Options for misaligned vent?

[Zoar]

I noticed the vent hole looks high on the photo, too. Although from the angle of the photo it is not possible to tell how high. If it is exposed when the frizzen is down, then if he opens up the vent hole more he may just lose powder from the charge in the barrel. (ask me how I know). Then he could be walking around all day hunting and slowly bleeding out his main charge!!! oh my. And we all know with a diminishing main charge he could get "diminishing" results.

I'm with Paul and those who advise in this case (of a too high vent hole): To load up more pan powder to get MORE flash in the pan to reach up and light that high vent hole.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

In the photo it almost looks like the lock is too low when compared to the barrel flat. Maybe just the angle of the photo. There are lots of bubba things to do. Fill the pan, grind the pan back, grind a bigger external cone etc. Instead of all that, take the gun to a gunsmith that has proper machinery and have him mill the barrel for a properly placed touch hole liner. given how high your current touch hole is you may need to go to a 5/16 or even a 3/8 liner.

I know folks debate long into the night about whether tis fasteer to cone outside or inside. My thoughts are this. The closer the main charge powder is to the primer fire the better. Likewise, the lesser the distance the primaer fire must travel to ignite the main charge, the better and faster the ignition. Coning the outside, simply means the primer fire /sparks must travel that extra 1/32 or 1/16 of an inch before igniting the main charge. In the overall scheme of time, both are very close, but if it cuts a thousandth of a second or two off the ignition time, so much the better.

By machining the hole, the tough hole can be moved to a proper place. Maybe a bit more xpensive intitially, but a proper repair is always better than a bubba adjustment.

 

[gordy]

After reading all the posts here on the cure for misfires , I have to agree with most ! I have a vent location almost identalical to the one you picture , also with no liner .I built the gun so can't pass the buck to anyone else. After much shooting , the cure was as said , I opened up the vent to 5/64ths and fill the pan w/3fff. This gun now goes off as fast as my caplpcks.
I also have to concur that the sawn flints tend to break chunks out much more often then knapped flints . I'm not a flintknapper but have done quite a bit of stone masonery and all rock/stone has a "grain" Once you learn to read the grain things go along much smoother .
The last thing I would reccomend , is to pick the vent "often" :hmm: :thumbsup:

 

[MercerLake]

:v I always thought it easier to tell if the pan was full rather than just half full. One could line the pan to reduce the height to the TH or a number of fixes. Simple is as simple does, fill it up. :v

 

[brubincam]

-----what if you drill another vent hole below the other one--2 vents--seen them like that at the DIXONS FAIR-----

 

[paulvallandigham]

Polishing the pan makes it much easier to keep clean with a single wipe of a cleaning patch. My gunmaker widened he pan also, as well as polishing it to a mirror finish. He wanted to increase the " Target" for my sparks, and he did. The result is a pan that looks more shallow, but isn't, but holds more priming powder.

It took some getting used to. My Scottish, and Swedish ancestors gave me my " cheap" genes, and I have had a lot of difficulty putting a FULL pan of powder in that gun. But, the proof is in the shooting, and with a full pan, I have never had either a misfire, or a hangfire. So, I apologize to my ancestors, and fill the pan on that lock. :shocked2: :blah: :rotf: :surrender:

I still feel better when I put it down, and go back to my rifle, where I can use half or less a pan of powder to fire that gun just as reliably! :shocked2: :grin: :hatsoff: I hope my ancestors forgive me my largess with the priming powder in my fowler. Being a lawyer, I don't figure I have much of an "In" with the Almighty, as it is. I don't need to lose family support, too. :idunno: :nono: :surrender: :hmm: :thumbsup:

 

[rabjr]

Well all I know is I don't get any flash in the pans when hunting. I make sure my pans are full of prime. :v

 

[tg]

I would enlarge to 5/64 or a # smaller and add more prime and call it good, a plain hole can work quite well and will give one more of the experience of the originals if this is of any value, liners are way over rated IMHO, a steady hand and good follow thru, will do, I would never use a liner in a gun again, if speed is that important a new thingy called a caplock will shave some time off or even better yet the self contained cartridge is even faster I hear. I suggest the old plain hole myself(maybe coned a bit in and out) for getting into the real"spirit" of things.

 

[excess650]

I believe ol vern is correct in that the barrel flat is visible at the bottom of the pan. It appears that the barrel was never set 1/2 into the stock, and trying to put a vent liner in may be a PITA. Boring with an endmill will work, but I would fear breaking a tap in that it would only be cutting on top when starting, and cutting on the bottom once inside.

If it goes off with a full pan of powder, call it good. If that doesn't improve ignition, try drilling with the next larger size bit. I wouldn't go past 5/64" myself.

If there is a gap between the bottom of the pan and the barrel, seal it with epoxy so as to prevent pan powder from leaking into the recess and risking a split stock.:cursing:

Jackie Brown won't be getting any of my $$ :shake:

 

[tg]

Jackie has and can put out a good gun, there was a time period a number of years ago that personal issues set him and his work back a ways.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Do I see the edge of a barrel flat just above the bottom of the
pan?

Maybe you need to check and see if the tang or the barrel inletting is holding the back of the barrel up higher than it should.

I'm with Ol Vern and Excess650 on that. The vent is already low in the barrel; judging from the original image. It's the barrel not being set properly to the lock that causes the vent to be high relative to the pan. Also not good at all having a hole below the vent where the powder and fouling can creep into the barrel channel/lock mortice.

Can you take an image with the lock off of the lock recess?

 

[Matt PA]

Do I see the edge of a barrel flat just above the bottom of the
pan?

Maybe you need to check and see if the tang or the barrel inletting is holding the back of the barrel up higher than it should.

I'm with Ol Vern and Excess650 on that. The vent is already low in the barrel; judging from the original image. It's the barrel not being set properly to the lock that causes the vent to be high relative to the pan. Also not good at all having a hole below the vent where the powder and fouling can creep into the barrel channel/lock mortice.

Can you take an image with the lock off of the lock recess?

Thanks for all the feedback guys.....here's another series of images as requested. I'm not a gun builder or gunsmith but it looks messy behind the lock. The wood directly below the pan looks like it was knawed by a squirrel.......when I got finished cleaning and pulling the lock the other night there was a lot of fouling , and it was wet throughout the recess.
(I plugged the vent with a toothpick for cleaning but I suspect there was a leak that ran down into that gap)
I scrubbed out the recess, let it dry and cleaned and degreased the lock and then lubed.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Hoo boy.

Well, the good news is that your original concern of the vent being 1/8" too far back should not trouble your mind at all.

Someone coned the outside of the vent to try and solve that issue; probably unsuccessfully. The lock itself is not properly aligned with the barrel. That would require a barrel rebedding (or just a "bedding" as the original job was not completed). The good news is that the lock lock cavity is already mortised out and the sideplate bolt holes drilled so you'll know when you're done - provided there is clearance and the rammer channel allows further barrel inletting. You'd also need to reshape the tang area (flush it to the barrel once bedded) and refinish the stock . . . at least in that area if ypu are good at blending and matching the original stains and finish.

And, once done, you'd need to plug the existing vent and put in a new one in the center of the barrel flat. And slightly ahead of the current vent.

Plan B would be to wax the lock and set it in a bed of epoxy where the "squirrel chewing" went on to prevent further leaks and damage, and then angle the existing vent hole a bit so that the flash has a straighter path into the main charge.

 

[rich pierce]

That lock inlet is comparable to most original Kentucky rifles. No shame in that one, nothing special, but right for the price. You can't get top-end, English-style work for bargain pricing. I know it seems off that you could buy a production modern rifle or ML rifle and get a piece with perfectly clean and uniform inletting and finish, etc for far less than a low price semi-custom rifle which does not exhibit the same clean and uniform finish of wood and metal, but the parts and labor costs are much higher for the semi-custom gun.

 

[ol vern]

I plugged the vent with a toothpick for cleaning but I suspect there was a leak that ran down into that gap)
I scrubbed out the recess, let it dry and cleaned and degreased the lock and then lubed.

Instead of a toothpick try cutting a Qtip in half and sharpen it enough to plug the vent, a Q tip tends to swell up and seals
vent better than a toothpick

 

[rabjr]

I know it has nothing to do with the vent but what is the screw in the mortise for?

 

[tg]

It looks like the lock screw/bolt

 

[excess650]

tg, he's questioning the purpose of the screw above the trigger, not the lock retaining screw. I'm wondering the same...

 

[rabjr]

It looks like the lock screw/bolt

Come on TG, give me a little more credit that that. :wink:

I'm just wondering with the help of glue if it's holding a crack together. :hmm:

 

[Zoar]

Whatever you do, don't pull that screw out!! All the air will be let out and you'll be left with a little flinter..... :wink: