A couple more questions from a 1st time builder....

[Jabbo]

TOTW 1803 Harper's Ferry kit...

I've searched the site and looked in Shumway and Alexander's books...and am surprised I didn't find an answer (which probably means I missed it)...

1.  I had TOTW install the barrel loop when I bought the kit...the wedge key is a loose sliding fit into it...assuming that it should be a tight fit when installed, do I need to bend the loop in a bit to make that happen, or am I missing the boat once again?

2.  The trigger plate for the rifle is brass...it has a boss to be drilled and tapped for the tang bolt.  Now, since the touch hole insert is going to be right up next to the breech plug, I'm going to have to channel out the end of the breech plug a bit to allow for good ignition, which means I'm probably going to need to pull the barrel off after each shooting session to get that area cleaned well, which means I'm going to be screwing the STEEL tang bolt in and out of the BRASS trigger plate, which methinks won't last very long.  Should I not worry about that until it becomes a problem, or should I nip it in the bud (by doing what)?

As always, thanks in advance for all of y'all's comments and expertise!

[Mike Brooks]

Tap the lug with a hammer to tighten up the fit. Don't take your barrel out to clean , you don't need to. There, all of your problems are solved.....

[WadePatton]

Tap the lug with a hammer to tighten up the fit. Don't take your barrel out to clean , you don't need to. There, all of your problems are solved.....

I second Mike's motion. 

[Jabbo]

Tap the lug with a hammer to tighten up the fit. Don't take your barrel out to clean , you don't need to. There, all of your problems are solved.....

Okay, judicious use of a hammer will fix the barrel loop.  Regarding taking the barrel out to clean, I've read elsewhere how having the wedge filed in the breech plug face causes fouling that's really hard to clean without removing the breech plug....

[WKevinD]

As Mike said a TAP with the hammer. I have never removed a breech plug to clean any fouling (in 30+ years)
I think your talking about the vent hole at the breech face, if thats the case cleaning by plugging the vent hole with a toothpick, filling the barrel with water and pushing/ squirting it out the vent hole with a patched jag will clean all kinds of junk out.

[Mike_StL]

Unfortunately with the precarved stocks, the barrel isn't set back far enough for the touch hole to clear the breech face.  You will have to remove some of the breech face to get the touch hole in the correct place with respect to the lock  and barrel.   

This issue is common for the Track kit as well as the Rifle Shoppe kit.   You have the decided advantage that you know the cut out is there.  Judicious use of a touch hole pick and a loose wiping jag that slides over fouling when the patch is sent to the breech and bunches up to pull the fouling out not forced into the breech will make a big difference.

Do as Mike says to clean the breech for after range shoiting.

[Daryl]

We - all of us up here, maybe not LB - remove the barrel for cleaning - wedges, or pins - no matter. Just be careful. If the barrel has a wedge - there really is no reason not to remove the barrel for cleaning - flushing water in and out with the breech submerged in a container of water.  If the tang is a long weird whippy Tenn. tang, I guess you'll have to clean the barrel on the rifle so you don't bend the tang.

That is all OK - you can always re-barrel it when that one rots out.

[Mike_StL]

I should have mentioned about the tang bolt.  The brass boss will hold the tang bolt as long as you just tighten the bolt snug .  There is no benefit to overtightening bolts.  Wood is compressed and soon important functions no longer work.  Such as the triggers and the lock.

[EC121]

Order a breech plug brush from Muzzleloaders Builders Supply and scrub the breech face with it.  You can also scrub the flash channel and/or cutout in the breech face  from the touch hole with the interdental brushes in the dental section at the drug store.  Pipe cleaners also work.  Plan B would be to hang the rifle vertically and shoot water up the barrel with a piece of 1/4" tubing.  Lots of ways to do it without beating up the stock taking the pins in and out.  I have enough opportunities to beat up a stock with doing it on purpose.   The only time I took a barrel out was to unbreech it to remove a broken jag.  (Never use a jag with brass threads.)   I wasn't smart enough to use a gas type ball remover. 
      By all means remove the barrel if it has a patent breech and wedges.  None of mine have  that type of breech.

[Mike Brooks]

We - all of us up here, maybe not LB - remove the barrel for cleaning - wedges, or pins - no matter. Just be careful. If the barrel has a wedge - there really is no reason not to remove the barrel for cleaning - flushing water in and out with the breech submerged in a container of water.  If the tang is a long weird whippy Tenn. tang, I guess you'll have to clean the barrel on the rifle so you don't bend the tang.

That is all OK - you can always re-barrel it when that one rots out.

Odd how different geographical locations have their differences. I don't know of anybody in the mid west  who removes a barrel to clean except TC guys.

[Jabbo]

Thanks to all for the replies!  I think I'll do the following:  take the rifle out a few times, shoot it, clean it as best I can when I get home, then after 3 or 4 range sessions followed by thorough cleaning each time I'll take the barrel off and remove the breech plug and see if my cleaning process is getting the job done.

[thimble rig]

Just buy a flintlock cleaner.It clamps on the barrel over the vent hole it has a rubber tube on it .You put the other end in a bucket of water use the ramrod and patches it sucks water in the barrel from the vent hole.I use mine it works good.

[oldtravler61]

I'm with Mike. Only pulled a breach plug once in  forty years. That was to debaters a rifle. No rust came apart easy.