Ball puller?

[gun toting monkeyboy]

I bought a used hawkin online, and it came with a load and ball already in it. I tried the ball puller, but ended up stripping the threading out of my ramrod, and leaving the worm stuck in the danged ball. I ended up unscrweing the nipple, shaking the unknown charge of god only knows what kind of powder, and loading it up with a few grains of FFg (.54 caliber). I went out to a rabbit hole in the back yard and touched it off down the hole. It muffled the sound well enough, and the mystery bullet came out, never to be seen again.

-Mb

[grymster]

So I dug around in my BP stuff and found a ball puller. Appears to be threaded 10-32 which fits my ramrod, but I'm not willing to risk pulling the ferrule off it and it has no T-handle anyway. None of my other cleaning rods has a matching female end, so I'll use the stoutest one (3/8 aluminum) which appears to be threaded 5/16-24. I think I'll take a length of 5/16-24 threaded rod, drill and tap one end 10-32, then thread the other end into the female end of the cleaning rod. It has a nice handle on it also.

I'm still going to look into the Monica thing.... just because!

Thanks for all the advice!

[CSACANNONEER]

So I dug around in my BP stuff and found a ball puller. Appears to be threaded 10-32 which fits my ramrod, but I'm not willing to risk pulling the ferrule off it and it has no T-handle anyway. None of my other cleaning rods has a matching female end, so I'll use the stoutest one (3/8 aluminum) which appears to be threaded 5/16-24. I think I'll take a length of 5/16-24 threaded rod, drill and tap one end 10-32, then thread the other end into the female end of the cleaning rod. It has a nice handle on it also.

I'm still going to look into the Monica thing.... just because!

Thanks for all the advice!

That's why I recommended the kitty tail puller.



Another thing to think about is the type of lube you used. I generally use saliva which will dry out. If I needed to pull a ball a few days later, I'd put a small amount of very thin lube down the barrel first.

[grymster]

That's why I recommended the kitty tail puller.



Another thing to think about is the type of lube you used. I generally use saliva which will dry out. If I needed to pull a ball a few days later, I'd put a small amount of very thin lube down the barrel first.

I used a greased patch, so it should come out OK. I think I might get the cleaning rod modification done today and get that thing unloaded. Meanwhile, I read in several places that Pyrodex is tough to ignite reliably with a percussion cap. What would be your opinion on this? I would rather use GOEX anyway, but it seems hard to come by in my area.

[grymster]

OK, I guess I have hard balls, because despite my best efforts to start the ball puller, it ain't happening. Now either I go to the range and try some real Holy Black in the nipple, or I order a CO2 ball blower.

[CSACANNONEER]

It sucks that your greased balls are too hard to get a screw started.





Oh, what is my opinion of Pyrodex? I consider it the same as all BP subsitutes. It's a SIN to use it in a traditional frontloader. However, since a modern inline rifle is already blasphemous, WTH, BP substitutes and even plastic sabotted modern bullets can't make it any worse. I've just never EVER used any of the modern stuff. OK, there was this one time, out at sea, when I did touch off a round of Pyrodex but, the Hawaiian Chieftain had it coming and The Californian wasn't legally allowed to carry BP at that time.

Find someone local to you who does Civil War/REv War reenacting. They usually have good sources for BP.

[grymster]

It sucks that your greased balls are too hard to get a screw started.





Oh, what is my opinion of Pyrodex? I consider it the same as all BP subsitutes. It's a SIN to use it in a traditional frontloader. However, since a modern inline rifle is already blasphemous, WTH, BP substitutes and even plastic sabotted modern bullets can't make it any worse. I've just never EVER used any of the modern stuff. OK, there was this one time, out at sea, when I did touch off a round of Pyrodex but, the Hawaiian Chieftain had it coming and The Californian wasn't legally allowed to carry BP at that time.

Find someone local to you who does Civil War/REv War reenacting. They usually have good sources for BP.

Yeah, the Hawaiian Chieftain has that way about her! My avatar is a photo off the Lady Washington as we shot a Korean cargo vessel on our way back into Jack London Square, right after pounding the Hawaiian Chieftain near the Bay Bridge. Fun stuff!

Oh.... and thanks for helping out this blasphemous sinner!