Cosmoline
Member
I had another boo-boo in a musket and got a dry ball, no lube, stuck in there. It was stupid of me. But instead of trying to dig it out with some corkscrew arrangement I turned to the method I had resorted to in the past--I turned the musket into an inertial bullet puller.
Here's how it works. I remove the ramrod, flip the musket muzzle-down above the rug-covered hard floor. With my right arm at 90 degrees to the stock, I lift the musket up a foot and let it and my arm drop THUMP onto the carpet. I do this over and over again, about five times, until the ball pops loose from inertia and drops out.
I've done this now with multiple smooth and rifled muzzleloaders and it seems to work all the time. The stress on muskets is negligible, since they're designed to skewer a warhorse. Rifles can be a bit more fragile, but provided your inletting is good and you have a solid fit of breach to stock you won't have bent pins. If there is a poor fit or any question about fit, you can simply remove the barrel and do the same method with the barrel.
This is the one method that worked for me when all else failed. It appears the bullet simply cannot stop itself from popping loose. Anyone else use it?
Here's how it works. I remove the ramrod, flip the musket muzzle-down above the rug-covered hard floor. With my right arm at 90 degrees to the stock, I lift the musket up a foot and let it and my arm drop THUMP onto the carpet. I do this over and over again, about five times, until the ball pops loose from inertia and drops out.
I've done this now with multiple smooth and rifled muzzleloaders and it seems to work all the time. The stress on muskets is negligible, since they're designed to skewer a warhorse. Rifles can be a bit more fragile, but provided your inletting is good and you have a solid fit of breach to stock you won't have bent pins. If there is a poor fit or any question about fit, you can simply remove the barrel and do the same method with the barrel.
This is the one method that worked for me when all else failed. It appears the bullet simply cannot stop itself from popping loose. Anyone else use it?