.50 Cal muzzleloader blocked barrel - Help !

[Blanechar]

I'm going on a moose hunting trip tomorrow and while cleaning my Hawken .50 cal muzzle loader I blocked the barrel. The brass cap came off the cleaning rod (wooden one that fits on the barrel) and left me with the brass rod cap, a cleaning jag, and cloth stuck in the barrel.
I took it to a store in Calgary but they could not remove it. Any ideas or gun smiths experienced in muzzloaders that I could take it to today? I live just south of Calgary. Appreciate any help I can get.

[gitrdun]

Crap, that sucks. Here's what I would try. I would somehow fasten a wood screw to the end of a cleaning rod, or a long wooden dowel. You'd have to be a bit inventive about how to do that, it might require a trip to Home Depot to get the materials. Then I would pour a bit of oil down the tube to lubricate the bore. Insert the screw down the tube and thread it into the stuff that's stuck in there and try to pull it out. Too bad you've only got one day to get it done, but if you get started now, you might save your trip. Good luck.

[Roebag]

Borrow another rod off of a buddy/or buy and push/pound it through. Should come easy

[Rancid Crabtree]

Two schools of thought one is to grab and pull like gitr suggested. The other idea is to use pressure to push it out which may work if it is not jammed in too hard. Any way to apply air pressure below the obstruction to push it out ? Sorry I can't help with more specifics.

[catnthehat]

I'm going on a moose hunting trip tomorrow and while cleaning my Hawken .50 cal muzzle loader I blocked the barrel. The brass cap came off the cleaning rod (wooden one that fits on the barrel) and left me with the brass rod cap, a cleaning jag, and cloth stuck in the barrel.
I took it to a store in Calgary but they could not remove it. Any ideas or gun smiths experienced in muzzloaders that I could take it to today? I live just south of Calgary. Appreciate any help I can get.
Here's what I did when Ii stuck mine when I was in the bush 30 years ago.
try taking the breech plug out and push it through, then lock tite the plug back in.
if you can't get the plug out, take the nipple off and dry the barrel out as well as you can.
Then prime the flash hole with as mush powder as you can and out the nipple back on, then fire the gun against a cardboard box stuffed with rags.
That is about the only way Ii know to get it out.
When you do get it out , expoy the tip on, and pin it with a bit of brazing rod.
The danged things are normally installed at the factory with white glue which breaks down in water!!!
Cat

[Blanechar]

Thanks for all the great advice. I talked to a gunsmith on the phone and he also suggested that the best (and safest) way was to pull the breach plug. I assume this is threaded on? I wrapped a cloth around the breach plug end and the barrel and tried a pipe wrench. Didn't want to get too aggresive to unthread as the pipe wrench is starting to leave marks and will damage the blueing. I'm not sure if the breach plug has ever been pulled. Is there an easier (and less damaging) way of removing the breach plug ? Thanks for your assistance.

[jpohlic]

Could be messy but if you could find a grease nipple with the same threads as your regular nipple you could use a grease gun to force it back out, then clean thoroughly.

[catnthehat]

Soak the breech plug in Kroil for a few days, it should loosen up.
If not, you can try heating the kroil up in a soup can that is in another can of boiling water.

Cat

[Grizzly Adams]

Seems to me they make a little gadget that uses a co 2 bottle, to blow the charge out. You stick it in the nipple hole and blow away.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=278589

If you have an air compressor, that would be my first choice.

Grizz

[Blanechar]

Kroil - that must be some kind of penetrating oil? Who would carry it? Automotive suppy stories ?

I thought about the air compressor and tried it but I'm not sure how I would get a seal on the nipple? I assume the CO2 cylinder sold for that purpose must have some kind of attaching adapter to the nipple. I looked at Bass Pro shop and the sporting goods store in Deerfoot meadows but did not see anything like the CO2 cylinder tool.

Doesn't look like I will have this fixed by tomorrow's hunting trip so will work on it when I return.

thanks

[Rancid Crabtree]

Does the nipple unscrew, if so have the thread measured and get a fitting that will screw into the port and attach to the air hose (1/4 NPT) that would allow you to apply the air pressure. It may be a very unique fitting that you would have to get made at a machine shop.

[Pioneer2]

Go to Walmart automotive buy grease nipple with same thread size as barrel nipple.Swap them then with a hand pump greasegun pump the grease into the barrel till it pops out the end.Boiling water will clean the bore .Done without F'NG up the breach plug..................Harold........will cost you a tube of cheap grease

[petew]

Air compressor with a rubber tiped nozel used for cleaning off parts.
keep it pointed in a safe direction.

Pete

[sinawalli]

Soak the breech plug in Kroil for a few days, it should loosen up.
If not, you can try heating the kroil up in a soup can that is in another can of boiling water.

Cat

Kroil is hard to come by, and extremely toxic if it smokes!! But it works like a hot damn!!

[Pioneer2]

The cleaning jag may be partway down the barrel.So if you can remove the nipple and poke 10-20gr of BP into the breech hole.Reinstall the nipple then with another loading rod shove the obstruction down to sit on the small powder charge go somewhere safe and fire it into a box of old clothes /sand so you can see what came out.Won't hurt the gun.When I 1st tried 777 I had a lot of failures to fire and ended up adding real BP down the nipple hole to clear the pipe........Harold.....if you already kroled/oiled the hell out of it you just made it harder to remove as the powder wont be helping.

[catnthehat]

Kroil is hard to come by, and extremely toxic if it smokes!! But it works like a hot damn!!
It's not hard to come by at all!
Many automotive stores carry it as well as many gun shops such as P&D.
Cat