Jammed nipple

[Jdzara]

I've an original Smith carbine. I 'd like to remove the nipple for cleaning, inspection, but it's jammed,(frozen).
It won't move using a nipple wrench and light persuasion.
Should I soak it in penatrating oil?, Heat the nipple? or what would you suggest?
Thanks,
Jerry

 

[Ivery Keys]

Penetrating oil has worked for me on the one rifle I bought used and whoever had it had never removed the nipple. I have heard of the old freeze it then heat it proposition, but never tried it. On the one I had, I put a couple of drops on, let it set over night, tried the wrench the next day, put a couple of drops on, let set, try, and finally after what seemed like weeks it turned loose. I can tell you honestly there were a couple of times I looked for my vice grips when I got tired of waiting, but patience paid off and now all works fine...

Regards,

Ivery

 

Usually one can alternately heat and freeze the unit and finally break the part lose without resorting to excessive force. Get the molecules expanding and contracting on their own and they sometimes decide which part they belong too and break free of the unit.

Penetrating oil alone will seldom be sufficient on parts this old.

If you break this part off and are forced to drill and tap for new threads you are done for on this relic value-wise.

Those 150 year old frozen threads can be stuborn.

:front:

 

[Cap'n ted]

Try using a couple of drops of Kroil penetrating oil. Patience is a ggod thing, but Kroil works! I used it to loosen some bolts on a set of wagon wheels that had been behind the barn for a long time. Weekly applications of Kroil for three weeks loosened up all but one of the bolts. It was severely rusted and required extra effort.

Bottom line, Kroil works well.

Good Luck

Cap'n Ted

 

[Killitgrillit]

:agree: Cap'n Ted
Don't spoil it Kroil it.

 

[Rebel]

I had a seized nipple on a Zouave. I poured some penetrating oil(Liquid Wrench), down the barrel, and let it set a couple days. Then took a piece of hardwood(Old hammer handle) and tapped lightly around the nipple once in a while. Seems the tapping helps to get the oil into the threads. Anyway, it worked. Couldn't move the nipple with a standard nipple wrench, so used a small pair of Visegrips on it. Clamped them tight to the cone of the nipple and it turned right out. Didn't even ruin the nipple. :results:

 

[Slamfire]

I vote for a squirt of PB Blaster, which has a rust eating enzyme incoporated into the mix. It takes the rust away so maybe you don't want to use it on a genuwine antique...

 

[RedFeather]

If PB Blaster eats rust, watch out for your finish. Patina is mostly controlled rusting. I've tried PB on a frozen pin in a low wall and it didn't work. But then, nothing did, as the gun was reblued with the pin in place (now permanently). I don't know how Kroil smells, but the PB sure as hell smelled up my basement and opened up our sinuses!!! If you try the heating/freezing, you may opt for a refrigeration can with valve adapter like they sell for doing your own car air conditioner. It will freeze it up right smart. Just don't squirt yourself, especially the eyes. I would go as carefully as I could on that original. Do you have a really good gunsmith in your area? They can come up with quite a bag of tricks at times.

RedFeather

 

[thehorn]

:m2c:I've had good luck with this approach on a number of rust frozen screws and nipples in the past 35+ years, but please ensure that the gun is unloaded and free of any powder charge before trying this method. Remove the barrel/receiver from the wood. Steady the piece in a padded vice to allow your hands to work freely. Heat the offending part with a flameless source - I use an electric soldering gun with the tip placed directly on the screw head or nipple. Heat until its hot enough to burn your finger and then remove the heat source and immediately trickle some kerosene around the joint. Reapply the heat to the offending part. The heat will draw the penetrant into the joint helping to free the parts. You may have to repeat the process several times. Just be patient and make sure you go at it with the proper size nipple wrench in the end. I apply the kerosene with a syringe type oil applicator. A rubber bulb irrigator (available from the local drug store) may also work. Good luck with this project.
thehorn

 

[Batchief909]

I had the same thing happen to an old GPR I bought used. A buddy of mine suggested this, and it sounds crazy but it worked. Get ya a can of the compressed air that you use to clean dust out of electrical components. Turn the can upside down and spray the nipple. This will freeze the metal into contraction, and enable you to loosen things up. It works like a charm!

 

[tommag]

It may not be the right answer for a potentialy valuable firearm, but I bought a couple of really crappy spanish mausers for next to nothing and they were very rusted up. I glued a cap on one end of a 4" pvc pipe and filled it with kerosene. Used it as a verticle soak-tank and put the bbl'd actions in them for a couple of weeks. Just for grins, I dried them really well before taking the action wrench to them and the threads were wet when I unscrewed them. I used kerosene because I read somewhere that wd40 is pretty similar to it.

 

[Wart]

Soak it with Blaster (you can find it at any auto supply store).

 

Hey bud, you been working on this all day!

Havn't you got that thing out yet?

:front: