Clean out screw

[Mailman]

Ihave a Traditions 50 cal Buckskinner and I am having trouble removing the cleanout screw next to the nipple. Any suggestions?

 

[J.D.]

Leave it in place. It's not supposed to come out.

 

[Birddog6]

The last one I took out was on a new barrel & I had a H of a time getting it out. Seems the screw was soft & was in tight. I ended up heating & quenching it in oil & then with some Ballistol it came loose. I replaced it with a allen head screw as it is harder & the wrench will hold it better than a small screwdriver.
Also this same screw had the nipple locked in on this rifle. Seems like it should go under the nipple but on this one it hit the threads & locked the nipple in place. :hmm:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Try pouring some WD-40 in barrel ,let it soak awhile. Put a toothpick in the nipple to hold the liquid in. Liquid wrench will work also. It is supposed to be removable to clean the flash channel. I replaced theones on my drums with brass and SS. That will not corrode in place.
You might try heating it also, should break it loose. If the slot is buggered use a center punch to tap on the edge of the head to un-screw it.

 

[faw3]

Had a CVA it seems a 100 years ago that I HAD to get that out for some reason, it stuck out just enough to get channel locks on it after 3 days of soacking in all kinds of rust buster, worse case drill in to screw and use a back out (cheao and easy wat,or drill then go a few size's bigger till you have most of it drilled out then use a back out, but best thing is to just leave it alone unless it just has to come out. Fred :hatsoff:

 

[Mailman]

Great, thanks everyone

 

[Runner]

If the other cures don't work, plug the nipple, dump a little hydrogen peroxide down the barrel, and let it sit for 15 minutes or so. That will usually eat the crud locking it in place. I require that mine come out easily because I use a prime under the nipple when hunting. I don't load my guns until a q-tip has been used to dry the flash channel, and then I still prime.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Runner - when you dump your powder charge in, whack the bareel opposite breech area a few times with your hand. It will jar some grains into the flash channel. Then proceed with loading. I take my drum screw out.every so often and run a pipe cleaner in thar to clean. Always have BOOM, not ka-boom.

 

[J.D.]

Those screws are hard to remove for a reason. They are a permanent installation, they are not supposed to come out.

That hole is not intended for use to clean anything. That hole is there to facilitate the drilling of the flash channel, and nothing more.

The screw is merely a plug in that hole. It's not supposed to come out.

Removing that screw is akin to removing the breechplug every time the gun is cleaned. They are not supposed to come out.
J.D.
J.D.

 

[faw3]

Well that could be why they call them "clean out screw's", but really Ive got BP books going back to when I started shooting in 1971 and they say pull it , run a pipe cleaner thru to clear out the drum , a drop of oil and put it back in....? :hmm: Fred, Fred, :hatsoff: ( on some you can really be right on others...)

 

[J.D.]

Yeah, and back in the early 70's someone showed up at a rendezvous fully clothed, fully equipped, and 100% researched as a Colonial line soldier. We, wearing Dyers Mocs, painters pants and synthetic calico shirts, laughed him out of camp.

I suspect that the idea of the "cleanout screw" as originated in the early 70's was as misinformed as we were. It is also one of those cases where a myth just won't die.

A lot of water has gone under the bridge, and the idea of the cleanout screw should be one of them.

Remember that people who write those articles are no more expert than you or I. They just have better access to someone with a printing press. For the most part those "experts" are far less "expert" than most.

BTW, does anyones instruction manual, as recieved with a new gun, mention the removal of the "cleanout screw" for cleaning?

And why, if they are intended to be removed on a regular basis, are those "cleanout screws" so hard to remove from a new gun?

Just curious.
J.D.

 

[Mailman]

Just talked to the tech at Traditions in Conn., it is a clean out screw and with a little heat it came out easily. It is there for that purpose and he said that they have to heat them up to get them out

 

[Tim Clark]

Yeah, I have a manual that specifically states:

"...HELPFUL HINT: The bolster clean out screw on percusion rifles can be removed for easier cleaning. If this is done, be certain that the screw is cleaned separately before being installed."

That said, on THAT rifle (bought within the past year), the cleanout screw is ridiculously easy to remove, and I usually do. However, on most of the older ones that I have, the screw is, as you said, now nothing more (or less) than a plug, probably forever "one" with the bolster. I know for certain that an old CVA pistol that I've had since around 1980 has a cleanout screw that used to be tough to remove, finally one time around 1989 it was so hard to remove that I ruined the head. I just left it as it was, tight in the bolster (it never even loosened a tiny bit), then I filed off the marks from me messing it up, polished it and it looks great that way. Not removing that screw changed nothing in the way the gun cleans up.

I am no expert at all, in anything, but I figure the gun is the final say in whether that screw comes out or not. We all do what we do, not much will ever change that. As for me, I leave the ones that are a pain to remove, and remove the ones that act as if they were meant to be removed. So, that's about all I can say.

And as far as "experts," I agree.... there are two kinds of "experts," the one we're all familiar with is spelled "e-x-p-e-r-t," and it is used to indicate a person that possesses an advanced level of skill, knowledge and understanding regarding a given subject, far above that of the average person. The other is spelled "x-spurt," wherein we all know from mathematics that "x" is an unkown quantity and a "spurt" is - well, we all know what that is, too, so it really means "an unknown drip under pressure." Of course, too, an "expert" has at different times been defined as a man in a business suit carrying a briefcase, 50 miles from his home... where SOMEONE just might have a higher opinion of him than do those with whom he is well acquainted!

Anyways, maybe I am an x-spurt after all. Who knows... works for me.

 

[J.D.]

Just talked to the tech at Traditions in Conn., it is a clean out screw and with a little heat it came out easily. It is there for that purpose and he said that they have to heat them up to get them out

Take 'em out then, and buy lots of little screws so's you will have repacements when you loose 'em. :surrender:
J.D.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Run a pipe cleaner in-out of thar and see what you get. Then use some grease on the 'clean-out screw' when you install to keep 'er from rusting shut. I swapped mine out with brass and SS.

 

[Mailman]

Does anyone know the thread size or should I call Traditions?

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Seems they were #8 or 10 size, 24 or 32 TPI's. You could match them at your local hardware supply. If they are a little too long put a lock washer under.

 

[Zonie]

I don't know the thread size, but I do know it will be a metric thread.

If you want to replace the screw, take it to a store that has metric threaded screws and nuts and try your screw in some of the nuts. When you find the nut that fits it, you will know what screw to buy.

If you replace the screw, make sure it is short enough to prevent it interfering with the nipple.
I've read of folks who couldn't remove their guns nipple and the reason for this was the previous owner had installed a "clean out screw" that was too long.

zonie

 

[Mailman]

OK, Thanks again. You guys are great, full of ideas

 

[paulvallandigham]

There are a couple of reasons that clean out screws are so hard to remove the first time. One, the factory does not use anti-seize, or some other product on the threads before putting the little screws in the breech. Two, the breech pressure comes slaming back against every part of the breech including that little screw, trying to find a way for the expanding gases to escape. That is way more pressure than the soft steel metal used to make screws was intended to take, so the threads get forced into the grooves, and often mishapened in the process, making a much tighter fit than existed before that first shot was fired. Third, almost all manufacturers cover their butts by shooting " Proof " loads off in the barrels before they leave the factory. Those high pressure loads do even more bending of that soft steel, and make sure that the threads of the screw are tightly squeezed into the the threads in the breech.

A little heat, and a good, properly fitting screwdriver will get it out. If you use a good lubricant, or anti-seize compound from the auto department, you should not have the same difficulty removing the clean out screw in the future. However, there are only a few justifiable reasons for ever removing that screw, so do make a habit of it. Certainly you don't need to remove it to clean out the breech! Soap and Water is all you need to do that.