Lyman Trade Rifle Arrived!

[smoothshooter]

1/16" ( .0625" ) seems to be considered optimum and maximum diameter and the best compromise between speed of ignition and gas escape. Anything larger does nothing for ignition speed , and let's too much gas escape. I am sure some will disagree with this.

 

[hanshi]

I'll agree with you. Every time I've received a new gun one of my first acts is to drill out the vent hole to 1/16". Works like a charm for me.

 

[jjsemperfi]

Ah ha, makes sense to plug the touch hole until I prime. So it gets jammed with 2f and won't ignite. I'll try a tooth pick it something. Thanks!

 

[Zonie]

IMO, plugging the vent hole while you load the powder charge can be a good thing if the hole is going thru the barrel wall directly into the powder charge.

On the other hand, plugging the vent hole can be one of the worst things you can do if the gun has a Patent breech or one of the other style breeches (chambered breech) which have a long flame channel hole connecting the breech of the barrel with the vent hole location.

With these Patent or chambered breeches the loose powder has to get down thru the flame channel hole all the way to the vent hole for the gun to work.

If the powder gets hung up part way to the vent, when the priming powder in the pan flashes, there's no new powder in the area for it to light.

If that vent hole is plugged on a Patent or chambered breech gun, the air that is trapped under the ball will escape slowly past the plug in the vent. The slow moving air cannot blow the loose powder down thru the flame channel.

If the vent hole is left open, the air under the ball will be blown violently thru the flame channel hole and it will blow the loose powder thru the flame channel so it will end up sitting at the vent hole waiting for the pan to flash.

I agree with the others that say the vent liner should not be removed. Even for cleaning the gun.

Using a wire to "pick the vent" is all that should be needed to make sure the pans flash has a direct shot into the new powder charge.

I've found that normally even this is not required. When the gun fires, the blast of flame and gas out of the vent hole is enough to blow any obstructing matter well clear of the hole.

Oh. I should mention one thing that can cause all sorts of problems.

If the shooter pumps the ramrod with a cleaning patch on it up and down the bore to "wipe" the barrel between shots, all sorts of fouling will end up plugging up the vent hole.

If this happens then picking the vent before priming the pan is necessary.

 

[dikman]

Thinking about what you've said makes sense, with regard to a patent breach (which my Pedersoli has). I think I'd better stop poking around in the vent hole!

I do wipe between shots - a single damp patch, down and up once - but I make sure I stop before it reaches the breach. Only once did I go to far down, and it caused all sorts of issues trying to get it to fire!!!

Thanks Zonie.

 

[Zonie]

When I do wipe my bore I run the damp patch clear down to the breech face.

There is not enough water in it to actually drip out and wet the breech.

After letting it sit for a count of 10, I then pull the damp patch out of the bore in one clean stroke.

The 10 second wait allows the dampened fouling to soften up so that when the patch is removed from the bore, it wipes up almost all of the fouling.

Also, by running it clear to the breech, no nasty crud ring will build up in the area.

After running the wiping patch I run one dry patch once down and up to dry the bore and then proceed with my reloading.

I haven't had a problem using this method for years.

 

[smoothshooter]

I wish the Italians would give up on the patent chambered - breech thing. Their engineers and company officers are probably only occasional shooters at best, if at all, and more than likely spend little or no time using and cleaning various types of muzzleloaders, and trying to make them reliable under field conditions. I am aware or the limited advantages of the design, but the drawbacks far outweigh the positives, IMHO. And for what it's worth, patent - chambered breeches are not historically correct for most of the guns they put them on anyway.

 

[azmntman]

I agree with the others that say the vent liner should not be removed. Even for cleaning the gun.

Why not? I have always removed mine and cleaned it and the threads real good? Maybe I doing more harm than good? But then again I also always remove the clean out screw on my percussion's too...You'd think I'm a clean freak (till you saw my garage) :rotf:

 

[dikman]

Technically, you can't completely clean down to all of the breech face of a Pedersoli patent breech by wet swabbing (as I'm sure you know). Seems to me that trying to do so will only succeed in pushing crud down into the recessed (for want of a better term) part of the breech and block the vent hole.

I also remove the vent liner, it keeps the threads clear and also helps with cleaning the patent breech area.