Make a fixed patent breech

[ShutEyeHunter]

Working on my Western PA 1835 build.

Did a fair amount of measuring--the rifle I'm matching has very short breech plug threads and a small drum.  Just not enuf metal there to copy exactly

Looked for a patent breech (fixed, not hooked) to let me duplicate the dimensions. TOW has some nice Ohio style models but their either 90 day delivery or totally out of stock.  Hate to base a project on that

Don't like the slop in a hooked breech

Was thinking that I could use a T/C style hooked breechplug and weld on a tang. Or just weld or braze the tang and breechplug together from one of the TOW plug tang sets
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/664/1

I have MIG and oxy acetylene-- how would you folks do this (or don't do it in case I'm missing something)

Assume I'd want to anneal the whole thing after I'm done (cherry red, cool in wood ashes)

Any advice appreciated!

[smylee grouch]

I silver soldered one together and it worked OK. The silver bead looked like a thin silver band around the breech.

[gunmaker]

L&R has a nice snail plug for 7/8" bbl.  No hook

[ShutEyeHunter]

Thanks for the silver solder idea. Better temperature than braze or weld & the band idea

Found the 7/8 snail on the L&R site, thanks!  Will give them a call.  Haven't seen them in anybody's catalog, but might have missed it

[Hungry Horse]

 Just for the records, welding, or even silver soldering, on a patent breech, can cause unforeseen problems. I brazed a sloppy hooked breech up some years ago, and found it was made from some exotic steel alloy, that air hardened to the point that I couldn't drill the hole for the tang screw, even with a cobalt bit. I annealed it, and even then, it was very hard. So I trashed it and bought a fixed plug to replace it.

                 Hungry Horse

[T*O*F]

Don't like the slop in a hooked breech

Any slop in a hooked breech is entirely the fault of the person who fitted it.  They are the only type of breech used in long range rifles routinely used to shoot up to 1500+ yards and require the upmost in accuracy to do so.  Condemn the person, not the system.

[ShutEyeHunter]

I can (probably) get a good fit if there's enough metal.  I'm fussy about such things.  My T/C Hawken rattles like my old Ford truck & I wanted to do better!

Was worried about whether the tang castings are oversized (undersized hole) enough to allow good fitting.  Suppose I could weld or braze some extra material on it if its a loose fit.

Re: air hardening casting.  I was thinking that might be a problem--never sure what kind of steel you're working with.  Thanks for saving me an expensive experiment.  If I weld an extension on the tang to lengthen it I'll drill the holes first.

All that said, I may have solved my own problem- I was measuring my old lock (doh) which has the drum cutout & hammer pretty far to the rear.  Looking at the Goulcher lock in TOW, the drum cutout is a good 1/4' in front of the one on the old lock.  Should let me put in a 5/8 breechplug and a 1/2" drum and only set the barrel back about 1/16"-1/8"

As always, thanks for the expert advice.