Making any tompions?

[The Hungry Hunter]

Has any one had any experience in making Tompion's?? I am looking for pictures and how too's. I want to make a couple for my 50cal. rifles.

 

[davec2]

I had to make up a decorative brass tompion (muzzle plug), like the ones we used aboard ship in the Navy for the big guns, for a 3 inch bore cannon not long ago.  It got me thinking.  

A while back, Ron Scott was kind enough to send me several small scrap pieces of exotic woods to make up some of the whisk and vent pick sets I have made.  I had one piece of burl locust that was long enough to make the handle for a vent pick and there was enough material left to do something else with.  So I made this tompion (sometimes spelled as "tompkin") for a .50 cal English rifle I am working on.  This is a simple one with a split wood shank.  Lathe turned slightly larger than bore diameter and then split with a saw to provide a grip on the bore. I am making several others out of horn, bone, antler, etc., with more elaborate muzzle retention features like an expandable leather washer.  Fun to make and keeps the rain, snow, dirt out of the bore.  

 

[davec2]

I had to make up a decorative brass tompion (muzzle plug), like the ones we used aboard ship in the Navy for the big guns, for a 3 inch bore cannon not long ago.  It got me thinking.  

A while back, Ron Scott was kind enough to send me several small scrap pieces of exotic woods to make up some of the whisk and vent pick sets I have made.  I had one piece of burl locust that was long enough to make the handle for a vent pick and there was enough material left to do something else with.  So I made this tompion (sometimes spelled as "tompkin") for a .50 cal English rifle I am working on.  This is a simple one with a split wood shank.  Lathe turned slightly larger than bore diameter and then split with a saw to provide a grip on the bore. I am making several others out of horn, bone, antler, etc., with more elaborate muzzle retention features like an expandable leather washer.  Fun to make and keeps the rain, snow, dirt out of the bore.  

 

[gearheart]

Nice work. Remember to take it out before you touch it off. :thumbsup:

 

[The Hungry Hunter]

Thankyou for the pics of the tompion. Mine will not be so ornate, I do not have a lathe to work with.

 

[Len Graves]

Knowing the way I do things. I think I would make the plug large enough to be seen over the front sight when the gun is in firing position. I would worry about accidentally leaving the device in the barrel when firing. I have never found the need for a tompion in my guns, and wondering why you are using one?

 

[PA.1740]

Looks SWEET!!! :thumbsup:
Have Fun
Phil

 

[Rifleman1776]

Looks neat.
I do have a lathe and that looks like a fun project.
However, I just don't see the practical side of using them. But, just for the 'h' of it I might make one for my sorta retired Brown Bess. It is on the wall above my joke of an office door because it won't fit in the gun safe. A tompion might keep the mud daubbers out.

 

[The Hungry Hunter]

I would not probably use it also. I have made powder horns, powder measures out of antlers and wood, I made my wife a nice knive out of a deer antler, I thought maybe this would be an addition to the times.Just something to do..

 

[Stophel]

That's something I need to make a few of for myself. Would be very easy and quick to turn them out on the lathe.

 

[Jim Blair]

Not a good idea if you value the gun any.They have a tendency to draw moisture and make an ugly rust spot right at the end of the barrel where the tompion was if left in the barrel for extended periodsof time.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Especially if oak or walnut are used to make them. Both have tannic acids in them. :idunno:

 

[davec2]

Well, a couple of comments. Tompions are not normally used for long term storage of a firearm out in the weather. They were issued to the military, and many high end, cased, English guns came with tompions to keep dirt and moisture out of the bore while in the field. Second, unless you have had direct experience with wood (walnut, oak, or whatever), actually collecting moisture and causing rust, I would differ with your opinions. If that were true, gun barrels would rust out from the outside in and on the bottom due to contact with the wood stock. Most original guns I have disassembled, unless they were seriously abused and just left in a terribly wet environment, show exactly the opposite. The barrel steel is in the best condition where it has been in undisturbed contact with and protected by wood.

To each his own, but I have never seen any degradation of the barrel in contact with a dry tompion. If, of course, you leave the barrel wet for long periods, with or without a tompion, you will have a rust problem in the bore.

I doubt the very best English gun makers would have supplied tompions with their best firearms if they were a quick way to rust a bore.

 

[Jim Blair]

You stick a tompion in a barrel in Illinois in the summer with 110% humidity for any length of time,you're gonna get rust.Rifleman1776 was talking about using one on a gun hanging on a wall that sounds like he seldom uses it and it would be in the bore for extended periods,which is what the replies concerned,not short period usages in the field.

 

[davec2]

Scots Jim,

OK.....but how do you keep the same thing from happening to the barrel or lock sitting in a wood stock. Still looks like wood touching steel in a humid environment...just a question. I live in California, so I don't have to put up with 110% humidity very often. I would think that with 110% humidity your going to get rust everywhere no mater what you do.

Thanks

Dave C

 

[Jim Blair]

Got me,but I've seen it up close and personal.A tompion fits tight if it is to be effective.The lock and barrel aren't.It may be due to moisture in the barrel from the air sealed within drawn to the tompion.Many older tompions with a tightening feature such as some of the patented ones like the Wilmot or Enfield type had a cork or rubber component that attracted or held moisture.A tompion made of a wood with a low acid content might not be as susceptible to rusting or one that has been boiled in bullet lubricant or grease/oil.Short term you may not have problems,leave it in for a couple of months it might turn ugly.Muskets that had a tompion issued as an appendage were not shipped or packed with them in the muzzle.They were for short term usage such as stacking rifles overnight when in the field.

 

[Stophel]

I wouldn't consider one for long term storage. I figure it could hold moist air inside the bore, when if it were open, it would dry out. BUT, I think they would be helpful when caught out in the rain. Just don't make it TOO tight so it swells up and you can't get it pulled out! :haha:

And oak is very high in tannic acid, and iron doesn't like to be in contact with it. Cherry is fairly high in acid too, but maple seems to be generally low. I don't know about walnut. I don't think the acid would be a huge problem when dry, but, if it were damp, it could be a mess.

 

[airborne2037]

They are nice for when you store the weapon..keeps little crawley critters outa yer bore while its in the closet or above your fireplace...dont think i would ever use one out in the field though...as far as holding moisture, If you weapon is properly lubed it shouldnt be a problem.