My sons Senica barrel

[bobthemotorcycle]

I just took the barrel off of my sons TC Senica in .36 cal. I am going to clean it and check it out really well.

I took the barrel off the stock and it is setting here in front of me. On the cap end of the barel is a seprate pice that is not part of the main barrel. It has one little screw in it. It is the area that the nipple is on. What is this called and if I remove this small screw will it come off? Will to just pull off or is it screwed onto the barrel? Can I take it all the way off to look thru the barrel?

 

[bobthemotorcycle]

I just looked it up, its called a breach plug.

Is it common or is it ok the take it off everytime I want to clean my rifle?

Will it line up correctly when I put it back together?

Do I put some anti-sease when I put it back together?

 

[VEARL]

No...
Don't remove anything from the barrel, but the nipple for cleaning. Re-oil nipple threads when screwing it back in.
If I read you right, there is a small screw on the side of the snail ( where the nipple goes in). Leave that screw alone also. To many times people try to remove it and screw up the screwhead, because it is frozen in place.
There are many bore lights you can buy to drop into your barrel to see with.
Vearl

 

[bobthemotorcycle]

The screw is on the side of the barrel but on the opposite side of the nipple.

 

[Zonie]

The breech plug is the part that screws into the rear of the barrel.

The only time it is ever removed is if the barrel needs reboring and even then there is a good chance that removing it will damage it or the barrel.

On the older TC guns, there is a small screw on the side of the breech plug right below the nipple.

Some folks call it a "clean out screw" but it really is there just to plug up the drilled hole that connects the nipple to the bore.
It doesn't have to come out to clean the barrel and a lot of people have found that trying to remove it ends up in stripping the screws slot.

If this is what your referring to, I suggest that you leave it alone.

To clean out that cross drilled hole from the nipple hole to the bore a wet pipe cleaner (the kind smokers use) can easily be bent to enter the hole after the nipple has been removed.

 

[bobthemotorcycle]

I got her all cleaned out. The little screw I am talking about is on the left side of the barrel where the nipple and snail area is on the right side of the barrel.

Its fine though. I realize that I should not remove the breach plug that the nipple is attached to.

I just filled up my bathtub with hot soapy water and let it go for a swim. I then got a patch on a rod and ran it up and down really fast and created a pump action and it is now clean as a fat mans plate. I am now on my way to the garage to get some anti sease or lite oil to put my nipple back in.

I noticed on mine the thing that hold the barrel on is driven on from the left side but when I watch videos they are driven in from the right side. Does it matter?

 

[Squeeze]

dont matter what side the wedge pin goes in from, but the screw opposite the nipple on a seneca is a bit of a mystery. I have one and cant picture any screw there.. :idunno: must be some type of cleanout for the bolster someone added aftermarket. Mine has none

 

[Prairieofthedog]

Bobby Guapo,the thing to hold your barrel in is called the barrel wedge or wedge pin.It doesn't matter which side it goes in,but I put it in from the right side.The right side of a right handed gun is the best looking side so have the head of the wedge on that side.And put it in the same way all the time, it probably fits one way better than the other.

 

[bobthemotorcycle]

I am guessing its a Senica. I thought it was a Hawkens but it dont say Hawkins and when I posted a picture of it on here someone said it was a Senica not a Hawkens.

I am guessing the snail is the snail looking area that the nipple is screwed into.

This little screw is on the left side of the barrel and the snail and nipple is on the right side.

It dont matter. I am not touching it. I will just clean it with out moving the breach plug.

 

[bubba.50]

like zonie said it's really just an aid to manufacture. but for want of a better term the factory called the little screw on the right side a clean-out screw. they started putting them on the left side hidden from view when they got tired of people complainin' about boogerin' them up tryin' to remove them. they're usually ground flush with the flat & appear as a little cirle on the left side the breechplug.

 

[gunner69skmc]

Like the man said "If it ain't broke - don't fix it." :td:

 

[Rat Trapper]

The screw is on the side of the barrel but on the opposite side of the nipple.

The screw you are looking at is on the left side of the breech plug. This is a clean out screw. If the screw is not stuck, then remove it everytime you clean the rifle. Always put some breech plug grease on the nipple and clean out screw. TC gave me some of the new clean out screws which use a allen wrench to install and remove. These screws are easier to get out. If the screw is stuck you can either leave it as is or have a gunsmith remove it.

 

[Rifleman1776]

The screw is on the side of the barrel but on the opposite side of the nipple.

TC changed manufacturing process somewhere along the line. That screw was to allow drilling in the flash channel. It is not meant to be removed. Leave alone.

 

[Zonie]

I agree Rifleman 1776. :thumbsup:

 

[bpd303]

Just a little footnote about that plug screw. I put together a nice little "coach or buggy gun" from parts. The barrel is a Green Mountain .40 cal about 16 in. long.

Unbeknown to me someone had taken that screw out and replaced it with one that was the wrong thread. Somewhere around the third or fourth shot the screw blew out. Ever see a caplock fire like a flinter?

I am certainly grateful that no one was standing beside me when it did or serious injury would have resulted. I had to make a screw with the proper thread and set it with loctite, so lesson learned, don't mess with that screw.

 

[don hepler]

I used to take the screws out, but realized it was unecessary.

Think, how a barrel must be made. Bore and rifle the barrel, drill and tap the nipple chamber, and then drill a channel from the inside of the barrel over to the nipple chamber. You got two choices, drill from the left side, drilling through into the barrel and then tapping the hole and plugging it, or drill from the right side, across the barrel and stopping in the nipple chamber and then plug this hole.

Stop and think about how you'd have to machine it and the answer is clear.

If you decide to remove it, to aide in cleaning, you'll be risking stripping or at least putting extra wear on the tiny threads. Personally I leave it alone and use a pipe cleaner down through the nipple hole. I also used antiseize on the nipple threads, and carefull not to over torque the nipple.

 

[Pete44ru]

I am guessing its a Senica. I thought it was a Hawkens but it dont say Hawkins

Some early Seneca's weren't so marked on their barrels - mine isn't.

The easiest way to tell which model you have is to measure the bbl thickness, across-the-flats: A Seneca bbl measures 13/16", a Hawken is heavier & measures 15/16".

It's unwise to load a Seneca as heavily as a Hawken, as there's a more than goood chance to crack the stock, if it's done.



.

 

[bobthemotorcycle]

Mine is a 47XXX serial number so if that early thats what I have.

I know now its a Seneca. Its way too small to be a Hawkens.

Thanks for the information, I will keep my loads in the proper range.

I also know its a Seneca because the patch box is round twards the end of the but.