Vent Liner Clean Up

[George F.]

I must ask more questions than anybody else. What's the easyist/best method of cleaning up the interior of the barrel where the vent liner protrudes into the breech plug threads. I'm guessing a bottoming tap?   ...Geo.

[billd]

Into the threads??? I always put mine if front of the threads.  For a 1/4" liner I drill 3/16 in front of the plug face. That gives me 1/16" of clearance and I can still get a 5/16 in if I have to. 

Bill

[Roger Fisher]

Oi vey

[JCKelly]

ist mir.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

George, the tap will allow you to seat the plug, and remove it without trouble.  But you won't be able to remove the liner when the time comes, without first removing the plug.  Just remember to remove the plug and it'll work.

[George F.]

Taylor, thanks. I was reluctant to trim off the knob part after I had seated the liner which did enable me to remove the liner and trim the plug side of the liner enough to clear the breech plug, then reinstall the liner and finish her up.   ...Geo.

[billd]

Taylor,   I'm having a senior moment and you're confusing me. Don't you mean you have to remove the liner before the breech plug?

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

billd...I could be missing something myself.  It seems to me, that without the plug in, and the liner run in so that its threaded end needed to be cleaned up with a bottoming tap in the plug's threads (and that's how I understood George's problem) he would not be able to remove the liner even with an easy-out, once the breech plug was seated.  The liner's threads would be jammed by those of the plug.  Kind of like trying to unbreech a CVA without first taking out the drum - only in reverse.

[billd]

Yes Taylor, your right.  I'm awake now.

Bill

[northmn]

I guess I am getting a little confused now.  I was always concerned about lock placement.  With the "square" breechplugs that thread in at say 3/4 X 3/4 one starts placing a lock pretty far forward on the barrel.  Now I like to drill the face of the plug about 1/4" deep or so and then seat the vent so that it does go into the face of the plug.  Some early breechs were grooved by the vent to accomodate the touch hole.  I use a Dremmel and a small grinder and clean up the face of the breech plug so taht a tap works.  You also should use a depth gauge to see that the vent liner does not protrude too deeply into the barrel.  I know some like to file it off and then reinstall the breech plug, but the lock positioning would have to be somewhat diffeternt or the plug cut off to about 1/2 inch.  Cutting the plug and breech down on a prethreaded barrel likely would not be all that bad an idea either.   I have just found it simpler to drill the face of the plug to close to bore diameter.  I have removed a lot of vents with an easy out.

DP

[George F.]

I'm building a Fowler. It was a kit. The lock was already placed on the stock, so there wasn't anything I could do. The barrel is oct-round barrel with a wedding band, so I couldn't move the barrel back so the liner threads would clear the breech plug threads. Although there was not much intrusion into the plug threads. I think this clears any questions as to what the problem was.   ...Geo.

[northmn]

I would drill it locked in a vise until it clears the barrel walls then use a Dremmel or file to make a notch in the face of the plug.  A bottoming tap is nice as you do not have threads on the face of the plug.

DP