BUYER BEWARE, mostly a rant.

[Otter]

 

My first getting to know the rifle session for my nice used flinter almost turned into a disaster tonight. After a casual visual inspection I almost thumbed back the hammer to see the pretty sparks fly, while in the basement. Having seen some really bad things walk into the gun shop it seemed prudent to drop the ram rod down the barrel to evict any lurking spiders and such. WELL, after taking a deep breath when the ram rod stopped in it's travel a couple of inches short of the breech it seemed like a good time to REALLY check things out. Yeppers, it was mailed to me loaded! Not only that but a second charge of powder was tamped down on top of the ball.  So the barrel has been pulled from the stock pending pulling the breech plug, since my ball puller keeps stripping out of the lead ball. Moral of this rant is to always, always verify that a muzzle loader is not loaded. Good thing I'd had the rules of gun safety pounded into my skull. Now I'm wondering just how many times the former owner did load the darn thing!! Oh yes, there is powder visible through the vent hole so it doesn't seem to be a dry ball load.

[William]

Thank God you didn't pull the trigger!  The first thing I would do is alert the seller of this grievous error, then I would either buy or borrow a Co2 discharger with flintlock adaptor.  Those should develop enough pressure to expel the two loads already in the barrel.  If that doesn't do it, only then would I pull the breech plug.  Again, glad you are safe.

PS- the person who sent the package could have gotten into serious legal trouble for shipping the rifle in it's present state.

[DEADDAWG]

Otter, what gun is it? Production or custom. Do you have a vent line that can be removed or a drilled vent? Have you tried some spray oil down the barrel and an air hose with a rubber tipped blow gun to blow it out? Give us a little more info so we can try to help.

[old salt]

Otter
When you get a CO2 discharger make sure there is an addapter for a flinter not all of them will have it in the kit and you have buy one separately, Make sure you are out side and have a clear area just like you are shooting a live shot. 2 weeks ago we cleared one on the fireing line and hit the 70 yard target.
Just a word to the wise from the saftey nut

[voyageur1688]

One of these days I gotta get me one of them C/O2 units.
Voy

[Otter]

William, Believe me I have thanked Him!! Trying to contact the seller now that my ire has died down enough for me to be civil.
Deaddawg, It's a Traditions with the short barrel and synthetic stock. Have already dribbled some Kroil down the barrel and onto the breech plug. Am going to try some compressed air if the oil hasn't loosened the ball up enough. Yes there is a vent liner that can hopefully be removed.

Old Salt, Thanks for the heads up about the flintlock adapter. You advice about being outside is very well taken. It will be interesting to have a .50 caliber air rifle, just not inside!!

[DEADDAWG]

Pull the vent liner, it will allow more air volume in to push the ball out. If it doesn't come out by air, go to the auto parts and pick up a metric grease zirc. Thread it in where the vent liner was and pump it out with a grease gun. A little messy, but the hydraulic pressure will push out the most stubborn ball as long as the ball doesn't have a hole in it from trying to pull it.

[Otter]

UPDATE 

Persistence, Kroil and soapy water have finally paid off!! Got the ball to move just a smidgen but the ball puller would strip out. Figured that the second powder charge might be holding up the works so hot soapy water was dribbled in the barrel and many attempts later the foul ball was out of the bore!! Thanks for all the suggestions and safety tips. Now to go shoot it. Huh, oh yes right after helping the Mrs. clean the house, as I had promised.

[William]

Hey, that's great to hear!  How does the bore look?  Let us know how she shoots.

[Otter]

So far as the areas I am able to focus on the bore looks very good. There is a small area of what i believe is roughness that can be felt with the cleaning patches. Nearly to the end of the bore and probably the result of being stored with a load in it, uh make that two loads. Hope to go shooting this coming week. Thanks for the support and good thoughts.

[William]

I'm just paying it forward, this forum has been more helpful than I had ever hoped for and got me shooting muzzleloaders again after a nearly 15 year break.  For smoothing out the bore, you can use several methods such as steel wool, scrub bright pads, fire lapping or special purpose bore cleaning/polishing pastes.  If you don't have one of those drop in bore lights you can pull the nipple and shine a bright light into the hole, it will often illuminate the bore enough to actually see where the roughness is.  Of course you can go to a gunsmith and pay (a lot) to have the bore inspected with a bore scope, but this is muzzleloading on the cheap!

[ffrooster]

I have afriend who actually went to Home depot the other day and bought a bore scope for a bout 75 dollars, I don't know if it is oing enough to go all the way down a barrel but it is pretty cool.

[William]

I have afriend who actually went to Home depot the other day and bought a bore scope for a bout 75 dollars, I don't know if it is oing enough to go all the way down a barrel but it is pretty cool.

Your local Home Depot sells bore scopes?

[spitpatch]

One real cheap way to check out the bore, is to wrap a smaller ball in tin foil. Drop it down the bore and shine a flash light down on it.  I use a .375 pistol ball wrapped in tin foil. I can see everything, but the patient breech as the ball covers it up.  When you are finished looking, just tip up the barrel and the ball rolls right out.  Cheap enough. 

Draw a fine bead on em Son!  Bobby

[Otter]

Thanks Spitpatch, I'll give that a try.