I did soak the barrelin hot soapy water. Ieventually was able to work a piece of safety wiredown through all the rust in the nipple and got a little rusty water to drip out. I tried several times to take the nipple out but wound up ruining my wrench. I blew some air through the nipple and got some nasty water to come out the muzzle. I then blew air from the muzzle end and got some soapy bubbles and water to pass through the nipple. I would say thatif there's a load in there, it's dead by now.