Forgot to put the powder in first.

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kevinasch

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Hi. So how many of you have forgotten to put the powder in first? At the range today it happened twice.
My brother had loaded his 50 cal Hawken's flintlock. Three times he primed it. Three times the prime burnt. Then, with the ramrod he realized there was no powder. Normally we bring a ball screw for the end of the ramrod and one of those CO2 blowout kits. Both were left at home. So we took the barrel off. Removed the flash hole plug. Put in a bit of priming powder (4f). Put the plug back in, replaced the barrel. He fired it. This moved the ball part way up the barrel. He repeated the steps. This time the ball came out.

I was laughing at him while loading my 44cal Kentucky pistol. Glanced over to see the powder measured had not been moved. I realized I had not put any powder in. Fortunately I had only pushed the ball in with the starter, not the ramrod. So I removed the barrel, then the flash hole plug. I measured and poured the charge in through the plug hole. Replaced the plug and rammed the ball home. Then fired.

Kevin
 
Hopefully when the ball went part way up your brothers barrel, you put alot of powder in as a charge through the flash hole and then reseated the ball on top of the powder. Otherwise you may have damaged the barrel. Other than that, you did everything right. Always frustrating when you forget the powder!
 
You wouldn't be the first one to do that. I once saw a fellow shoot his ramrod out of his fifty cal TC Hawken. Set him back a few steps but the rifle was fine.

Lots of fellows forget powder when making up cartridges as well. The fix for this is to take out the percussion nipple and fill the space with powder. Don't forget to pack the nipple as well. Replace the nipple into the breech block and shoot it downrange. That's why you should always carry a nipple wrench in your "possibles bag." Yes, you can get it out with a screw attached to your rod or one of those jigs with sharp wire fingers but they are usually a pain and not always efficient.

The biggie is when you forget powder then forget you already pushed a patched ball into the bore and put a second one on top of it.

Lots of laughs and jibes for all concerned unless you're alone.
 
there's them that has and them that's going to, when it comes to dryballing. I almost always try to shoot the ball out with a bit of powder through the vent or nipple hole. The only problem comes if the bullet seats right against the breach plug. My experience with wooden rods and a ball screw is that more often than not, you pull the tip off of the rod. For pulling balls I made several brass tips with a #12 screw silver soldered in one end and threaded to fit a 3/8 steel rod on the other end . The brass portion is a little under bore diameter so that it centers on the ball. Usually I have had to tie the rod to a tree or my work bench as the case may be and leave some slack so that I can get a really good yank on the rod

cheers mooncoon
 
Steppenwolf said:
Of all the rules you must recall, powder first and then the ball.
Click to expand...

An even more important rule before this one is "STOP TALKING! ! ! !"

The one time I ever dry balled my front stuffer was due to joking and laughing while loading. And I KNEW better! It was usually my practice to step back out of the group after I take my shot so I can get away from any talking. I forgot to do it a few times that day because it was such a good group to be with. And it bit me in the backside.

With the 4F I managed to bump and touch hole wire enough powder in through the touch hole of the flint lock to get about 5 to 7 grains in there. It went off with a funny little POP! and about what seemed like FOREVER later the ball went "ting" on the target. I figure I could have thrown it harder.... :D

After that I went back to stepping a few yards away from the others while reloading.
 
sail32 said:
The appropriate " Mantra " is;

" Powder, Patch, Ball "
Click to expand...

Huh, that's weird. When I dryballed the mantra was more like " distraction, patch, ball, seat...FACK!!:mad:" The a yoga pose kinda like this (below) only the rifle was between my legs and my hands were pressed tight against a brass range rod pushing it up (once the screw bit the ball). I remember being very thankful that I cast with soft lead. :)

My Black Powder (or lack there of) Yoga exercises:
hp_270_05_800x450.jpg

pract-well_trail_268_04_Eagle.jpg
 
bearhunter said:
You wouldn't be the first one to do that. I once saw a fellow shoot his ramrod out of his fifty cal TC Hawken. Set him back a few steps but the rifle was fine.

Lots of fellows forget powder when making up cartridges as well. The fix for this is to take out the percussion nipple and fill the space with powder. Don't forget to pack the nipple as well. Replace the nipple into the breech block and shoot it downrange. That's why you should always carry a nipple wrench in your "possibles bag." Yes, you can get it out with a screw attached to your rod or one of those jigs with sharp wire fingers but they are usually a pain and not always efficient.

The biggie is when you forget powder then forget you already pushed a patched ball into the bore and put a second one on top of it.

Lots of laughs and jibes for all concerned unless you're alone.
Click to expand...

Yeah, dryballed caplock is an embarassing inconvenience. Dryballed flinchlock is a little tougher, especially if you can't get or take the flash hole plug out. That's when the ball puller comes in handy.
 
I got rid of the original wooden rod that came with my 50cal Lyman Plains Rifle and made one out of braided brass brazing rod. The end that would hold a screw is threaded and has a couple of home made attachments which ride in the possibles bag as well. This rod has been a blessing in disguise. It not only looks good but adds weight to the fore end which I find stabilizes my aim a lot. The thing about this rod is with its added weight it makes setting the screw attachment into the ball very simple. Still I prefer the powder in the breech hole method.

One thing most front stuffer operators don't use is a bore guide when they run their tamping rod down the bore to set the patched ball against the powder charge. I find this strange because cartridge loaders almost always use some sort of a guide if they have a lever action. Well maybe not, but the folks I know do and I have made up dozens of them out of plastic rod for this purpose.
 
Dry ball isn't the only way to incur an extraction problem. I was so keen to
shoot a new rifle that I loaded without swabbing the barrel. Residual oil gave the same result as no powder, and forced a hard removal. on another occasion I ran a patch down to remove crust, only to have the patch turn and jam solid in the breech threads. I had to shoot out the rod - into a sand bank. salvaged 90%, but not the brass jag!
 
Folks I've seen using steel or brass "aftermarket" ram rods do tend to use crown protector cones in my observation. Those, like me, that still use the wooden rods or the plastic rods seldom bother.

One good thing about a conical crown protector if it's big enough is that you'll see it out there before you shoot your ram rod downrange. It seems like at LEAST half the folks that use accessory ram rods that do not use a crown protector have managed to shoot their rods downrange at least once. That's because just about all of them carry the rods around in the barrel. Seems like a great way to forget to remove it. I figure that if I ever change to using a separate ram rod that I'll make up a "saber scabbard" to wear on my belt to hold the rod instead of carrying it in the bore.
 
I don't really see the point of using a crown protector on my flintlock rifles... And what not, plus all the rods I do use are either brass, or fiber, which cannot damage the barrel steel anyways.... But if I had some fancy fandangle long range sharps or rolling block, then sure, I'd invest in one.
 
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