Hooked Breech & Tang

[Canyonrun]

Hooked Breech & Tang
I have machine several in the past but always seated the plug to the barrel before cutting the flats and drilling for nipple on the breech. Couldn’t wait this time finish machining the breech with the flats .010 over size for final fit. The barrel will be here Wednesday Hawken 36” 1 1/8 tapered 1” by Colerain.  Now I’m scratching my head, how to get the plug to seal against the inside shoulder of the barrel with the flats line up. Pretty puzzle over this don’t want to screw up. Can you shim the plug to seal once you have the flats line up? Help! Any tips to make this job easy, thanks. 

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I don't understand your problem.  Just fit the breech plug to the barrel.   You can leave the Colerain stamp on any one of the three bottom flats, though it should not be any problem fitting the plug so the name is on the bottom flat.

[Canyonrun]

Geeeeee! Taylor, I was hoping for a little more than just fit the breech plug to the barrel LOL, Hope your right I’ll try to explain which is sometimes hard for me to do the step I think I should take here’s goes. Colerain barrel is all ready drill & tap ¾-16  .500 depth, now my breech was made to match. So my plug has to seal against the shoulder in the barrel at the same time the flats on the breech & barrel line up with zero gaps. Now we know that not going to happen right out of the box. Lets say I get the breech plug seal inside and zero gaps between the flats on the breech and barrel but flats don’t line up. This is where I was hoping for some tips to make the job easy. Ok I think a light just turn on in my head I need to shave the breech at the flats & plug the same amount until they line up with the flats on the barrel. So first I’ll shave breech plug or flats at the breech until seal in barrel with zero gaps at the flats between breech & barrel. Then shave both breech plug & flats at the breech the same amount until the flats on barrel line up. Honest this was foggy until now thanks Taylor. 

[Acer Saccharum]

3/4 -16  means sixteen threads per inch. Each thread is 1/16" (.062)crest to crest. A half turn of adjustment is 1/32 (.031) off the face of the plug. If you want to move the plug one flat, divide .062 by 8, which equals .008. Eight thousandths off the plug to move one flat.

If you want to fit a half a flat, that's .004 off the plug. It's really easy to take off too much, so try and cut several times before you go for the final fit.

[Canyonrun]

Thanks Acer, that just the info I was looking for should keep me from taking too much off, thanks   

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Acer is a machinist - a magician!  I am a butcher...ooops - a little too much that time.  OK, maybe not a butcher - a surgeon!  Yes, a surgeon!!  Oooops, a little to much that time. 

[Acer Saccharum]

I hate it when the dentist says 'oops'. 


Watch when you are going for the final fit. Often you can wrench it into place. I have taken the exact amount off, only to find that now the plug can go past the mark......grrrrr.

Tom

[Brian]

I hate it when the dentist says 'oops'. 

Tom

Yeah, me too - but not nearly as much as when my surgeon says "oops".  That would really suck!       

[Canyonrun]

Barrel came today it’s a lot of barrel maybe I should of order a .54 too make it lighter just kidding I’ll be happy with the .50, thanks again Acer for the math took the fear factor out I did hold back a little for wrenching see attach pic.