old loads in antique guns

[Mike R]

I have discovered that the ca. 1820 musket I just acquired is loaded.  The bore has corrosion that would have to be removed before attempting to remove the charge.  And the load is likely "stuck" from years of being down there....would you clean and remove the load or leave it alone? If remove is the answer--what is the best way?  My inclination is to work on the bore above the load and try to soften the load and corrosion around it prior ro pulling it. 

[Hurricane ( of Virginia)]

I recently had/have the same problem. I was advised to put some oil (light weight "3 in 1" machine oil)in the barrel through the nipple or touch hole to neutralize the powder and then use a "worm" to try to remove the ball/ load and patch. Oil went in slowly. Took 3 ml over 3 days. Used a syringe and needle. Others added, then try to"blow" the charge out with high pressure compressed air.
No one suggested trying to fire or discharge the gun!!! (very good advice)
The other way would be to remove the breech plug.
Hurricane

[Fullstock longrifle]

I've had to deal with this a few times and Fred offered some good advice.  I prefer to pull the breech plug, clean out the powder, then push the ball through.

Many years ago a friend was doing a re-conversion on a rifle and failed to check to see if it was loaded.  He was going to weld the touch hole area and (with the barrel off the gun and in his vice) when he put the welder to the metal, POW, it went off and shot a hole in his basement wall.  That was a mistake he never made again.

FK

[Mike R]

Thanks, a gunsmith friend just told me his method and I pass it on:

Saturate the bore with a good penetrating oil.  The oil will kill any powder that is down there.  Let soak overnight.  Now get gunk out of bore.  Get a bottle of "Navel Jelly", the pink stuff.  Dilute with water where it will pore and fill the barrel up--let sit overnight.  Don't get any on anything else or it will strip it also.  The jelly will eat every bit of rust up.  Clean with a good 12 ga. bore brush.  Now fill with a good lubricant and let sit to get oil back in pores and you have a "clean" bore.

I assume then, he would pull the load with a screw&rod.

[JCKelly]

We all know that oil with "kill" older primers, heck I learnt this ages ago, listening to the Lone Ranger on radio!

But does oil in fact render black gunpowder unlikely to explode?  Never tried it, myself.

[Mike R]

We all know that oil with "kill" older primers, heck I learnt this ages ago, listening to the Lone Ranger on radio!

But does oil in fact render black gunpowder unlikely to explode?  Never tried it, myself.

good question...I would think water would be better, but introducing enough might be a problem--I thought I would try to get water into the breech via the nipple channel.   

[nord]

Oil does a couple of jobs...

1. Oil changes the physics of the chemical reaction of black powder should there be one.

2. Oil greatly increases the flash point of powder.

When oil is introduced to powder it first coats the surface of the  powder grains, then actually wets them. In the wet state it's possible for the powder to burn, but the oil prevents a rapid burn and the explosive release of gas.

We actually end up with just a minimally flammable mixture that's rather difficult to ignite. For all practical purposes somewhat less volatile than lighter fluid on charcoal. In the absence of O2 (as the charge is trapped in a fairly tight sealed chamber) this mixture becomes about as inert as one could possibly hope for. It'll burn under the right conditions and gas will be produced, but there will be no rapid buildup of gas.

A simple spark will neither be hot enough nor of enough duration to ignite the mixture. And since I'd first attempt to pull the ball the powder would be on the opposite side of things and unlikely to be subjected to heat or a spark anyway.

In the event of less than hoped for results my next plan would be to remove the breech plug. Since penetrating oil had already been introduced into the breech area, I'd expect an easier job should this become the route of necessity.

[Dave R]

You could try removing the nipple and thread in a grease gun nipple with the same threads and use an electric or pneumatic grease gun and hydraulically push it out of the bore!

Dave Reising

[Dphariss]

Naval Jelly, phosphoric acid, will etch the bore to a greater or lessor extent and may need the oil wiped out to get best effect in using naval jelly. The active ingredient in also in coca-cola IIRC. I don't have a bottle to read right now but I believe the above is correct.

Dan