new drum or larger nippl?

[ottawa]

picked up a production rifle in .50 cal for the son to use got it home getting ready to clean and the nipple was just setting in the drum no threads in the drum new nipple .should i replace the drum or re tap for musket nipple ?

[Ky-Flinter]

I'm wondering why the threads are gone.  Rusted away?  I there's enough good metal left in the drum I would tap it for a larger nipple.  If it doesn't clean up or you can't get a good set of threads, you can always replace the drum..... or convert it to flint!

-Ron

[Majorjoel]

Hi Ottawa, Being a used rifle, I would first remove the drum and inspect it carefully. From there, depending on the size of the nipple hole, I'd drill and tap for a larger size standard nipple. Everyone has their preferance between musket caps and #10 & #11 caps. I like the smaller more economical choice.

[kentucky bucky]

Some production rifles are made so getting the drum out without destroying it is nearly impossible. I don't know if they did it on purpose, but it seems that way. I would try with normal pressure and if it won't budge, just inspect it as good as you can and get a oversized nipple from Track or several other companies. I had a similar problem and I  just cleaned out the old threads with penetrating oil, picks and .wire .22 brushes. I then ordered two of the oversized nipples that my uneducated guess led me to. I found out what size the nipple was by measuring and trying it on a thread gauge, then I used a caliper to measure the inside threads and the nipple threads. The new nipples in my case were called a .030 over 1/4 x 28, which made them  a .28"x28. The new sharp threads went in very slowly with alot of oil and back and forward motion. It actually "freshened up" the old theads and took up the slack from the removed rust. Mine was on an old Belgian shotgun, but if yours is a modern production gun it might take a metric nipple. They make them oversized , too. Do your homework first!

[ottawa]

looks to me like the threads were drilled out for some reason the metal were they should be is clean with a hint that threads were there at one time the nipple that was in it was just sitting in the hole the rifle has little to no rust and you can tell it hasn't had a resent cleaning converting to flint sounds great but that's a can of worms I'm not ready to open yet that would be a bigger investment then the rifle is worth even after the convertion its eather a early traditions rifle or some other like CVA OR NAVY arms from the 70s no brand name on it .

[longcruise]

It was surely tapped at one time for a metric nipple.  I would take a measure of the existing hole and figure out what size tap would work.  You can get oversize taps from Track (they seem to want to sell the whole set but you could call them).  I bought a .255 from a tool supplier  on the net but can't remember who.  It worked fine in repairing worn threads on an older metric drum.

Trso makes the oversize nipples that will fit whatever tap size you choose.

[Daryl]

This rifle was converted from caplock/drum and nipple to flint by Jim Chambers last summer - an excellent job as one would expect from such a prestigious riflesmith.

[Acer Saccharum]

It sounds like the nipple was tightened so hard that the nipple tore the threads out, all in a coil. Nipple being hard, drum being soft, the drum threads were the ones to go.

If this is the case, I'd inspect the drum to see if it was ever removed from the barrel ( you would see heavy wrenching marks or rounded over corners on the wrench flats of the drum). If it looks OK, and the threads in the barrel and on the drum look good, you can certainly tap it out for the next size up. If the drum/barrel fit is bugged up, I'd replace the drum with bigger thread drum.

Tom

[ottawa]

drum is fine thats why I never thought to check the nipple only marks on it I put ther checking it as well so the next size nipple it will be thanks for the input
Ben