Dry Balling

Illustration only. This man has never dry-balled.

In the muzzleloading community there are two categories of shooters: Those who have dry-balled, and those who will. Dry balling is when you load your muzzleloader and forget to load the powder. Death, taxes, and dry-balling are life’s three great inevitabilities. I thought it might be helpful to offer some advice on how to remedy the situation.

Warning: Remember to handle your gun as though it could go off at any moment. Keep your muzzle pointed down in a safe direction at all times. You may have indeed loaded powder in your gun, but you may be experiencing a delayed discharge, and it may fire when you're least prepared.

Like any good cookbook, this recipe requires that you have certain "ingredients" beforehand so they can be in your possibles bag before the need arises. They include a Nipple Wrench, Collared Ball Puller, and a Leather Thong.

If you think you dry balled your percussion gun, you should first remove the spent percussion cap. Then lick you thumb and index finger and wipe any residue off the nipple. Finally, fit a new cap and attempt to fire. If the gun discharges, you’ll know that your problem was a dirty or deformed nipple and not a dry ball. Hint: If you’re having trouble removing the spent percussion cap, the tip of the nipple has probably been peened over. Install a replacement nipple. And in the future, remember to wipe the nipple after each shot. The accumulated gunk forces the cap to sit up high, and most of energy of the hammer strike will be wasted on seating the cap instead of igniting the fulminates.

Method #1: If it didn’t fire with the new cap, use a nipple wrench to remove the nipple. Next, find a flintlock shooter and see if s/he has a pan primer loaded with 4F powder. If they do, borrow it to dispense powder into the drum, but not to the point where the nipple threads are covered. The grains of 4F powder are smaller than 3F and will hopefully work their way into the barrel and behind the bullet. Finally, replace the nipple (be careful to not cross-thread it), recap it, and fire it in a safe direction. That little bit of 4F powder should have just enough powder to push the ball out of the muzzle. Now wipe the bore with a moistened cleaning patch followed by a dry one, reload WITH POWDER, and fire your shot for score. If 4F isn't available, try 3F. Oh, and if you remembered to coat the nipple threads with an anti-seize grease, it will unscrew easily.

If you're shooting a flintlock, you MAY be able to unscrew the touch hole liner and pour in some 4F. I say MAY because the removable touch hole liner is a relatively modern invention. Muzzleloaders made in the traditional way often have liners that are screwed into the barrel and are filed flush with the barrel's surface to remove the screwdriver slot. The only way to remove the liner is to essential destroy it by using a broken screw remover.

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Method #2: If you cannot shoot the ball free, you'll need to pull it out. This illustration was taken directly from Track Of The Wolf's on-line catalog. I recommend that you have a collared ball puller for every caliber you have, since it helps to prevent the sharp point of the puller from wandering off the ball and possibly scratching your bore (a remote possibility, to be sure). Once the ball puller has been screwed to your wipe stick, down the barrel it goes, ball puller first. Once it makes contact with the ball, apply downward pressure while twisting the wipestick until you feel the screw tip engage the soft lead ball. If have a leather thong stashed somewhere in your possibles bag, you might wish to wrap it around the wipestick to improve your "traction". When you feel you can no longer twist the rod, slowly pull the wipe stick out of the bore, and hopefully the patch and ball with it.

Buy yours here.

Townsends sells a ramrod puller which can be used to get a secure grip on the wipestick without damaging it. The are quick to warn purchasers that it is not a copy of a known artifact, but made with period correct materials using period correct technologies.

Now if the puller tears through the lead ball and releases its grip, you have a bigger problem on your hands. Frequent barrel swabbing would have minimized fowling buildup and made the withdrawal much easier. But if your bore is even slightly fouled, you will need to move to Method #3.

Method #3: If Methods #1 and #2 fail, you'll need to loosen the fouling. Beg, steal, or borrow some black powder bore solvent  like 3 Rivers and pour a thimble-full down the barrel. Now insert the bullet puller down the barrel and auger down into the ball. Next take that leather thong and lash it to the exposed end of the wipe stick, and hang it from a tree so that the butt of the rifle hangs a few inches off the ground. Now go eat your lunch.

As the solvent starts to break down the fouling, the rifle will slowly drop away from the patched ball. Since it is only moves a few inches before it reaches the ground, almost all of the wipe stick stays in the barrel and keeps the rifle from falling over. Finally, free up your rifle and give it the best cleaning ever. Be sure the bore is good and dry, and pop a few caps to blow out the rest of the goop before you load. 

Thanks to the late Ron Griffin for this tip. I've used this method only once, and it does work!

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