Breech Plug Threads

[gibster]

If you knew that this was all that was between you and the powder, would you have shot it?  With all the erosion around the drum area, it was shot a lot in it's day and never came apart.  I had heard before that all that is really needed is 3-full threads. Not sure that I would trust it though.  This is from a .36 caliber barrel.  I pulled the plug because it appeared to still be loaded. But it turned out to be trash about an inch from the drum.

[JTR]

Other than the rust, that's actually pretty typical for the time.

[mountainman70]

I agree with jtr. I've had a few antiques with similar breech plug threads,all small caliber.I did shoot most of them after a cleaning and exam.AND I didnt let Magnumitis get hold of me.
I had already got over that foolishness with my early TC guns.
All these oldtimers are generally pleasant to shoot, and sometimes very acurate.
Looks like a fun project.Thanks for sharing.
Dave F

[bama]

Gibster, back in my engineering days when I worked in the nuclear power industry 3 full thread engagement was all that was needed to satisfy maximum safety requirements. I feel sometimes today we carry safety a little too far in some cases. I have never seen a breech plug failure in an old or new rifle. I have seen bursted barrels, drums blown out, nipples blown out but no breech plug failures. Not to say it hasn’t happened or that it won’t, I just have never seen it.