Questions on touch hole liners?

[Naphtali]

I have been informed that best-quality makers such as Nock, Manton, Mortimer, etc. used touch hole liners that were platinum lined to resist heat erosion. How long did such liners last in terms of shots fired? Was there a significant difference in longevity between fowlers and rifles?

Are platinum lined touch hole liners manufactured currently? If they are, by whom?

Regarding Chambers White Lightning liners, what would be a generally accepted average number of sporting rifle shots until one of these touch hole liners need be replaced? Is this replacement a skilled job, preferably accomplished by a gunsmith?

I suspect durability-longevity was dependent upon both powder charge used and stress of combustion - that is, modestly loaded rifles' touch hole liners will last longer than a load intended for a flintlock Hawken used to regularly shoot bison at 150 yards.

 

[hanshi]

Today's stainless steel liners will probably last as long as the gun they are in. About the only damaging thing you can do to one is to get frisky with a vent pick. Brass picks are safer but steel one do okay as long as you are gentle.

 

[tg]

I think there was a time period mentioned before Platinum could be used, if these is any historical concern in your quest for liner info some more researh is needed, if not the liners of Chambers and others will last untill replacement is needed and tis is not a major task even with the ones with no slot or allen socket.in other words most use what is there and find them to last quite well in all but perhaps high usage target work and they prbably do not give a second thouight to repacing one with the same as before.

 

[Fred_Dwyer]

What? You tryin to start a range-war? :rotf:
touch hole liners Here more than you never wanted to read about liners.

 

[jerrywh]

To my knowledge nobody is making platinum touch hole liners at this time . You could probably get somebody to make one for you. If you knew the price you probably wouldn't want one. I think platinum is presently more than $1700.00 pr oz. and it is about twice as heavy lead. The labor and all would probably be someplace between $1500 and $2000.00 Stainless steel will last longer than the rifle and the looks are almost the same. Gold does not hold up very well. I do a lot of gold ones. They are basically for museum type guns. Once installed the stainless ones are not easy to replace but a compitent gunsmith can do it. Jim Chambers is the way to go. Most of the time when somebody says something is easy they don't know much about it.
Let the argument proceed.

 

[Zonie]

For what it's worth, it wasn't until after 1786 that Pierre-François Chabaneau produced the first commercially available platinum.
Although the Europeans wrote a little about it as early as 1557 it was basically a curiosity studied by a few scientists.

As for the modern stainless vent liners they are fairly easy to replace but unless the liner has a slot in it, doing so is usually a destructive process where the vent hole is drilled to a larger size and an "Easy-Out" is used to unscrew it.
If the liner goes directly into the barrel wall, the new replacement liner must be trimmed in length to match the wall thickness of the barrel.

 

Jerry H. answered it. Platinum, you can't afford, Gold you probably can't afford, Chambers stainless, you can afford, but probably won't be able to wear it out.

Bill

 

[Billnpatti]

I have two rifles with Chambers touch hole liners in them and they have been shot a lot with no signs of needing to have the original Chambers touch hole liner changed. They are good but you will need to drill out and re-tap the present hole for the chambers liner because Chambers liners have a different size hole and thread from other liners. Not a difficult job and I think they are worth it.

 

[Sunkmanitu Tanka]

I keep a detailed logbook when I shoot a gun - I knwo from each gun how many shots I did with it - how much powder which lube - patch thickness --- everything!
I just had to replace a steel liner in my Pedersoli 45 cal Frontier flintlock. This gun was a percussion gun that I changed into a flinlock by removing the drum and replacing the lock. Where the drum was I screwed in a liner. After 1500 shots the liner was so worn out that the gun selfprimed every time I loaded it - the whole was double the size of the new liner I replaced it with...

 

[Vaino]

If the Chambers' "White Lightning" TH liner is properly installed so that the TH length is approx. .040, the hole will withstand 1000s of firings. If the bbl ctsk is too shallow, the TH length or land can nearly be a feathered edge and will blow out. Would be an interesting project to determine how various TH lengths or lands "hold up"....To me anyways, .04 seems about right.....Fred

 

[Dphar]

For what it's worth, it wasn't until after 1786 that Pierre-François Chabaneau produced the first commercially available platinum.
Although the Europeans wrote a little about it as early as 1557 it was basically a curiosity studied by a few scientists.

As for the modern stainless vent liners they are fairly easy to replace but unless the liner has a slot in it, doing so is usually a destructive process where the vent hole is drilled to a larger size and an "Easy-Out" is used to unscrew it.
If the liner goes directly into the barrel wall, the new replacement liner must be trimmed in length to match the wall thickness of the barrel.

Malleable Platinum was not available until after 1800 when Richard Knight an English Chemist and ironmonger developed the process.
Prior to this Platinum was largely a curiosity and not really good for much.
Prior to about this time Gold was used for vent liners.
SFAIK this was done by cold forging the metal into the iron part to "line" it. Essentially counter sink the part from each end then form the softer metal into this to "lock" it in place. I believe this is the process for Platinum lined nipples to this day.

I think this is why most if not all British flint breeches have a large "clean out" opposite the vent. The iron parts were not easily removable if at all and the large "cleanout" allowed relining the vent in place.
But I have never seen documentation for this process.
Dan