A couple years ago my nephew asked me to help him get going with his grandfather's flintlock he loaned him. I showed him how to load it and something didn't seem right. I put my thumbnail on the rod when it was down the barrel, pulled it out and layed it beside the barrel on the outside and sure enough I just double stacked it. The grandfather had left it loaded from whatever year it was he last used it. I pulled the ball and load I just put in and loaded the pan and it went right off. Not sure what would have happened if I had fired it with both loads but really glad I didn't have to find out. You are right. Mark your ramrods.arffguy said:Easy fix scribe a mark on your ram rod when its loaded - makes it easy to check