[nigonjac]

...To everyone who gave me advice on my other thread. I finally got to shoot my renegade yesterday, I just used 70 grains of pyro. RS and a patched ball, at fifty yards i was getting 2" groups, not to bad for a newbie and open sights. however after i fired my first three shots, i was running a patch saturated with isopropyl alchohol down the barrel, and when it hit the bottom of the barrel, i couldnt get the rod back out, I dont know how to get it out either, i moved up a little but barely. How do i get this out? i think i will bring it to my shop to see what they can do. Since i bought another barrel, i decided to try that, and i was shooting even better! when i went to clean this one, i used a regular cleaning rod for .270 and a loop on the end to put the patch in, i realize it wouldnt get everything, but it was better than nothing. overall i shot about 15 times and it was a blast!!! Its soo much to shoot these things! i was gonna go to the range today after i dropped my barrel off at the shop, but its raining, so i will wait another day. Im excited to shoot this at 100 yards and giving the maxiballs a try as well.

I know all of you regular muzzleloader hunters and shooters could do this, but after i knew it was sighted in i was setting up pop cans and clay pigeons and shooting at them from 50 yards, i only missed once and that was free hand but i thought i was doing good as i was consistantly killing all the pop cans and clay pigeons i set up.

Thank you guys once again for all the help

Jake

 

[oldbull]

removing stuck ramrod

an old trick is to pour a cup of hot soapy water down the barrel then wrap the end of the rod that is outside of the barrel tightly with a small wet cotton rope (clothes line type) to give something to hang onto and with another persons help, pull in opposite directions, one on the rope and one on the rifle to dislodge the stuck rod. Another possibility is to clamp the rod in a vise and pull on the rifle to dislodge the stuck rod. Good luck.

 

[@bullseye]

You should be real careful if you try clamping it in a vice and pulling it out . Thats a real easy
way to damage the muzzle crown. Avoid that at all cost. My brother tried pulling out a stuck ball using a metal rod this way.

 

[cayugad]

It sounds like the patch was not damp enough or too large. I am guessing that since you were swabbing, the patch is not too large. Take some isopropyl alcohol and just pour some down the barrel. It will saturate the patch and normally that is all it takes to pull it out. If it still will not, you can put the ramrod in a vice. Wrap it with some cloth or leather and clamp that AS CLOSE TO THE BARREL MUZZLE AS YOU CAN. Then holding the stock pull straight back on the rifle. When you feel the ramrod move, your one your way. Adjust the ramrod as much as necessary, moving the muzzle to the vice.

As for your range session... that is some real good shooting. It sounds like you have a good accurate load. It also sounds like you had a lot of fun until the ramrod jammed.

 

[nigonjac]

It was so awesome shooting, I'm glad I stumbled upon this sport...as for the ramrod getting stuck, the patch was too large, but my pro shop got it out with a little thing where the nipple goes, and they pumped it full of grease until the ramrod started to move, then it came out easy, and cleaning out the grease was easy as well...as for the range day, it was just in my back yard but I live in the country n the farthest my bunker is setup right now is 50 yards, and the ramrod jammed after the 3rd shot, so I just threw on the .54 hawken barrel and kept on shooting cuz it was soo much fun

 

[nigonjac]

It was so awesome shooting, I'm glad I stumbled upon this sport...as for the ramrod getting stuck, the patch was too large, but my pro shop got it out with a little thing where the nipple goes, and they pumped it full of grease until the ramrod started to move, then it came out easy, and cleaning out the grease was easy as well...as for the range day, it was just in my back yard but I live in the country n the farthest my bunker is setup right now is 50 yards, and the ramrod jammed after the 3rd shot, so I just threw on the .54 hawken barrel and kept on shooting cuz it was soo much fun

 

[HardBall]

One thing to remember is the "crude ring".

A bit of fouling will accumulate at the base of the ball/top of the powder charge. When you go to swab out the barrel you can feel some resistance on the ramrod (usually) and it may be difficult to pull the jag/patch back past the crude ring because the patch wants to squish up as it encounters the tighter diameter at the crude ring.

As mentioned before, dunking the breech of the barrel in a hot soapy water mix usually loosens the crude ring up plenty and you'll be able to swab it out but do be mindful of it if swabbing at the range.

Also, if loading different charge levels while looking for accuracy, start light and then work up to heavier charges so you don't have to worry about hitting the crude ring while seating a ball and mistakenly thinking you've got it firmly seated on top of the powder.

 

[nigonjac]

sorry for the double post...but anyways, Hardball, i know exactly what you are talking about. After the first shot, it was harder the second time to get the ball and patch down. Because i noticed that, i figured it would just be best that if i wanted to use a different powder charge, i would just wash down the barrel entirely and start over with the new charge, just like you recommended. Tomorrow i plan on moving up to 80 grains of powder with the patched ball, and im going to try 90 grains with the maxiball, which is lighter than what my friend who sold me the rifle suggested. Thank all you guys again! I know that if i have any questions, i know you guys will be right here to help me!