Plug Removing

[kmeyer]

Anyone have any good tips for a stuck breech plug. It is a brand new Green Mountain barrel. If I try to crank any harder, my vise will gouge the barrel bad. I already put in a real small one. It's small enough to file away though. I tried putting a piece of wood on each side, but the barrel is just cutting into the wood and won't hold. Thanks all.

 

Wrap the barrel with a piece of leather. Clamp it down good. Get a big crescent wrench, the longer the handle the better, and tighten it on the breech plug making sure the end of the wrench jaws to not go over the top of the tang. Tighten the jaws down, then give the end of the wrench handle a smart whack with a rubber mallet. It may take a couple... but as soon as you see the alignment mark go out of whack, you know you've broken it and it will come out from there.

You'll probably have to do the same in reverse to put it back in. That's how I got mine out, no problem. The wrench will mar the breechplug a little bit, but as long as it's below the tang, it will never be seen anyway, as it will be below the wood.

 

[kmeyer]

Thanks for the response static. I've tried this, but the leather is actually cutting. Then the vise is starting to gouge the barrel. I may have to take this to a gunsmith I am thinking.

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

Leather and wood are too soft. Try sheet brass and tighten the vice well. And please be sure that your bench is secure or it will "walk" on you. (Hint: You can't use the kitchen table or a free standing bench of any type when installing or removing a plug properly.) The crescent wrench idea is okay but you will need a long handle as mentioned. The rubber mallet however does not have enough ooomph to do the job when working with a stuck plug, use a ballpeen hammer.

 

You may also try soaking it in WD-40 for a few hours. I sprayed the heck out of mine and let it sit for about 3-4 hours before I did mine, and it came loose with the second whack of the mallet.

If that doesn't work, then yeah, you might want to have a smith pull it for you the first time. Then just make sure there's some anti-seize on the threads before it gets put back in.

 

[musketman]

Thanks for the response static. I've tried this, but the leather is actually cutting. Then the vise is starting to gouge the barrel. I may have to take this to a gunsmith I am thinking.

Use heavy brass between the jaws of the vise and the barrel, this will hold it firmly and keep the barrel from marking...

 

The jaws of your vise may be flexing.

You may have to do this the redneck way:

get a bigger vise
get a bigger wrench
get a bigger hammer

A properly installed plug should not be this dificult to remove. One can damage and weaken threads, plug, and barrel through overtigntening.

:hmm:

 

[thomas]

I've used lead on each jaw of the vise & it always seems to work ok.

Thomas

 

[OTHERN]

Before you put the barrel in a vise, between the sheets of lead or copper or brass, coat the barrel with powdered rosin. this will help greatly with keeping it from turning in the vise.

 

[AeroE]

Make sure you are turning the plug to the left as you stand behind the breech.

 

[Packdog]

I have 2 pieces of sheet brass .040 for each side between the barrel and jaws. I've had one breech that was hard to get started flip in the vise using leather. Make sure the brass and barrel are clean of any dirt or crud.

 

[WRussell]

Since you're already into the stage where you have to file out a ding, use some heat on it if you can't get the wrench whacking to work.

Put the whole thing in a freezer overnight if possible, then torch the barrel while you bang on the plug as described above. Also add penetrating oil when you add heat.

The freeze/thaw cycle will force things to move just a taste, and that's usually all you need to get some lube in there and get things moving. The trick is to get maximum differential - warm the barrel while the plug is still cold.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

The jaws of your vise may be flexing.

You may have to do this the redneck way:

get a bigger vise
get a bigger wrench
get a bigger hammer

A properly installed plug should not be this dificult to remove. One can damage and weaken threads, plug, and barrel through overtigntening.

:hmm:

Not to mention that with excessive thread preload, it is possible for even mild loads to become proof loads.

 

[kmeyer]

Thanks again all for the advise. The constant input from everyone is why this board is so excellent. I purchased two 4x10 inch pieces of sheet metal in the thickest pieces my local hardware store had. They are .064 thick. I then tighten my vise as hard as I could with one piece on each side of the barrel. When I pull on the wrench, the barrel still slowly turned and almost one of the barrel edges almost cut all the way through the sheet metal. I had to stop before it dug through and into the vise. I am at a loss on this one. The plug was installed by Pecatonica.

I am building two guns both from there and the other plug came out with minimal effort. I will call Dick at Pecatonica tomorrow to see what he suggests, but am kinda at a loss now.

 

[Bill Bounds]

Hey:
Don't have a vent liner in do ya?
Bill

 

[kmeyer]

No. The vent hole is not even drilled yet.

 

[mikee51848]

Try putting the plug end in your vise. You will achieve greater torque if you try to turn the barell as opposed to turning a little plug.

 

[kmeyer]

FINALLY!!! I decided to try it one more time and got it out. Wildatheart, I did think of that, but figured then I would gouge the barrel on the lands. When it finally loosened up a bit, it still was hard to un-screw. It was very tight all the way until it was completely out. The other barrel I bought was not like this. On that one I unscrewed it by hand after loosening it up. I also asked them to put a anti-seize lube on it, but there was nothing on the threads. Oh well, at least it's out with no damage that will be visible.Thanks again all.

 

[Packdog]

Kmeyer,
First glad you got it out. Now why was it in so tight? Does it look like the threads were buggered or had filings in them? I've had one tight like that. I dang near tore the top of my bench off getting it loose. I hate when they are that tight.
PD

 

[kmeyer]

Yes, it had alot of shavings on the threads plus no lube. I will of course clean it up real well and lube it before it goes back in. I too was worried about pulling my vise right off the bench at one point. I sure wish it was lubed like I requested though. I will communicate that stronger in future dealings. I must say though the wood and parts are beautiful on both guns I am building from them.