Invictus395
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I'm in a bit of a pickle. I could use some advise please
Hey folks,
Long time browser but first time poster. I could use some advise on a rather urgent issue. I'm not sure where to post this so my apologies if I posted
it in the wrong place.
Long story short I need to dislodge a lead ball (with wad and powder charge) from a Hawken black powder rifle. I didn't clean it as well as I should
have and got it jammed in there good. I tried everything to dislodge it and failed. I brought it to a gunsmith who also tried everything to dislodge
it, and gave up (how over is it?). Unfortunately I had a listing online to sell this rifle and someone bought it. I figured I'd work it out before it
got sold and left the listing up, now here we are.
So I'm moving to Plan C, chemistry. How can I best dissolve the lead ball, quickly, without damaging the steel or causing a dangerous reaction with
the black powder behind it? My first thought is dilute nitric acid. The nitric will dissolve the lead -> lead nitrate, and diluting it at an
approximately 1:4 ratio should prevent saturation and move the reaction to completion. It also should passivate the steel barrel, preventing any
structural damage. Afterwards I can remove the passivation with a long brass brush. I am not certain how the dilute HNO3 would react with black powder
so I'll likely test this prior just to be safe.
I've read that ammonia + H2O2 might also work for dissolving the lead, though I'm not familiar with this route or how it'll react with the other
components so I'm not as confident with it.
My questions are, if you were in my situation, what would you use to quickly dissolve the lead while not damaging the barrel or causing any dangerous
reactions with the powder? Do you see any potential issues arising from using dilute nitric acid that I'm not aware of? All other
tips/advise/criticism is welcome! Hit me with it. Thank you!
[Edited on 26-1-2026 by Invictus395]
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bnull
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Flint or cap?
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Invictus395
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It uses caps
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bnull
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Did you try an air compressor and some grease?
Edit: Black powder is simply going to get wet if you use dilute nitric acid.
[Edited on 26-1-2026 by bnull]
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MrDoctor
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lead nitrate will displace the iron and plate the entire interior in lead. and if the conditions permit the lead to dissolve so with that displaced
layer, meaning passivation will probably be inhibited and its just going to favor eating the iron instead.
lead is soft. it might take some time but you can just couple a drill-bit to a rod or tube of appropriate size, slide it down in there and mill it
away by hand. adding water beforehand eliminates the friction heat risk.
if the charge in there is chlorate based, armstrong mixture, it might be problematic adding nitric acid to that, the risk of nitric acid making its
way through that is.
youll need to look into this, because i dont know what hazards it can create and what it takes to decontaminate afterwards, but mercury might soften
the lead up. gallium will too though youd need indium and tin as well to make the alloy that is liquid at room temp, and i dont know how well it forms
a soft amalgam with lead at nice safe room temp to warm temperatures. tin and indium are cheap but gallium is expensive.
Peroxide+base might work though, but it will be incredibly slow
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DraconicAcid
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You'd be better off trying to melt the lead than to dissolve it with acid.
Please remember: "Filtrate" is not a verb.
Write up your lab reports the way your instructor wants them, not the way your ex-instructor wants them.
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bnull
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Melt it inside a gun?
Chemical means that do not damage the rifle will be very slow, except for mercury, which will soften the ball but doesn't seem healthy.
Mechanical means, considering that lead is soft, will remove the ball. I don't know what methods you and the gunsmith have tried, so I'm probably
listing most of them. You need to remove the nipple, though.
Add more powder, put the nipple back and fire it again. I'm quite sure you did that before but, well, you're not going to spend a
pound of powder to dislodge the ball. If two or three more firings can't remove the ball, then the situation is much more serious than I suspected. A
real pickle indeed.
Connect an air compressor to the nipple hole. Don't forget to wet the powder first so it doesn't fire. How many psi is a good question.
Do the same as above with a grease gun instead of a compressor. Put some oil in the barrel so as to wet the ball and lub the exit path.
A last question: is it a .54?
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DraconicAcid
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The steel barrel will have a much higher mp than the lead. I have no experience with gunsmithing, but no matter how bad the idea is, it's better than
trying to dissolve the lead in acid.
Please remember: "Filtrate" is not a verb.
Write up your lab reports the way your instructor wants them, not the way your ex-instructor wants them.
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Twospoons
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Pour in molten tin ( MP ~230C). It will alloy with the lead leaving you with lead solder (MP ~ 200C). Pour out the the molten solder. Temps easily
reachable with a small gas torch, hot air gun, or domestic oven.
A small bar of Sn97Cu lead free solder should be easy to obtain (97%tin, balance copper)
[Edited on 28-1-2026 by Twospoons]
Helicopter: "helico" -> spiral, "pter" -> with wings
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Sulaiman
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first job is to make the black powder safe
eg flush (via a syringe needle or very small bore tube) with water to dissolve away the oxidiser.
Any heat will melt the sulphur, I don't know it that is a big problem,
if it is then before heating,
flushing with carbon disulphide would dissolve sulphur
it is VERY flammable, carcinogenic, and it ruins surface finishes.
worst of all it is hard to obtain and not cheap.
lots of warm Dichloromethane may work, also not a friendly chemical.
others may have better ideas 
how about a red hot poker ?
steel rod, red hot at one end shoved UP the barrel. (wear ppe)
CAUTION : Hobby Chemist, not Professional or even Amateur
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