Options for misaligned vent?

[Stophel]

"
It would not be a big deal to put a liner in it and fix all those little problems in one fell swoop."

Damn Chris, I have been trying my darndest to lead folks away from liner mania, you're no help

It's "bushing the touch hole"...a very period correct repair. :wink: Just make your touch hole liner out of iron. :grin: I made one from a blank 1/4" bolt from Brownell's once.

If he were starting from scratch, I would be among the first to say "drill a 5/64" touch hole" :wink:

This is just an "if all else fails" remedy. I will admit, though, that that big, exposed coned touch hole would bug the far out of me, and I would HAVE to put a bushing in it.... :grin:

 

[ol vern]

Another way to go would be to reinlet the back of the barrel
to bring the touch hole down level with the top of the pan.

I would take a look and see what can of worms that would open up. Probably have to notch the breachplug tang to clear the lock
bolt. But if lowering the back of the barrel didn't cause problems
with the ramrod that is the way I would go.

 

[Zoar]

Yea but his current vent hole already has a giant cone carved out in its face so that you can see the hole even with the frizzin fully CLOSED! which means the bigger the touch hole is drilled out the faster the main charge will leak out with every step he takes in the woods.

he might be able to put a white-lightning in there but the hole will still be really HIGH. It looks like a do over is needed to put a white lightning in LOWER than the current hole and I guess you would have to get an estimate form the local guys to you AFTER you explain that you need a new hole lower and THEN a white lightning installed. I do NOT think this is just a simple "install a white lightning in there for me." job.

I agree I think this gun has real appeal and is worth making it shoot reliably. I just wonder if it is NOT reliable already with just a bit more pan powder in there and some more shooting time with her as she is...??? :grin:

 

[tg]

I was just poking fun at ya Chris,I know you are an advocate for the historical aspect of things, onewcould cut the barrel back and rebreech but this is likely the most time consumimg method and was also a method used in the past.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I once had a nice custom rifle with no touch hole liner. It had a huge hole into the chamber. Couldn't shoot that thing at a match with out wounding the shooterS to the right of me.(yes plural) There was spit annd fire and smoke and even projectile fouling coming out of that touch hole. Got cussed out twice.

 

[tg]

Tell the fools that stand on the vent side of you to move, thereare two things that can cause problems/poor performance with a plain hole one is the configuiration of the hole the other is the shooter, this style was to common in the past to say it does not work and is unsuitable,at least that is what I have come to conclude from research and personal experience so I will check out of this one and leave it to those with more knowledge and experience than I. I do not want to send someone toward a bad experience/incorrect path.

 

[rabjr]

I once had a nice custom rifle with no touch hole liner. It had a huge hole into the chamber. Couldn't shoot that thing at a match with out wounding the shooterS to the right of me.(yes plural) There was spit annd fire and smoke and even projectile fouling coming out of that touch hole. Got cussed out twice.

If this is off the bench, I always take a piece of paneling that is propped up as a barrier between me and any shooter to my right.

Anyone who shoots a flint should always make sure your not disturbing the guy next to you and it's a very simple fix. Just need a piece big enough to clamp to the bench or prop up, tall enough to cover the vent.

 

[oldarmy]

I shoot with the same bunch of out-laws every week.
They are all center-fire, AR,Semi-auto guys.
But, They all know and RESPECT the side where the hammer is :grin:
I make sure not to burn them :v
The idea of re-working the weapon seems to me "trying to make a silk purse out of a pigs ear"
No offense given I hope :surrender:
Put more powder in the pan and if that doesn't work. Drill the hole one size larger.
If a little powder leaks out.. put more powder in.

 

[Larry Pletcher]

By now you have heard many options about repairing the gun, so I won't go on with more of those. Let's say that you want to improve the amount of fire and heat going through the vent, after all if reliable ignition is the goal, it's all about more heat and fire entering the vent. We could debate whether its fire or heat that ignites the barrel, but I won't go there now.

Pay attention to the priming step. You need powder to have a bed for the sparks to fell into, but get some powder close up against the barrel.
I have photos on my web site that show significant increase in flame inside the barrel with prime against the barrel. The pics were take looking down the muzzle at the breech plug. This link will slow the advantage of getting prime close to the vent.

Link

After taking these pics I have subscribed to the bonfire theory. (The closer you stand to the fire, hotter it is.) In these pics I compared (1) banked away, (2) level Prime, (3) prime against the barrel.

Regards,
Pletch

 

[oldarmy]

Those are great photo's :thumbsup:

 

[Stophel]

Dump the pan full, snap it shut, cock and fire. Simplify, man!

:wink:

It stands to reason that the closer your prime is to your charge, the better your ignition will be. :thumbsup:

 

[Larry Pletcher]

Dump the pan full, snap it shut, cock and fire. Simplify, man!

:wink:

It stands to reason that the closer your prime is to your charge, the better your ignition will be. :thumbsup:

Hi Stophel,
I'm sure you realize that the reason I was so picky with primer placement, weighted primer amounts, etc was simply to eliminate variables for the experiment. In handling my Lancaster I prime the pan, bump the lock to make sure prime is against the barrel, close frizzen and fire.

After firing I like to run a pipe cleaner through the vent. My personal opinion is that pipe cleaners do more good than a vent pick.

Regards,
Pletch

 

[Zoar]

The original post said---"The lock/flint combo throws enough spark to see from space and the priming charge was 100% ignition.......however with standard light pan charging the gun would only fire about 1/2 the time. Oddly enough when it DID fire it went off FAST. I'm hesitant to throw a "fill the pan" type band aid on it to get it to fire consistently, but I think a slow fire would be better than a no fire? The vent is well coned and 1/16" and I'm running FFFg in the bore...."

So he gets 100% ignition but he does NOT get main charge to go off every time AND he wants it for TURKEY HUNTING.

It seems more prime powder would be the easiest fix and since his CONED OUT vent hole is exposed even with Frizzen closed, he runs minimal risk and grief by simply increasing pan powder.

 

[Larry Pletcher]

Zoar,
I agree with what you said. In one of the early posts the writer mentioned banking the prime away from the vent. My only reason for posting was to get priming against the barrel.
Regards,
Pletch

 

[Stophel]

I'm sure you realize that the reason I was so picky with primer placement, weighted primer amounts, etc was simply to eliminate variables for the experiment.

Absolutely understood. :wink:

 

[Melton Kidd]

I have a rifle with a Chambers early ketland lock. It has a large pan that holds about 6 grains of FFFF. The touch hole is in about the same position as this gun. It will flash evey time with a little prime. The gun will fire every time with a full pan. Thats about 1000 shoots from a pound of ffff that costs about $15.00. Figure that against the price of having someone redo the vent. I will never have the vent moved in mine.

 

[Matt PA]

Update:

The "Fill the Pan" crowd was absolutely correct. :grin:

Just spent some more time patterning and she was 11 for 11 and went off quick as could be each time.

I just loaded the pan, gave it a small tap toward the vent to ramp slightly and off she went pretty as could be. I honestly feel a little stupid that I simply overlooked the differences compared to my other guns and didn't come up with that diagnosis on my own. LOL :youcrazy:

In any event it shot great and I wound up with a nice shooting turkey load. Tried a bunch but settled on:
85grs FFFg , nitro card, BP plastic Shot cup, 1 1/4oz 7.5's, OS card......

Nice even pattern and should be plenty fast enough for the 7.5's at the 25 yard max limit I've imposed for this gun.

After todays shooting session I didn't really see a need to monkey with it further and I guess I panicked for no reason. :redface:

 

[ebiggs1]

KISS is always best!

 

[Zoar]

EXCELLENT!!! NEWS!!!