frozen nipple

[2172]

last week I picked up a .54 T/C renegade from a pawn shop. ($200). In really good shape, a little surface rust in bbl, cleaned up good. The nipple and the clean out screw appear to be "frozen" in place...I sure can't move the nipple with a nipple wrench, nor the clean out screw with a screw driver. I've been soaking them in Liquid Wrench for a couple of days...does anyone have any other ideas on how to get them moving? Hank

 

[Pork Chop]

I had a recalcitrant nipple.
To persuade it to come out, I heated the breech a bit with a torch, then put an ice cube on the nipple. A couple of times like that, then it unscrewed. I cleaned the heck out of it and put a new nipple in it and life was good.

Oh, I did not use a nipple wrench - I used a small pair of vice grip pliers. I don't think that a nipple wrench would have tolerated the torque. Once it moved a tiny bit, it just came on out.

 

[Ken Rummer]

If the end of the clean out screw hangs out into the flame space the end of it is probably coated with crud which prevents unscrewing. Try turning it in first, then back out. The in/out repetition will work the crud off and make it easier to remove.

If the cleanout screw is tight against the nipple you have another problem and should work to remove the cleanout screw first so you don't escalate the problem by damaging the nipple threads.

 

[BrownBear]

Be aware that some of the models have a "clean out screw" that isn't. It's actually a fake screw head and no amount of twisting is likely to get it out.

I've always had better luck with PB Blaster than liquid wrench. Torches are good.

 

[2172]

:bow: thanks to all for the advice. I'm going to try the torch+ice..this is an older model renegade, with a K serial number...I'm guessing the clean out screw is real, but i don't think it is original...bright, and a phillips head, so it could be blocking the channel/touching nipple threads...I'll try dealing with it first. The very first gun I ever built,about 1969, I tried using vice grips on the nipple (I didn't know about nipple wrenches) and managed to snap it off...in trying to remove the broken nipple, I really screwed things up...as a result, I never shot the gun, but sold it in a consignment shop to a NYC day tripper...I put a card on it, "this gun guaranteed not to shoot" that apparently sold it to the tourist....sheesh! Hank

 

[zimmerstutzen]

fire wrench is sometimes necessary as mentioned above.

I would first try soaking the breech end in a solvent type pentrating product like a couple inches of Kerosene in an old coffee can for a couple days.

I have run into a couple of the most stubborn little buggers over the years. One I drilled out carefully with a very small masonry bit.

Your breech and nipple are fairly open. in my bag of tricks, I found a very old and very husky set of small open end wrenches. Don't know what they were intended for, but often the appropriate size wrench on the nipple shoulder with a little gentle tapping on the other end of the wrench does the trick.

 

[BrownBear]

...I'm guessing the clean out screw is real, but i don't think it is original...bright, and a phillips head, so it could be blocking the channel/touching nipple threads...I'll try dealing with it first.

Bet in it!

 

[Parzifal]

I myself have a origional 1861 springfield Im tring to get the siezed nipple out of.

I think I will try the heating and the cooling, Its really stuck.

 

[LeMat1856]

.
. oct 1 / 11:50pm


if you don't have a tourch (like me) an ordinary hair dryer set to high will also work well plus you have good control over the heated area without worry of burning anything else..

in the worst case scenario i've even had to use vise grips which might mangle the original, so be prepared and get a replacement first.

don't feel bad; it happens in the best of families.

~d~

 

[Parzifal]

I do have a replacement "thanks dixie :wink: "

I tried the heating today and gave er all I had with the wrench....well now the T style wrench is getting stripped and the nipple mocks me with its damned stubborness.

And due to the design of the 1861 springfield I cannot get my vice grips in there...

Am I just going to have to send the whole barrel away to a shop??

Ideas?

 

[FishDFly]

You might consider the below nipple wrench from Tedd Cash:
http://www.tdcmfg.com/cgi-bin/cart...656*Fj64y0&p_id=RATCHET1&xm=on&ppinc=search2.

It will provide more leverage than a T nipple wrench

As a second option, go to Sears and a get a "Bolt Out", Size 02 and slip it over the nipple and use a 5/8" box end wrench to turn the Bolt Out to remove the nipple.

RDE

 

[ohio ramrod]

I am a firm believer in Areo Kroil From Kano Labrotories. I have found that over night soaking with it is the equivalant of two cans liquid wrench and a tank of propane (1 lb tank). I cleanned up a friends black powder guns before he died for his kids and grandkids. And after two weeks fighting frozen parts I got a can of Kroil and am now am a firm believer in it.

 

[FishDFly]

There are several ways to motivate an inanminate object to move, chemical (Kroil Oil is very good), heat/cold and mechanical, (leverage).

The best result is all the above and a dose of patience

RDE

 

[Tom Compton]

Been a LONG time since I was in a TC per-suction breech plug but have one on hand, I think, from a barrel conversion to flint. Will look but suspect the phillips screw is engaging the threads on the nipple. Ease out should work well with the screw in the clean out hole.

 

[LeMat1856]

.
. oct 3 / 7:00am


just to add more wrenches to the list, i had good results with this one:
Log Cabin Online t/c and box type wrenches

they have some for hawken and renegade plus a generic square musket type.

also, be sure you're getting your lubricant into both ends of the screw / nipple channel.

~d~

 

[selvinman]

Kroil and Ted Cash wrench :thumbsup:

 

[Randy Tuftee]

Hey hank awile back I watch a guy at a machine shop heat a exhaust manifold stud it was really rusted,he just heated the bolt then he touch a wax candle at the base of the threads ,he said heat travels hot to cold draws the wax around the threads and the bolt came loose with wax around the threads,try just heating the nipple and touch a birthday candle let it cool , might work?

 

[stewart.leach]

Above all, apply patience!

Suggest soaking breech end in enough Kroil (fantastic stuff!)in a can to cover area for two weeks or more. Every day or two take it out and tap all around the area with a plastic hammer.

The alternating heating and cooling is also worthwhile.

White Fox

 

[2172]

thanks to all for good advice. Hank

 

[runnin lead]

As far as the philipshead cleanout screw, find a friend who has a motorcycle & works on it , if he works on a motorcycle he mostlikely has a impact driver, this is a cam operating tool that you strike with a hammer & should have an adapter to hold philips bits, after a good soaking with Kroil heat the breachplug & smck that sucker
(impact driver) they are fantabulous.