to criticize you but rather suggest an avenue to take. Unless we all learn from our mistakes we won’t grow at all.
PS , by “one of those people” do you mean an NRA Certified Muzzleloading Instructor?
If so, yeah, I am one of them.

 

[SDSmlf]

Any new shooter would do well learning from others who have experience. Start with the basics. This was your first outing and it went badly. Very badly. Now it’s getting even more frustrating for you, I imagine.
I am not trying to criticize you but rather suggest an avenue to take. Unless we all learn from our mistakes we won’t grow at all.

Do not know OP’s experience level, but with a come back response of already tried that to most suggestions, I’m guessing their mind is made up on how to un-stick a ball or Minie and they are not really looking for any input. But that’s OK, we all have different ways of learning.

Actually spent time with a new shooter this past week who left a lot of oil in the breech of their new Hoyt rebored barrel and fouled their first load of T7. I feel very confident they now understand how to clean and use rust preventative in a bore, and if things still go wrong, how to get a stuck projectile out. And it had nothing to do with them using T7.

 

[PathfinderNC]

Do not know OP’s experience level, but with a come back response of already tried that to most suggestions, I’m guessing their mind is made up on how to un-stick a ball or Minie and they are not really looking for any input. But that’s OK, we all have different ways of learning.

Actually spent time with a new shooter this past week who left a lot of oil in the breech of their new Hoyt rebored barrel and fouled their first load of T7. I feel very confident they now understand how to clean and use rust preventative in a bore, and if things still go wrong, how to get a stuck projectile out. And it had nothing to do with them using T7.

And he's been a member here for one day. What a way to start things off

 

[Gun Tramp]

OP posted "1861 Springfield Barrel Patina issues" yesterday regarding the same gun.

​

 

[Grenadier1758]

I would have thought that, but OP has implied powder (Pyrodex) was under Minie. It should be in front of the nipple vent. Claims the Pyrodex is triple dead.

A couple of possibilities, though not inclusive, would be there is a hole through the Minie from the attempts with the puller (explains the grease and nitrogen not working), or maybe, just maybe, there isn’t a Minie in the bore, it could be long gone. I’ve seen it before. Explains the grease and nitrogen going ‘around’ the Minie. Would have to see the gun. It takes an extraordinary effort to get a Minie stuck to the point you have to un-breech the barrel.

I was thinking along the same lines of SDSmlf. @Never_Lucky_Rubber_Ducky should verify with his ramrod that there is still an obstacle at the breech. The 4F should have ignited the Pyrodex and sent the Minie' ball out. Still, there could be a hole through the Minie' ball that explains why all the usual extraction methods didn't work. If the obstacle is still there, then going to a muzzleloading gun smith is the best approach.

 

[Never_Lucky_Rubber_Ducky]

I was thinking along the same lines of SDSmlf. @Never_Lucky_Rubber_Ducky should verify with his ramrod that there is still an obstacle at the breech. The 4F should have ignited the Pyrodex and sent the Minie' ball out. Still, there could be a hole through the Minie' ball that explains why all the usual extraction methods didn't work. If the obstacle is still there, then going to a muzzleloading gun smith is the best approach.

I endoscoped the ball, there is a minie ball with a hole in the top, looks like a hollow point lead minie

 

[SDSmlf]

I endoscoped the ball, there is a minie ball with a hole in the top, looks like a hollow point lead minie

Unless that hole in the top goes through to the hollow base, it could still be easily extracted without removing the breech plug, but from what I’ve read in this thread, probably best for you to let a real blackpowder/muzzleloader gunsmith take care of it. Wish you luck.

 

[Eterry]

The only thing I can think of other than ship it off is to thread a slightly larger screw in the minie ball to block the hole in the top. Then work 5-10 grs ffffg behind the minie and let it rip.

It took me a while to figure out to swab the bore with dry patches before loading. The oil would drain to the breech, getting the first round to fire was a disaster. This was in 1980, long before the internet was here to help.
I wish you luck.

 

[leadhoarder]

I wonder if it would be possible to take say a dowel cut just long enough to stick out the bore a little bit and hit it with a hammer in hopes of pounding the minie to the point where it fills the bore so that the other methods that have been tried get a chance to work because of a better seal?