You can do it in 2 tries, once per barrel. Carefully insert ramrod using left hand between thumb and forefinger ensuring no part of you is in front, never push it in with your palm. Pinch it at the muzzle to save the length, and withdraw, lay it alongside the barrel, if the end is past the rear touch hole you are OK, if it is ahead of the rear touch hole but past the front one, you have one load. If ahead of the front touch hole you have at least two. If it's well in front, you are in deep doo doo and have multiples.
On a new rifle i'd drop initially the ramrod in with it empty, use a black marker to mark the ramrod at muzzle level, load it with my std. loading of powder, paper wad & minie ball and mark the rod again. Luckily I never had to worm out a load.
If you do, make sure you have shaken out the priming and uncocked the hammers before anything else...Some would pour water into the barrel & let it soak before worming, or submerge the gun in water for a while to ensure the loads were dead. Flush with water after removing (which was normal cleaning practice anyway) until the water comes out the touch holes clear. Dry & oil as usual...
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