torchhole

[hortonstn]

when is it time to change torch hole I've started noticing change in accuracy is this a clue

paul

[Candle Snuffer]

The group I shoot with, we have always felt that it was.  We've also had several discussions on whether or not to change out the vent, up our load's a bit, or address the sights as a solution if the load your using is just dropping - then file a little off the top of the front sight.  However, if the touch hole is just plain old shot out - then you do need to change and you will have to zero your rifle again, regardless.  Vents should last quite a while.  I've never shot one out (as yet) myself, but I shoot about 30% flintlock and 70% cap lock, and my vents are stainless steel and one bronze.

[hortonstn]

Thanks this rifle I built has fired about 300 rounds chambers white lighting I drilled T0 1/16
When new could be me......

[PPatch]

No way in the world would 300 rounds shoot out a Chambers stainless steel vent. Have you checked with that 1/16th bit to see if it really is 1/16th? After that I would look elsewhere for the problem. Perhaps the barrel is just coming into its own after that many rounds and you need to adjust sights and or loads.

dp

[Dphariss]

No way in the world would 300 rounds shoot out a Chambers stainless steel vent. Have you checked with that 1/16th bit to see if it really is 1/16th? After that I would look elsewhere for the problem. Perhaps the barrel is just coming into its own after that many rounds and you need to adjust sights and or loads.

dp

Oh it could in 300 rounds depends on how thick the web is and other factors.
I had one that probably had 3-400 rounds max and it would not pass the original drill (this was shop made from the same material as WL are made of) but it was now oblong and have little cuts radiating from the vent. So yeah they can fail faster than one might think. Flaws in the material, the fact that if too thin a web they can erode faster due to nickles poor heat transfer characteristics.

Dan

[Long Ears]

Sorry, I've gotta go with PPatch. No way can 300 round shoot out a "White Lightning" stainless liner unless you are shooting real hot loads in a small caliber and I'm not sure even then. I've never tried to shoot one out. That's not to say some others knockoffs wouldn't. Bob

[ken]

when you start loosing powder there it then it might be time to change it to bring back accrecie  but 300 shots never, more like 3000!!!

[Standing Bear]

When I finally noticed my touch hole was too large, it was because velocity dropped and 100 yard groups dropped.  That was way more than 300 shots, more like 5,000.
TC

[smallpatch]

The installer determines the final wall thickness of a white lightning liner. If it was installed real shallow, it's possible it is shot out after 300 rounds. The only way to tell is to measure it.

[Hungry Horse]

 On my rifles that shoot 3F, I change them when they start self priming. On muskets I gauge it by how the vent picks fits the touchhole. I've found that a lot of flint shooters overuse their vent pick, and if its one of those fancy square hand forged jobs, it works just like a primitive ream. The thickness of the material in the web area between the outer touch hole, and the inner coned portion of the liner, is often pretty thin creating a scenario where the  hole can be enlarged very quickly with a little vigorous probing with vent pick.

               Hungry Horse

[PPatch]

That is why I use brass wire for a vent pick, much less likely to abrade the touch hole. Even that I don't use it unless I need to.

dp

[LH]

IF the hole is not round (egg or tear drop shaped)  or if its bigger than .070 change it. 

[smallpatch]

OK, I'm going to start another rant. A Chambers touch hole is self cleaning.  Unless your running a whole lot of fowling Dow the barrel, (I.e.) wet patch between shots. You have absolutely no need for a vent pick. I have several, and they go totally unused.   I can shoot all day without cleaning, picking,etc. that's just too much work, and I'd rather shoot and have fun than clean and pick.  Maybe I'm just lucky, but most times, all that stuff is just unnecessary, and wrecks things.

Let the chiding begin!!

[hortonstn]

Thanks for the advise, after a 2day shoot this weekend I found the problem Me 
It's so easy to blame the rifle when it's really my lack of paying attention to the wind effects
Paul

[trentOH]

Torch hole...... I LIKE that! 

[Daryl]

I had a WL Liner fail after very few hundred shots - it had opened up horrendously form the 1/16" I had drilled it to originally.

The reason it failed is a Dan and SmallPatch noted.  There counter sink in the barrel wall for the vent was not deep enough, and when the nub was cut off and the outside of the liner filed to flush with the barrel's outside wall, the web to the inner cone was quite thin and burnt out prematurely.

THAT is how they can fail prematurely.

[hanshi]

All my liners are 1/16" and still going fine.  None are white Lightning, however.  I rarely pick the vents as a FITP is rather a rarity for me.

[Candle Snuffer]

I use a paper clip with one end wrapped in leather - hanging from the front strap of my shootin' bag.  Takes me about 2 to 3 seconds to pick the vent before priming.  Not a big deal, the paper clip is smaller then the vent hole.  No miss fires.