Is that really the best way to do it?

[1066]

The problem is not at all uncommon Laurie - The worm was the traditional way and seemed to work ok for a couple of hundred years. Now there is a simple device that uses a CO2 bulb and flexible hose that screws or pushes into the nipple hole.

This is just about the same thing as now used for cycle tyres. A quick blast of CO2 at 800lbs sq in. soon shifts a stuck ball.

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_in ... s_id=15330

[Chapuis]

Re Chapuis' comment on controlled explosions being akin to damp squib affairs, the report says it was heard up to two miles away which makes it quite a bang! That may have been journalistic licence / exaggeration of course and 20 yards the actual limit of sound travel

"Journalistic licence", you may well be spot on there Laurie, I've witnessed that several times.
In fact sometimes you wonder if they are even talking about the same incident that you attended.

[DaveB]

Without knowing what sort of blackpowder firearm it was, it is difficult to be sure, but I doubt I would have done it that way. You have to remember that ATOs, while very knowledgable about ammunition (naturally) are not necessarily experts when it comes to firearms of a bygone era. Unlike the Canadians who grew up shooting, most of the British ATOs I trained with had no hunting or shooting background. They knew their own issued firearms, but little else. Aside from a couple of days at RMCS Shrivenham, most of them would not have been exposed to many different firearms.