removeable breech plug

[Walks with fire]

I also have an RMC flintlock rifle with the removable plug. It's a feature that I do not like at all. You must take the plug out and clean it and put more grease plug grease on it every time it's shot. It's more mess than I have with my standard TC guns when cleaning.

If I had the choice I wouldn't want a removable plug. I do like the hooked breach type barrel that can be removed from the stock for cleaning though. The only possible benifit from the removable plug is that the gun can be unloaded without firing it. It's messy but remove the barrel from the stock and stick it in a bucket of water to dampen the charge then remove the plug and clean the gun.

I never dry balled an RMC but it would require removing the plug when a TC flinter can be cleared with a little powder behind the ball; can't do that with the removable plug.

 

[jdkerstetter]

This thread is like stinky socks. I know I shouldn't be smellin' it but I can't help myself and have to see what kind "ideas" will come up.

In-lines by H&R....quick disconnect pins through breech plugs. Really? :shake: If what one wants is a removable breech plug then buy one of those new fangled things that has one. Why bother with a traditional muzzleloader if it's not?

Ease of cleaning? As above, I don't see how cleaning is that tough.

I understand some folks are only into muzzleloaders to extend their hunting season but wish they would just except what is and what was and not try and "improve it". If we wanted improved we wouldn't have muzzleloader seasons...or achery for that matter. :td:

Obviously I'm in the traditional column here. Glad I'm not alone. :hatsoff: Enjoy, J.D.

 

[hawkeye2]

The reason that H&R went away from the O ring breech and to a threaded breech plug was because a shooter was killed by one back in the 70's. He had a hangfire, lowered the gun, broke it open and it went off. He took the plug in the forehead.

I can't think of any reason I would want an easily removed breech plug but I can think of a couple why I wouldn't.

 

[newtewsmoke]

Why dont we just shoot this dam discussion and put it out of its misery? I dont want my ml'ers to be like the modern guns and i dont have problems gettin my guns clean. Was just kickin 'round an idea and thot i'd throw it out there.

 

[necchi]

:haha: :rotf:
Just can't get away from'm can ya,, :wink:
Hubris! Hubris! Heaven forbid a Paggen thought!

 

[stinkyfeet]

I just want a gun so I can have one to clean. Wait I got my M4 and pistol I clean almost daily. I want a flintlock to clean.

 

[MSW]

Maybe,I'm the black sheep here but I find it easier to clean my hooked breech rifles than I do my rifles with removable breech plugs. With a hooked breech rifle you patch the barrel until clean,dry,& oil. With a removable plug you patch the barrel until clean,dry,& oil,and then you clean the plug,clean the threads the plug screws into,(this is the toughest part),lube the threads on the plug and screw the plug back in. To me a removable breech plug just adds extra steps to the cleaning process for no real benefit.

can't argue too hard with this logic if it ain't broke, don't mess with it ...

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

The reason that H&R went away from the O ring breech and to a threaded breech plug was because a shooter was killed by one back in the 70's. He had a hangfire, lowered the gun, broke it open and it went off. He took the plug in the forehead.

I can't think of any reason I would want an easily removed breech plug but I can think of a couple why I wouldn't.

:applause: Thanks Hawkeye, that was going to be the subject of my next post and I'm glad someone else got to it first so I didn't have to be "the big ole meanie". newtewsmoke, don't worry about it, let others do that. Just do what makes you happy. :wink:

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Back in 1980, my Brother got a flintlock half stock 45 cal Midwest style rifle for Christmas. I have no idea who made it, but it had a normal but short tang on the barrel, under the tang though was a removeable breech plug, It resembled a set screw, but used large phillips screwdriver to remove it. Some sort of brass ring went between the plug and the internal shoulder of the barrel. The barrel was commercially made, but I have no idea what company.

 

[Billnpatti]

Keep your eyes on the for sale ads here on the Forum. There's an outside chance you could find one for sale. Believe it or not, they do occasionally come up for sale.

 

[Rifleman1776]

The reason that H&R went away from the O ring breech and to a threaded breech plug was because a shooter was killed by one back in the 70's. He had a hangfire, lowered the gun, broke it open and it went off. He took the plug in the forehead.

I can't think of any reason I would want an easily removed breech plug but I can think of a couple why I wouldn't.

That was just one of several reasons those guns faded away. The game commissions, at one time, actually supported ml only seasons with traditional styled guns. So, they passed regulations that required exposed ignition systems, non-removable breech plugs and several other stipulations we (meaning us here) would favor today. Of course, that is all by the wayside today.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

No, not in all places, for it was simply a gun only loadable from the muzzle, and using a single projectile, that qualified it as a muzzle loader in this state. At the time the only guns that did that were traditional i.e. copies of antiques, and defined by this state's law and federal law as antiques due to the ignition system.

Again though, the only way in my opinion to get the trend back to the traditional rifles for deer is to give them special status when it comes to hunting seasons and limits..., for the folks that went inline (again in my opinion) only did so to get more time and perhaps more venison.

Here in Maryland they changed this season's regs, that if you get a buck in one of the seasons, you must shoot two does before you get another buck (so with phone check-in some yahoos simply phone-in two doe kills without shooting any deer), BUT now you must buy an additional buck-stamp. So the state understands folks were fudging numbers, but wants some extra $$ regardless.

LD

 

[Rifleman1776]

not in all places

I'm sure you are right. I should have qualified by saying in "many" states.

 

[Dphar]

why don't the ML manufacturers build our style of rifles, shotguns, smoothies, etc. with breech plugs designed to be (easily) removed? Is it a deal covering theirselves so they don't get sued bc someone didn't get one put back in properly and it blew apart and injured or killed someone? I was just thinkin, it'd sure make cleanin' ALOT easier, plus there'd be a whole lot less to discuss here on MLF. :wink:

The same reason it was not done back in the day. Its a bad idea.
People need to ask themselves why they own and use a traditional ML if they want stuff like this.

I see little point is wanting to shoot a traditional ML that is not traditional? If cleaning is a chore get a hooked breech gun and put the breech in a bucket of water.
OR
If we wanted to make things easy we could then make longrifles with 26" barrels so they would fit in vehicles and gun cases easier. Then put on recoil pads to help with recoil. Then since the FL and percussion cap is "not reliable enough" we could convert it to a sealed ignition with modern primers, maybe with an inline striker. Then we could build the gun in such a way as to use smokeless powder so cleaning would be optional.
Then use a plastic stock so it would be more stable.
But wait!
This has all been done already.
We can buy these things. What a relief! No more nasty old BP fouling, no more having to put more finish on the stock after a hard hunting season.
They even accept modern telescopic sights!

Dan

 

[Dphar]

Why dont we just shoot this dam discussion and put it out of its misery? I dont want my ml'ers to be like the modern guns and i dont have problems gettin my guns clean. Was just kickin 'round an idea and thot i'd throw it out there.

I have never had a problem getting my MLs clean. It just requires the proper process and a little time. All you really need for BP is water. Then you need to understand that once clean black iron oxide will appear on dry patches in a dry bore for as long as you try to clean it out with dry or near dry patches. If you set these aside and let them "air" in a dry place for 2-3 days the black will turn red, rust, iron oxide. If it turns grey its BP fouling and the barrel was not clean.

Its actually far easier to clean a ML than getting copper fouling out of a modern CF barrel.

Unless the shooter neglects the bore or insists on using some super corrosive modern powder and the bore pits (as they always do) and then it gets to be near impossible to clean easily.

Dan

 

[M. De Land]

I've always felt it near impossible to get a bore completely dry just by running dry patches through and is the reason I started using Hoppe's after water and dry patching. It quit the flash rust I always used to get when using hot water and dry patching then oil.
I use warm water now but only because it feels good on my hands. Cold water will do the job just as well and the Hoppe's will lift any moisture out of the knap (commonly referred to as pores)and leave a protective coating.
Been experimenting with the Gunzilla in all my black powder arms and it seems to be working even better than the Hoppe's for lifting moisture and leaving a protective coat, but doesn't smell as gun like. MD

 

[newtewsmoke]

I've always felt it near impossible to get a bore completely dry just by running dry patches through and is the reason I started using Hoppe's after water and dry patching. It quit the flash rust I always used to get when using hot water and dry patching then oil.
I use warm water now but only because it feels good on my hands. Cold water will do the job just as well and the Hoppe's will lift any moisture out of the knap (commonly referred to as pores)and leave a protective coating.
Been experimenting with the Gunzilla in all my black powder arms and it seems to be working even better than the Hoppe's for lifting moisture and leaving a protective coat, but doesn't smell as gun like. MD

would that be hoppes plus?

 

[boar]

I read that the gun Marshal Hooker got that was Daniel Boone"s had a breech-plug that you could screw out by hand. In the book Born out of Season. Dilly

 

[M. De Land]

No, I always just used regular Hoppe's to protect the bore and water to clean it. I always got rust when using hot water, dry patches and gun oil until I switched to plane ole Hoppe's 9.
It was the hot water causing the main trouble, far as I could see.The Hoppe's is water displacing and I use it instead of the heat which is what makes flash rust. MD

 

[newtewsmoke]

hoppes 9 powder solvent? the good smellin stuff?