On another thread I expressed some frustration about my difficulties getting the breechplug out of a barrel. The minor triumph part of the title is that I did get it out, and I feel moderately confident that I could repeat the feat.
The problem is that the barrel was not breeched properly. The shoulder has some sort of gouge out of it where the end mill (?) failed cut evenly. It also has a bit of a burr as well, for good measure. It is impossible to photograph, unfortunately, but it looks like it is about .01" deep, deep enough to be a problem. I have no tools capable of fixing it, naturally.
I am thinking that the simplest solution might be to take the barrel over to the barrel company, which is not all that far away, and see if I can prevail upon them to at least clean up the shoulder and make sure the threads are alright. Would this be asking too much, do you think? It is not a new barrel, but I am the original owner and it has never been fired, just inlet into a stock that I decided wasn't worth finishing.
When that it done I guess I need to fit a new breechplug, something that I have never attempted to do. I guess I need to learn to do that sooner or later - I have a pistol barrel laying around that I need to breech at some point anyway and it will make a good practice piece. It would be nice if someone would post a tutorial on how do so.