1st Time Out

rdinatal

rdinatal

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Moral of the story...
  1. Put all the BP 'stuff' in a dedicated range bag.
  2. Bring an experienced person if you want to learn the correct steps.
I had some extra time today so I wanted to head out and have some time with the new (to me) Hawken. So, I drove by Bass Pro to look for some items that I needed. Found some round balls, patches, more #11 caps. All set, headed the RCWA.

Got there and picked a large pistol bay to set up. Cleaned the barrel, checked the ramrod depth when empty for reference. Fired two caps to be sure all was clear, then loaded up 40grs, patch, RB, set flush. o_O Dang, forgot the short starter at home on the bench (reference #1 above). Used a block of scrap wood in the truck to set the ball flush to trim the patch. Not the best but it worked better than nothing. Ran the ball home, cap, aim, bang, smoke! Hey, this is fun let's do this again!

Ran a cleaning patch as an exercise before loading. Patch, RB, set flush, trim patch. :confused: Forgot the powder charge! (reference #2 above)
Now I have a stuck ball flush with the muzzle. Ok, ball puller! Where is that, yup, with the short starter. :mad:
(reference #1 above)

One shot, lots of 'burn and learn'. Got to clean it! Still had fun.
 
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Ha! Sounds like my 1st time out with my inline ML'er. Fired one shot, swabbed the barrel. Fired the second shot, ran a patch down the bore... and there it stayed. I lacked the proper walloper in my truck to get the stuck patch, jag & rod out. Had to clamp it in the vise at home, pull the breech plug, and "coax" the patch out the breech with what I believe is called "percussive maintainance."

But I got better.
 
Should have tried a couple caps to see if you could work it loose. Or find a wood screw.


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If it happens again, often times pushing a few grains of powder through the touch hole will give enough oomph to push the ball out.
 
Tim said:
If it happens again, often times pushing a few grains of powder through the touch hole will give enough oomph to push the ball out.
Click to expand...

Guess where the wrench was? Yup, reference #1 above.

I'm just laughing about it now. Figured this is a dry run on what not to do.
 
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This is exactly why I have dedicated range boxes. One for black powder and one for modern guns.
 
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