some advice on touch hole, please

[thecapgunkid]

Just replaced the barrel from Octagon .54  rifle to Octagon to round 20 ga in one of my own personal guns. Cheated with some bedding, so the barrel sits well in the stock and the lock is flush against it

I dunno how it happened, but after I installed the Chambers vent and re-pinned the barrel the touch hole  appeared  about one touch hole width too far forward from dead center on the pan. The lock was already there( obviously) and after measuring, re-measuring and measuring again during installation I was quite surprised at this when it was over. 

The barrel  is just as solid at the breech as the original.   The hole is not near the edge of the pan, but I'm thinkin'  this will become a finicky ignition because it is horizontally off center. 

Never had this happen, and I won't waste time thinking about how this happened, mostly because I probably just deviated from the normal procedure whilst thinking about something else.   Here's the only thing I am interested in learning;

When shooting, what will happen to the ignition?  Is it likely to hang?  Dead pan? Really dirty frizzen pin? All of the above?

Um jus axin'

The reason I only want to know about symptoms  is because I can just haul it down to Dixons and figure out how to fix this if need be.   

Thanks

Capgun

[Hungry Horse]

In my experience, too far forward is better than too far back. I have had two guns with this situation. Luckily both were early flintlocks, with pans that had a heavy rim around the pan depression. I remove metal from the forward part of the pan, to enlarge it enough to insure priming powder would be in the front of the pan where the sparks were going, and where the new touchhole was located. Actually one of these guns has the fastest ignition time of all my flintlocks.

  Hungry Horse
 

[greybeard]

If you are only  1/16   fore ward of pan center I would shoot it first before worrying about it too much!!
You can VERY SLIGHTLY cone the touch hole on the outside.


image hosting

You can see that it has been done to this touch hole.    Bob

[Turtle]

I agree. Defiantly shoot it first. I may work fine. I have seen several guns with poor looking touchhole location that went off great.

[Dan Fruth]

Expand the pan depression if you need to. You can buy a 3/8 burr and use your hand drill and slowly move the pan depression forward to allow more powder at the touch hole.

[Mike Brooks]

It will probably work fine.

[RichG]

It will work fine

[Black Hand]

If it goes "BANG" consistently when you pull the trigger, don't do anything. Try not to fix problems that might not exist....

[Ric27]

The literal ball of heat produced by the burning powder in the pan will compensate for the slightly off center touch hole. Shoot it and let us know.
 

[chubby]

If its not fast enough for you it wouldnt be the first one with two touch holes!!      Chubby

[Natureboy]

  Looking at photos of flintlocks which are caught in the act, so to speak, you'll see that the ball of flame covers the entire cock and frizzen area, so it should work fine.  I had one where the drilled touch hole was too far back, however, and it misfired often enough to drive me crazy.  I installed a Chambers' "white Lightning," a bit forward of where the original vent was drilled, and it's been totally reliable since.  Give the gun a try, and save the cursing for something else.

[bob in the woods]

I think it will work fine. What lock is it ?   If a Siler, you can easily widen the pan which would effectively move your touch hole to the centre. As a standard practice, I always enlarge Siler pans. 

[thecapgunkid]

Thanks, folks.  Will take it out Friday and let you know.  Right now the brown is curing on the barrel so it's all apart

[Eric Kettenburg]

If its not fast enough for you it wouldnt be the first one with two touch holes!!      Chubby

Funny you mention that because a while back there was a guy I used to see at Dixon's every year who was advocating for these liners with two smaller-size holes drilled in them (horizontal plane), as opposed to a single central hole.  I never tried using or making one but some guys I talked with there did swear up and down that it was super-fast...

[bob in the woods]

My Chambers Officer's fusil is super fast. I drilled two "snake eyes "  1/16th touch holes on either side of dead centre of the pan, just to try it. I saw somewhere about this being done on some [ or at least one !! ]  English gun.  I figured that I could always put in a standard liner if it didn't work out, but so far I'm really happy. This is my partridge gun, and super fast is good !

[Majorjoel]

One of my early builds has the white lightning liner forward of center by about the same distance that you describe.   The rifle goes off faster than some of the perfectly centered ones I have shot.

My only REAL problem with this gun is that when you close the frizzen, the touch hole is not covered and is exposed to the elements.   I have thought of various ways to fix this over the years but like I said it shoots fast and with a leather cover (which I use on all my flinters) I just let time go by.

[thecapgunkid]

Thanks again, folks.  Judging by below, with no effects around the pan, I guess we ended up fine.

Five shots at 30 yards, 60 grains under two wonder wads sandwiching a .610 bare round ball.

One was high and the other four kissed in a..."T"... a little low, but the photo did not rotate 90 degrees.  Shots are centered and ignition was quick.

[Majorjoel]

Hey there kid!  Sorry to tell you that your touch hole placement has absolutely nothing to do with your shot placement!    

That part of all this fun is strictly up to the shooter.
Very happy that your rifle has good ignition!

[thecapgunkid]

Thanks, Major, but I already knew that.  I'm just surprised that everything worked so well considering

[thecapgunkid]

After about fifty rounds, 18 in a trail walk, it turns out that the only effect seems to be that this gun is prone to flashes in the pan.  It needs a dmall feather in the hunting bag.

[thecapgunkid]

Also....so, guess what?... you know that other thread about blowing down the barrel?   Only when it's unloaded, every time.

[Maven]

"...you know that other thread about blowing down the barrel?   Only when it's unloaded, every time."  ...cgk

Glad the problem with the touchhole has been resolved, cgk.  About that other issue:  I got an earnest talking to about that at High Woods a few weeks ago.  I didn't do it for the remainder of the woods walk, but like you, I do it "every time" after I take a shot at my club's range and will continue to do so. (I don't care for or understand that orthodoxy either.)

[Dave B]

I am glad your touch hole issue is a mute point with that target to boot you going to do well with it.  I had a strange experience with my first full stock flint longrifle when the noise every one was making about having a vent liner vs a just a hole drilled for vent and how much faster ignition was with the vent liners.  I made my vent just as Herschel house describes using 1/4" stainless rod threaded and screwed in tight. the back end was drilled out with a 1/8" drill and the last small bit drilled 1/16" which was the same size for the Long vent hole I originally had. It had a noticeable lag vs the previous touch hole? .  I opened it up a little and that helped but if you don't put the frizzen down it blows powder out the touch hole when loading the patched ball. It is a self priming pan now