Barrel Crack

[xbowman]

I bought my first Flintlock Muzzleloader in Mar 05. This was my first and learned how to load and shoot it just reading on the internet. From March until November I fired about 2300 rounds. During that time I took the barrel out and did the cleaning in a bucket of soap/water. I then ran hot water in the muzzle and out the vent hole with the vent out. This year I started to leave the barrel in and put a round tooth pick in the vent. Ran hot water with a small plastic hose down the barrel. Doing it this way it looks like 90% of the fouling comes out. I then put dish soap on the brush,swap and rinse again. Dry it and bore butter the barrel. In these past few days I noticed water coming out the vent or what I thought was a bad tooth pick. Yesterday I got out a flashlight, took out the lock and saw a moon shaped crack next to the vent hole about 1/6" towards the muzzle. Since the crack is away from the bore and tapped vent threads it just seem odd for this type of crack. I called Traditions and they asked me to send it for evaluation. Since the most charge I ever used is 55gr/volume, I feel it is just a defect. It will be interesting to see what the outcome will be.
I feel if I had continued to use the bucket method for cleaning it I might not have seen this crack soon enough. It might have become a serious problem. Anyway, it's in the mail. The good side for me is, I can still shoot my York tomorrow.

 

[Rebel]

Shouldn't be no crack in the barrel. I hope that Traditions takes care of the problem for you with a new barrel.

 

Whewee!! That was a close shave. I'm glad ya caught that in time. Keep us posted on what they find out.

 

[xbowman]

UPDATE: A few days after sending my Traditions 50cal Flintlock barrel to them I got a call from their wana bee gunsmith. It's not a crack, but there is a bushing there and the vent is drilled and tapped into it. I asked him to check it out because it's leaking water. About 5 days later the barrel is back to me. I put some water in the barrel and sure enough it's leaks. I called Traditions and talked to the wana bee. I told him it was leaking here and he told me, no guarantee Traditons would replace the barrel and the bushing couldn't be repaired. DA!!
I sent a registered letter to Traditons President and haven't gotten a response. I doubt I ever will.
I have since put some epoxy on the opening and fired it to see it the epoxy was blowing out. It's not. I just have let the fouling build up and just not put any pressure inside the barrel with my swap when cleaning. I am keeping a good eye on this area and will continue to do so. Just another NEWBIE mistake.

 

[oldmaster]

I bought a pistol from Traditions that came with 3/4" of metal, spiral shavings in the bottom of the barrel. I dug them out and cleaned the barrel and she fires just fine. I wrote to Traditions, just to let them know that someone should be checking this and never did receive a reply. Your experience with them is the most "customer service" I have ever heard of them giving anyone.Good luck.

 

[buckknife]

You need to call traditions service department again,if you get a gal on the phone she will help you.If you dont get her hang up and try again later.She is very polite and helpfull.
I have a flint shennadoa and i dont think there is any bushing in there that i have noticed.If there was and is in there it sould be able to be replaced.But i dont think there is one.If the vent is pluged good it shouldnt leak water unless it is not screwed in all the way.Then it might.Try getting a hold of that lady and i bet she will set things right.Wish i could remember her name.

 

[tx50cal]

Kind of sounds like they drilled the hole for the vent in the wrong place and tried to fix it with a bolt being threaded into the hole. They probably then drilled beside this bolt that was filed down to match the barrel. Sounds like you are seeing a part of the bolt used to "REPAIR" the mess up. Just a thought though.
Robert

 

[xbowman]

The girl you are thinking of isn't there any longer.
I sure won't be purchasing another Traditions rifle.

 

[buckknife]

too bad she was a peach.Their quality control dosnt leave much to be desired in production guns.

 

[Deadeye]

I had a Traditions .45 pistol that on the 1st shot
,with 20 grs. of 3F, blew out the bottom of the bolster. It had been cut too deep where it fits over the lock. It was only about 1/64" thick at that point. I sent it back and they sent me a new barrel and bolster.
If they won't repair yours you need to cut off that part of the barrel and rebreech it.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Man Oh Man, how did you ever think of that? That sounds exactly right, but "whodathunkit"!