Liner vs coming the inside of the bore

[bones92]

Looking to have either a White Lightning liner installed on the Kemper .45, but Marvin suggests coning the inside would work, too.

I lean toward the liner, since eventually the vent hole will erode anyway.

Any suggestions?

Any ideas?

.45 caliber 13/16"

[Black Hand]

You can install a touch-hole liner without removing the breechplug but will need to do a little metal work & finishing. Can be done with common tools.
You can cone from the inside but will need to remove the breechplug. Not something easily done without specific/specialized tools.

Either way, the touch-hole will erode after thousands of shots and you'll need to address it, but it will be years/decades depending on how much you shoot...

[bob in the woods]

How much shooting do you think you'll do ?  It takes a while to "shoot out " a vent.  You can always install a liner some time in the distant future if you need to..   

[rich pierce]

how many here have had to replace a worn-out liner?

[Hungry Horse]

I replaced a liner that became oversized, but it wasn't from burning out, it was from a very cool, very ornate, vent pick that had square shoulders farther down than it should have. A good stainless liner wil last most shooters as long as they are able to shoot the gun.

  Hungry Horse

[moleeyes36]

how many here have had to replace a worn-out liner?

Rich,

I've only had to replace one vent liner.  It was one of the Track of the Wolf after market versions of Jim Chambers' White Lightning liners.  That was after about 5,000 shots of reasonably stout loads of Swiss 3fg powder.  On all my other rifles I've used the genuine Chambers article and have had no problems.  Like a lot of other folks, at first I didn't know the Track liners were after market versions and not the real thing.

Mole Eyes

[rich pierce]

I prefer coning for aesthetic and traditional reasons. A large stainless steel vent liner screams modern to me. I'd use Chambers' plain steel ones on a spec gun but for my guns use the inside cone.

[bones92]

Given that the inside cone would mirror the profile of a TH liner, and that I could always have a TH liner installed down the road, I am leaning toward inside coning.

[hanshi]

Several years ago I stockpiled about 8 ss vent liners of the two sizes my guns use.  So far I haven't had to replace a single liner, thousands of shots fired hasn't made a dent.  The only thing that might necessitate a replacement in the future is the possibility of an enlarged vent hole.  So far, so good.  While I like historical accuracy, function, reliability and long use is the bottom line for me.

[L. Akers]

I have to replace my vents about every 10 years.  My oldest rifle, ca 1985, just had its fourth installed.

[Mike Brooks]

how many here have had to replace a worn-out liner?

I have.

I have tried inside coning, but for me ignition is slower than a white lightnin'.

[P.W.Berkuta]

how many here have had to replace a worn-out liner?

Not I -- although I shoot many rifles and not one consistently - been shooting them since the mid 60's.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I've had to replace liners on clients rifles.  But I suspect it is from injudicious use of a steel vent prick, that the vent gets opened up.  When the pan self primes (frizzen closed on loading), it's time to replace the liner.

[WadePatton]

I've had to replace liners on clients rifles.  But I suspect it is from injudicious use of a steel vent prick, that the vent gets opened up.  When the pan self primes (frizzen closed on loading), it's time to replace the liner.

another good reason to pick with a quill.

[Daryl]

how many here have had to replace a worn-out liner?

Seems liners to need replacing every few years with 'normal' use. 

[David R. Pennington]

I had to replace liner a while back in my first build. Accuracy was suffering and it would almost self prime, (after over 10 years). It was not a white lightening. I made a new liner from SS. I have coned inside on the last 3 - 4 builds with great results, instant ignition! I will only use a liner from here on out when one of my touch holes burns out too big.

[Mike Brooks]

how many here have had to replace a worn-out liner?

Seems liners to need replacing every few years with 'normal' use.

Define Canadian "normal".

[bob in the woods]

For me, that would be approx 75 shots x roughly 40 weekends, give or take...so about 3000 shots per year in my .54 rifle
I started with a straight 5/64ths vent, then after about 5 years or so, installed a W.L. liner drilled to 5/64th and have shot it the last 8 years without trouble

[Daryl]

how many here have had to replace a worn-out liner?

Seems liners to need replacing every few years with 'normal' use.

Define Canadian "normal".

You know, normal, like maybe from 500 to 1,500rounds per year.

[bob in the woods]

Daryl, you need to shoot more     My target load for my .54 is usually 60 gr , so I don't think the pressure is very high.
My .40 needed a vent change after only 3 years or so

[Hungry Horse]

George an old friend just called me on the phone, from Oregon. While talking about muzzleloaders he reminded me that he owns one of my first flintlocks. The touch hole liner in that gun I made from a piece of 10-32 stainless steel all-thread about forty years ago, and its still in the gun. My buddy George says it measures just a little over 1/16th after forty years of shooting. So, I am puzzled how you guys burn a liner out in such a short time.

  Hungry Horse

[bob in the woods]

We shoot a lot here !!

[Turtle]

when I first started to install white lightings years ago, people were concerned that they didn't have a slot to remove/replace them. I told them I would remove and replace the ones I installed for free if they needed it- not one replacement yet.

[Daryl]

I get your point, Bob, but thought I would be VERY conservative.  I shoot less these days, with flinters, but was a time, not long ago, 25 pounds of powder did not last a year.

From that, you can understand my lack of understanding when someone says they have been using a POUND of powder for 5/10/15 years and want to know if it is still OK to shoot.

I got 2 years out of my first WL liner in the .40 Goodoien barrel, but did shoot it more than 2,500 times that year.

[bgf]

I use the internally coned ss liners with a screw slot (ampco?) and drill them out to a little under a sixteenth.  They last about 3000 shots or two years (maybe less) on my offhand rifle now, but I used to shoot more.  The metal in the slot is thin, so they burn out a little oblong and start to self-prime with 3f and accuracy loosens up. 

The liners on my chunk guns  get replaced at least annually, sometimes I just cut them off and use in offhand rifle.  It is easy to tell on a chunk gun when the hole gets bigger, but not worth waiting for it to happen.

I am quite aggressive with the pick, especially on the chunk guns.  Dead reliable ignition is worth a little extra money for liners, and it is not that much money or time to replace.  I'm sure I'll hear that someone or the other never picks and they have perfect ignition, but pick works for me and is part of routine now!

WL probably last a little longer, but the screw slotted ones are cheaper and easier to replace and work well for me.

On the other hand, I'm with Daryl, the only way not to burn out a touch hole is not to shoot very much!  Even the ones I use would probably last some folks 10 years...