AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Black Powder Shooting => Topic started by: Molly on March 13, 2023, 03:28:04 AM
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With every cap lock we have as well as one that was sold sometime ago there is a frustrating feature. When cleaning or wiping the barrel the patched jag hangs on a burr at the breech. It is on the same side as the lock and I assume it is a leftover feature of drilling the hole to insert the drum. One rifle has a patented breech and it too has the same feature. A modest inconvenience in most cases but there have been times when it was impossible to remove the rod without a good dose of liquid. Messy wet barrels don't make for fun shooting.
Anyone have a suggestion on an easy remedy?
MAS
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I had one like that and I turned the jag down a tad and it helped somewhat. You might also try a worm and tow.
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The drum may be a little long and catching the patch.
Bob
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Or a little too short and the patch is hanging up on the edge of the hole. It doesn't take much.
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Pull the breech plug and correct the problem.
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Hi Molly, I'm with Eric on this one...unbreech and fix whatever the problem is, be that a burr or intrusion of liner/drum into the bore.
Hope to see you at one of the shows soon!
Carl
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Need to unbreach and cleanup where the drum protrudes into the bore. I use a dremel and a good flashlight to do it.
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I was sure someone would have a simple easy trick. Guess not! But Thanks!
Carl: The shows schedule is not looking very favorable this year. Conflicts abound.
Molly
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Is there a clean out screw that would give you access to the inside of the breach ?
Someone brought me an Italian patent breached rifle that had an extremely rough reduced breach bore [ reduced from the ,50 cal barrel bore] I used a length of 1/4 in rod with a slot on the one end that would fit in the breach, and fixed a strip of emery paper in the slot and then wrapped around the rod to still fit in the breach. The paper was taped to the rod on the edge facing the muzzle. My electric hand drill helped smooth out and probably enlarge the area to get rid of the problem. There is enough flex in the rod due to the length, that the end with the paper rotates in a somewhat eccentric circle so it does smooth the sides of the patent breach. I can't see where having that area slightly out of round hurts anything, since it only sees powder.
The gun cleaned a lot easier after this, and it wasn't worth much so we were open to trying some strange remedies ;D
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Another thing, a $10 bore scope from eBay will show you what is going on.
Here is an example of one such borescope I used to look at one of my gun's bores. I was surprised to find the vent liner was screwed into the breech plug; the rifle was a gift from a good friend.
(https://i.ibb.co/rG3RsPk/large-barrel.jpg) (https://imgbb.com/)
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Now that looks like something we need.
Gotta look into it next.
Thanks
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Interesting picture, Erik. Tks. Indeed it does show 1/2 threads in the plug & a much deeper pilot hole.
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This rifle is from the early 70s. It has a Bill Large barrel and a Roller lock; a friend gave it to me as cancer consumed his body. He said he was at Friendship and needed a new touch hole liner and a guy there installed it for him, I suspect the touch hole was originally drilled that way. This flint rifle goes off like percussion, very fast.
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This rifle is from the early 70s. It has a Bill Large barrel and a Roller lock; a friend gave it to me as cancer consumed his body. He said he was at Friendship and needed a new touch hole liner and a guy there installed it for him, I suspect the touch hole was originally drilled that way. This flint rifle goes off like percussion, very fast.
If you want a really good look down your barrel you could invest $50 in a Teslong bore scope which will drive you crazy with its extra high resolution. Guns you thought were spotlessly clean will show some crud with the Teslong. I found rust in all my barrels after an extended period of very wet weather in spite of all the oil I had down the bores. I put an extra dehumidifier rod in my gun safe and stopped this from happening.
(https://i.ibb.co/TwtgZ6L/fowler-rusty-breech.jpg) (https://ibb.co/2FdkwxN)
After cleaning the above fowler.
(https://i.ibb.co/mGHj8CG/fowler-clean-breech.jpg) (https://ibb.co/R9CFyp9)
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Eric, it appears you do not use the flushing method of cleaning. Is this so?
Last test I saw on rust preventatives, EEZOX was the best, with Hoppe's #9 Solvent being second best, with Hoppe's Gun Oil being down the list a ways.
Rig was not on the list, so not tested.
EEZOX sure makes metal parts slide nicely. Excellent drying lubricant as well.
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First thought is use a wetter cleaning patch and work it down slowly a bit at a time when near the problem area. I have experienced a problem with three popular inexpensive cap lock rifles. All three the breach plug did not but up against the seat in the barrel, in other words sealed at the back of the barrel. One was so bad the patch on the jag got caught in the gap. It was necessary to pull the breach plug to remove the cleaning rod.
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Yep, I flush the barrel; dry it and follow up with a squirt of WD-40 to absorb any moisture, swab out the WD-40 and give the barrel a swab with 30W motor oil.
My gun safe is out in the garage so it gets all the humidity fluctuations the same as outside the house. The rust was after a solid month of rain and a very inadequate dehumidifier rod in my safe which has now been corrected.
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I see - tough storage environment Erik. I wonder if a final "lubing" with Hoppe's #9 would help. I don't think motor oil is very good at keeping
moisture off the steel. A synthetic might be much better, like Amsoil 100:1 2-stroke oil. Very thin and quite water & even alcohol proof.
I've only found Eezox once and it was a small btl. which is not long-gone. Sure slicked up some bolts for me.
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Got the cheap borescope today. Here is a picture of the rifle in question. So what are we looking at here?? Pic 1 This rifle has the "snail-like" breech
(https://i.ibb.co/nDJHf8z/2023-03-20-144636-148.jpg) (https://ibb.co/sFY0QJy)
This is a photo of another rifle also a cap lock but a typical "drum" and nipple. This is an original rifle and the bore condition reflects it.
(https://i.ibb.co/tK7rKx9/2023-03-20-123954-056.jpg) (https://ibb.co/kBRCB9t)
Resolution is not great and the AM Cap Demo Version appears over the photo. I guess if you "purchase" the program that will go away. Right now it only seems to stay opened for maybe 10 minutes then closes so you need to open the program again.
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I the barrel with the problem I possibly see a hole where the snail-like allows bore access. Not sure what the seemingly drilled off-centre recess in the breech is for.
In the original, I am seeing part of the drum protruding into the bore at the 5:30 to 4 o'clock position.
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In picture #1 the drum is protruding into the bore and the breech plug has been drilled into as well, much like the photo I posted. Yours appears to be placed higher up the barrel, enough to stop a cleaning jag.