Brunswick Rifle Breech Bolster Removal

[Gorloff]

Hello. has anyone here removed the breech bolster from one of IMA's Nepalise Brunswick rifle barrels? I would appreciate any advice in removing it so I can better see down the barrel, and decide my next step. Also the nipple is broken off in the bolster. and it is too hard to drill. ( I broke it in an attempt to remove it. ) Any suggestions to get it out? Thanks in advance.

 

[cynthialee]

try and cut a slot into the remaining part of the nipple and see if you can use a screw driver to take it out. I'd soak it in kroil first.

 

[Phil Coffins]

I’m not well versed on this rifle but I don’t think you want to remove the bolster. It could be brazed on but the breech plug generally is screwed in from the end.

 

[Rudyard]

Re your Nepalese Brunswick. What are you calling' a bolster? 'the portion that the nipple screws into is the bolster it dosn't come off or should'nt. Do you mean the Breach plug that should screw out & will allow you to see through the inside of the barrel . However these so called 'Brunswicks' even if rifled and there are others similar that are just smooth bore ' Fusils' . Can be very poorly made of bad materials & workman ship . By all means try Kroil or diesil or wintergreen & boiling., & soaking with a bore full of vinnigar . keep at it even warm it up with a propane torch ensure not loaded first and lots of scowering with suitable rods & brushes . The nipple will be about 5/16" Whitworth an' Easy out 'tool might do it but its unlikley to be that hard you cant drill ,soak ,boil wintergreen, & curse prolifically in Nepali & English & you should win eventually They seem to come in all grades from 'So So' to' NRA Disgusting ' But they are still interesting .
Lots of luck Rudyard

 

[Gorloff]

Thanks for all the replies on this. I have it soaking in kroil now, and will try to be patient with it. I have heard a lot of folks warning about these guns, but have not yet seen anything about a failure of one of them. I agree that they were made using obsolete manufacturing methods even for their time. They were used hard by their army, and were not taken care of in 150 years of storage. They look like they came out of a landfill, but when cleaned up they look really, really nice. Again, thanks for the tips. Dave

 

[Rudyard]

Thank you and your quite welcome , There are nipples 5/16th" WW the Nepalese might be that but could vary some 'local trade 'India made nipples where oversize I have both if your stuck but be easier to get one in the US if that's where you are as Ime in NZ.
Regards Rudyard

 

[Gorloff]

Thank you and your quite welcome , There are nipples 5/16th" WW the Nepalese might be that but could vary some 'local trade 'India made nipples where oversize I have both if your stuck but be easier to get one in the US if that's where you are as Ime in NZ.
Regards Rudyard

Yes, thank you Rudyard. it will be easy to get a nipple to fit it here in the USA. I just need to get the darn broken one out, so I can see what I need. lol. Anyway, time will tell. Best Dave

 

[arquebus]

I used to have one of the Nepalese-made 'Brunswicks' with the 2-groove rifling. I had a local m/l gun building friend remove the breech plug for me, as I'd heard all kinds of stories about the quality. We were both pleasantly surprised by the quality of the thread as it seemed to be machine cut & very well done, though a little coarse (tpi-wise) in my friend's opinion. The rifling is another matter altogether, as it ran very non-uniformly in either depth or pitch. As you may know, the Brunswicks were intended for use with a belted ball which fit the grooves mechanically, but there is no way in heck that a belted ball would be able to follow that rifling down the bore! As far as the nipple was concerned, I was expecting to find that it would be a close approximation of the standard British 5/16x18, but instead found a nipple with a smaller diameter shank cut with a very coarse & un-uniform thread. We fixed that by drilling out the hole to 5/16" & threading it with a 5/16x18 tap.

 

[Gorloff]

I used to have one of the Nepalese-made 'Brunswicks' with the 2-groove rifling. I had a local m/l gun building friend remove the breech plug for me, as I'd heard all kinds of stories about the quality. We were both pleasantly surprised by the quality of the thread as it seemed to be machine cut & very well done, though a little coarse (tpi-wise) in my friend's opinion. The rifling is another matter altogether, as it ran very non-uniformly in either depth or pitch. As you may know, the Brunswicks were intended for use with a belted ball which fit the grooves mechanically, but there is no way in heck that a belted ball would be able to follow that rifling down the bore! As far as the nipple was concerned, I was expecting to find that it would be a close approximation of the standard British 5/16x18, but instead found a nipple with a smaller diameter shank cut with a very coarse & un-uniform thread. We fixed that by drilling out the hole to 5/16" & threading it with a 5/16x18 tap.

Thanks for the information. I had read that folks were finding out the the rifling was shallow, narrow, and also rough. I think if mine is uniform perhaps it can be re-cut deeper, and wider. Otherwise bored out and lined to a smaller caliber.

 

[arquebus]

I had a friend who had his 'Brunswick' relined & has been satisfied with the result. Good luck with yours.