Newbie with serious issue

[Zonie]

Many of the Auto Supply stores have them but you have to ask for them.

They come in straight threaded and pipe threaded styles and you need to get the 1/4" straight threaded kind.

The threads will not match the threads in your gun exactly and if you run them in with a wrench or pliers you will screw up your guns nipple (or vent liner) hole.

Use finger pressure only and install them as tightly as your fingers can make them.

Your fingers cannot develop enough torque to cause the zerk to damage the guns threads but it will be tight enough to allow a carefully applied grease gun to work. Just don't force the grease gun sideways when your putting it onto the zerk.

 

[charcoal]

HUH????

 

[hounddog]

charcoal, Please allow me to clarify some things. I trade and buy a lot of guns. In most instances the guns have some sort of problem which me being a gunsmith I am able to fix, Probably one out of 4 have a obstructed bbl. I am working on guns I own so if I do screw up I lose money. The above method described earlier does work well, It is time efficient, I estimate I have done 50 plus guns in that manner never ruined a bbl and never had one blow up or show any sign of weakness. I do test fire all of my guns before I sell them. While the method may not be acceptable for every one. It works well for me. Heres HUH back at you hounddog

 

[charcoal]

About 30 years ago I had an interesting occurrence. I was working the midnight ride in the Locomotive Shop. My foreman was a half-assed gunsmith and we had talked guns from time to time, so he knew I was into muzzleloading. Well, someone brought a .50 cal Hawken to him one day telling him that he had apparently forgot to charge the piece before ramming the ball down, as it wouldn't fire. Well he asked me about it and I told him to bring just the barrel in and I would bring a cap and some powder. Around 2 or 3am we got a chance to work on the gun. I wrapped a rag around the breech end and clamped it in a vice, screwed the nipple out and trickled some powder in behind the ball. Replaced the nipple and put a cap on it. The barrel was pointed towards some steel tool cabinets about 30 feet away. No one else around. I hit the cap with a hammer and whoaaaa...there occurred a thunderous discharge, that had to have awakened the ghosts of long past in the old Roundhouse. It definitely shook 75 years of dust and soot (and probably asbestos) from the rafters. Down range the ball put a very serious dent in the 3/16 thick steel center brace of one of the double cabinets, and the dim lighting was further obscured by the cloud of acrid smoke.

Well, the chap had definitely charged the piece, there was no doubt about that, but apparently had not previously snapped a cap on the nipple to clear the oil out. I have no idea if he had tried to fire the piece more than once, or at least can't remember at this late date.

 

[Piotr20]

Me and my dad actually went to about 15 different stores in our general area (50 mile radius). By luck we found a guy who had a HUGE inventory of old zerk fittings and all sorts of little bits and bobs from his automobile repair business. We got lucky, very lucky. In my opinion the last places to look are stores like Kragen and Pep boys. Ide advise trying the old repair mom and pop shops out in the boonies.

 

[tom deinek]

TC nipples have 1/4 x 28 thread (per internet). That's a common zerk thread.

Is the TC 1/4 x 28 thread a proprietary or gun thread instead of a SAE thread?

 

[gearheart]

YAY!!! Now for the fun part. You got a helluva mess to clean out the grease. :thumbsup: Make SURE you get it all out.

 

[paulvallandigham]

With the nipple removed, you have a pretty good HOLE down into the barrel through which the grease will move when you simply insert a Patched Cleaning jag. Yes, it will take some time. You are no hydraulic press!

The rest of the grease can be dissolved using any alcohol based solvent, and pushed on out through the bolster( where the nipple screws into the gun.)

Remember that the barrel was probably fouled with powder residue before this all started, so scrub the corners of the grooves using a bore brush, and run soap and water down the barrel to remove all of it from the tight spots. You want clean white cleaning patches coming out of the barrel, and clean pipe cleaners coming out of that flash channel.

I recommend using alcohol to evaporate any moisture that remains after you dry the gun with patches, before giving the bore a LIGHT coat of oil/wax/grease- your call-- for storage. A vegetable based oil( like you use for cooking) will coat the metal well enough to prevent rusting. Its more important to re-oil the barrel every week, than to try to find something that you can put on once, and then ignore the gun for months!

 

[Rifleman1776]

And you didn't double check to see if there was a charge in there by comparing where the ramrod stopped against the barrel length from outside. Glad no one was hurt in that fiasco.

 

[Piotr20]

The thread on my parker hale barrel is a 5/16x18. The closest zerk fitting is a 5/16x22. Im not sure if thats the one I used or not, Ill have to inspect it closer. All the grease is gone, bore is as close to perfect as can be. Took it to the range again, shot really really well. Damaged my steel plate target :grin: At 100 yards I was able to hit the steel plate (12") at least 6 out of 10 times. I was of course experimenting with powder loads and lubrication. The minies never landed more than 4" away from the plate at 100 yards. Now that I have a powder charge and lubrication formula down That plate will be dead meat :thumbsup:

 

[tom deinek]

Thompson Center uses SAE 1/4x28 thread so ordinary zerk fittings fit. 45degree fitting will not work because it swon't rotate 360, striking the bolster.

10 zerk fittings in pkg (Chinese made) at O'Reilly's car parts store were $5.99.

 

[charcoal]

I checked to make sure the ball was down all the way on whatever it was on. The little bit of powder I could get in through the nipple orifice I knew wouldn't have overcharged it. So there ya go.

 

[Amikee]

No to sie pieknie pan zalatwil z tym olowiem. Powodzenia