Mister Tiny

I was at the range the other week and made a huge mistake. Long story short my ramrod is no where to be found. It got fired down range. When it happened the rifle kicked like a mule and I thought I had goofed on the powder charge, but upon further inspection realized what I had done. After purchasing a new ramrod and thoroughly cleaning the gun, I see no visible defects. What things could be wrong that I can't see? I haven't took it to a gunsmith yet, but intend to.

frontier gander

after 7 years of muzzleloading i did that last month to lol. Did you get that blood taste is your mouth too? Your rifle should be fine, clean it and take the barrel off the stock and check the stock for any cracks, run your fingers up and down the barrel for any bulges. Mine was fine after shooting that 2000 grain great plains bullet and aluminum ramrod . You'd just be wasting money having a gunsmith look over it.

cayugad

While I will not talk you out of taking the rifle to a gunsmith, after all safety first, you're not the first to have done it and will not be the last. I've known a lot of people that have done that and not caused damage to their rifle. Visually inspect the barrel and stock for anything that looks out ofquestion. Then put a very tight cleaning patch on a jag and slowly push the patch down the barrel. If you feel the patch suddenly get loose or more much faster and easier, it could be a bulge in the barrel.

If this is an inline it is easy to visually inspect the barrel. If it's a traditional rifle take a .44 caliber empty brass casing, and with brass cleaner, clean the empty casing to a high shine. Then tape the neck of the casing with masking or scotch tape so it does not scratch anything. Drop it down the barrel, it will come right back out by just tipping the gun over. Now with a flashlight you can shine to the side of the barrel and the light will reflect off the casing and allow you to visually inspect the barrel. Its cheaper then a bore light.

The way to avoid doing that and other loading mistakes in the future is, do not allow distractions when you load and shoot your rifle, and second, make a habit of always visually spotting the ramrod before you shoot. I have a friend that will tell his ramrod before he shoots, " are you ready?" While this sounds strange, what he's doing is mentally and visuallychecking the rifle one last time before he shoots.

By the way, how well did the ramrod shoot? Another person I know did the same thing you did the first time out with his rifle. Now we call him from time to time and tell him Cabela's is having a year end close out on ramrods and it might be a good time to stock up. We still laugh about that. Just glad no one got hurt or worse.

Triple Se7en

Don't ever get distracted while loading the bullet.

For instance (hypothetical). Completely ignore what someone behind you may be saying until you finish loading that ML. When you are finished loading, place the rifle down on the range table with the muzzle pointed towards the target - then turn around and say....

"Excuse Me! What Did You Say?"

See how safe& easy that is!
If you don't see any bulges or cracks in the barrel with your naked eye -- nor any broken breechplug threads, then the gunsmith probably won't either.

[size=2]
Keep Your Powder Dry Folks
. . . . . . . Joe [/i]

270sniper

Didn't Charlton Heston shoot an indian with his rod in the "Mountain men" or was that Brian Keith?

cayugad

Yep.. and never even broke the hickory rod. All he did was pull it out and wipe it off. (One of my favorite movies)

gelarson

Me I am shooting a carbon rod....... I guess I just aint traditional!

Mister Tiny

Thanks for all the info. It may have been a "Rookie" mistake but I have been successfully hunting with ML's for the past 8 years and that was the first time I have ever done that. The rod never made it to the target, I don't know where it went. No I didn't get the taste of blood in mouth, but I did feel sick at my stomach. After the shot and realizing what I had just done, I quickly loaded up all my gear and went to buy another rod. No one there even knew I had fired my ramrod. I will definetly look the gun over again using everybody's suggestions. I think I'll name my new ramrod and before I shoot will ask him if he's ready. Thanks again for everyone's help, I knew I wasn't the first person to ever do this and I feel better knowing that more than likely my gun is okay. By the way it is a CVA Optima Pro 50 cal. Thanks Again

bigcountry

You know I was going to give you a hard time. But all the sudden had this flash in my head of me doing the same thing one day. Glad your ok.

jaybe

The range where I shoot has a display of bent and deformed ramrods that various people have shot out of their ML's.
I think Davey Crockett in the original movie shot a charging Mexican on top of the wall with his ramrod, too.
BTW - be sure to let us know what you name your new ramrod