Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Powder/Pellet removal from an inline

I know that CO2 pressure can be used to remove a charge from a muzzleloader without discharging it, but what about removing the breechplug from a loaded inline and allowing the powder/pellets to fall out the breech?

I believe this is a potentially dangerous method, but there are people who do this and think there is a minimal risk. How is this so different in risk than screwing into the lead bullet and removing the charge from the front end?

samchap

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww, fer tha love a Pete.
Unscrew the breech plug and let the pellets fall out.
Yer right. T'aint no more dangerous than sticking the nose of a ball with a ramrod and screw.
Jest don' do it in the living room wif yer kids watching a John Kerry eclection re-run commerical, or in church, at yer kids basketball game and so forth.
By tha ...what's a pellet?

What's the sense in getting a pellet or two full of anti-seize compound? Then, removing a sabot backwards usually wrecks it crossing all those threads. So now, if you bought a 20-pk of sabot/bullets, you have an extra bullet without a sabot. You have two wrecked pellets & you still must clean the plug area where powder deposits may remain -- you still must swab the bore to remove possible remnants of outdoor air moisture. You still must apply another dose of gun oil.

I don't get it... why not just shoot it (or) use a CO2 cartridge (or) use a bullet puller so you don't have to mess with the plug removal/reinstallation?

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, I give up? Why not?

Easiest, safest way to do the deed is to install a grease zerk in place of the nipple and hand pump it out with grease. Lighter grease is easier to clean out after.
art

Art, seems to me that pellets are hollow thus the grease would probably by pass the pellet by going up through the hollow center pushing out the projectile. Recently my neophite neighbor double loaded his el Cheapo CVA in-line. he was afraid to fire it because he thought he had a stuck bullet. he thought this because the ram rod did not go in all the way. it was a simple matter of removing nipple and then the breach plug then with an aluminimum ram rod we tapped the sabot out but to our suprise there was a second load stufed down the barrel. another thing finding a zerk fitting of the proper thread could be difficult if not impossible. i am not so sure I would try a grease gun what a mess that would make. If so use a low melting point type of grease. maybe fill your grease gun up with crisco so by heating the barrel in hot water it will come clean. Better yet just remove the breach plug.

Bullwnkl.

I think the basis for the question is how to remove the charge and bullet without having to go through the cleaning process. CO2 pressure seems simple and safe, if you have the set-up for doing it. Removing the breechplug and allowing the pellets to slide out seems ok and quite simplistic. But....the chance of accidentally setting off the charge while unscrewing the breechplug is probably greater than when pulling a bullet and charge from the muzzle. It all boils down to what is easy and safe.

samchap

If setting off the charge due to removal of the breach plug is a concern, and it should be, remove the nipple then force water into the hole where the nipple was, this should make the charge inert. I have removed many breach plugs over the years many with charges still in the barrel. more oftemn as not the reason the breach plug needed removing was the owner let water get into the rifle and the charge would not go off.My recent expirence with a CVA inline reaffirmed my belief in using anti-sieze on the threads of breach plugs. I made a special screwdriver to remove those breach plugs by welding an 1/8" thick blade in a pipe so the action acts as a guide, works on this CVA slick.

Bullwnkl.

I hunted my inline for the first time yesterday, did not have the opportunity to take a shot.

Got back to the truck, removed the cap, removed the breech plug, the two pellets fell out.

Tried to push the saboted bulled down through the breech but it wouldn't go past the threads. Got home and pushed it out the muzzle from the breech end with a brass rod.

Let me ask this and please remember I'm a novice.

Why not remove the cap and breech, remove the pellets and leave the saboted bullet in the bore. The the next time you want to go hunting drop the pellets in from the breech end, screw in the breech and cap it? The saboted bullet should still be seated against the charge.

All done with the muzzle pointed in a safe direction of course. Bad idea?


Thanks, Rob

I loaded my cannon today with 3 pounds of triple 7 and a 3lb ball...now I don't wanna shoot it....what now? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

MichiganTom....I'd say you are SOL.

Well, do they make ball pullers for that caliber? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Regards, sse

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />I thought we wuz talkin bout guns an stuff....not wives/girlfriends, or what ever........ <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

I've posted on several forums and so far I haven't seen any really negative posts that indicate that the procedure of removing the breechplug to remove a charge, is dangerous. If you have an inline and use pellets, then it seems a simple method to use. Not many have addressed the safety issue though.

thats how i remove the pellets and bullet from my thompson encore in line, ( remove breech plug) the pellets are made from paradox powder. and is nearly impossible to ignite without a flame,they are sometimes coated with black powder to make them easier to fire, but I have never had any problem, i reload a45/70 and 50/70 with both black powder and paradox and compress the powder into a solid when i seat the bullet, it has to be dug out if they are un loaded. Hubert///

As to the original post it is hard to imagine unscrewing the breech plug would ignite the powder charge. The threads of most plugs are coated with anti-seize lubricant so I think creating a spark would be pretty tough. Still, I suppose a static electricity spark is possible, at least in theory. If there is a safety difference between pulling a bullet and unloading via the breech, it has to be small.

If your rifle has a breech plug (like my T/C Omega) clean up is fairly easy. My practice is to unload by shooting the rifle into the ground. Then I clean the rifle. If I'm hunting the next morning, I fire a fouling load and run a dry patch. I can't speak to anyone else, but I have better accuracy with a lightly fouled barrel than with a clean barrel.

I use A teflon plumbers thread tape made for stainless steel pipe on my breech plug and it works awsome. I got tired of the neversieze mess and breech plug grease. to unload I remove the breech plug to recover the pellets and push the bullet out the end of the barrel.

Just pull the load with a ball puller or blow it out with compressed air...wipe the bore and go watch the news.

Like Triple7 said, removing the breech plug is not only unnecessary, but creates a lot of unnecessary mess and work.

Pull the load and toss it...it's part of the cost of hunting