Patent ID: 8011128

Claim:
An apparatus for loading a barrel of a muzzle loading firearm to provide powder and a projectile at a breech end of the barrel, which comprises: (a) a handle having a central longitudinal axis and adapted to be gripped by one hand, the handle having an opening between opposed ends along the axis; (b) a moveable casing having a head and mounted in the opening adjacent one end of the handle and adapted to receive a ramrod of the muzzle loading rifle into the casing; (c) a retaining means for retaining the casing within the opening, the retaining means mounted on the handle with at least a portion of the retaining means mounted inside the opening; and (d) a coil spring mounted in the opening inside the handle between the portion of the retaining means mounted in the opening and the head of the casing, wherein when the ramrod is used to force the projectile onto powder in the barrel at the breech end, the casing is moved towards the portion of retaining means against the coil spring to pressure the projectile against the powder wherein the casing is a rimless casing with an extraction groove which engages a detent mounted through the handle into the opening when the casing is pushed back against the spring by the ramrod to provide an audible sound indicating that a predetermined pressure of the projectile on the powder in the barrel has been achieved.