Need advice : stuck load

[Huntin_Dawg1215]

A friend brought me a CVA Hawkens  that his grandfather gave him. He said that it had been loaded for about 25 to 30 years, and it was still loaded which I confirmed.

I appears to be loaded with some type of sabot bullet. The best I can tell is it is a copper jacketed lead filled hollow point.  It has some rust in the barrel and needs a new nipple which I has since pickup. The powder type that it is loaded with is unknown to me or my friend. I am guessing that if it has been loaded that long it is BP. ( only a guess ) I have pulled bullets before, mostly PRB and a few lead hollow point sabots. I have also taken the nipple off and place some powder in behind the load and fire them out.

So at this time I am open for some suggestions, any takers.

 

[patocazador]

I would try to clean the barrel in front of the load to make pulling the ball/bullet easier. But try not to let water or oil get past the bullet to dampen the powder. 

If pulling doesn't work, I would try a CO2 discharger. Last resort would be pulling the old nipple, placing a small amount of black powder in the drum area, replace with the new nipple and fire the gun remotely with a string or cord. 
I did that with a friend's gun where he got drunk and dry-balled or double loaded (he couldn't remember which  :scratch. After putting a charge of 3F black powder in the drum area and capping it, I handed him the rifle and said, "You screwed it up, so you fire it." It worked and nobody died. Only one ball came out.

 

[russell shaffer]

The copper jacketed part is kind of scary.  It just might have some smokeless in there.  How about an air compressor?  If you try firing it out the remote string or cord sounds good as long as it is a long one.

 

[Randy Johnson]

Before I would try to fire an unknown charge I would try a Zerk with the correct threads for the nipple seat. That WILL remove anything that's not screwed in

 

[Jim Friedly]

25-30 years,   don't even THINK about firing it...... like taking a PULL ON THE JUG  of  some homemade
 mash of unknown source......... you are opening yourself up to a whole world of hurt, not to mention damage to the gun.
 The  Co2  discharger is the absolute safest  route to go.......

             Life is too short to be a blind shooter. WC

 

[Huntin_Dawg1215]

Hey thanks guys for all of the suggestions. As of right now I have not done anything but clean the nipple and the barrel in front of the load. ran out of time. Will let you guys know what happens.

 

[BrownBear]

Best solution I've ever heard of in such cases and tried myself is pretty simple.

Get a Zirk fitting with threads to match your nipple, screw it in, and use your grease gun to move the powder and bullet out the bore. Easy as pie and very effective. I was amazed the first time I did it. 

There's a little effort in getting the grease out afterward, but a small price to pay compared to the alternatives.