TC Renegade bad breech plug: fixable? Advice requested.

[Eric Krewson]

Many times in the past I have cautioned people about the "drop in" L&R RPL lock which isn't close to being a drop-in from my experience. Most of us have to do some serious finagling to get in and lined up with the touch hole, for some is goes pretty well. Having worked on a lot of TCs I found they aren't all a cookie cutter duplicate of each other like one would expect.

 

[Rebel bull]

I fully agree that’s why I said sometimes you have a divot left when you file/grind off the snail. But in my experience the touch hole always works

 

[Toneloc]

I didn’t read every post, so apologies is already suggested…but what about drilling and tapping a hole and then plugging with a small piece of bolt. Put some loctite on the plug, peen it and file back flush.

 

[Rebel bull]

Yes that would work me I prefer to weld it

 

[Philip Lebow]

Well, open the oops hole and TIG weld in a plug. Drill out the bad nipple hole, install a threaded plug tapped 1/4-28 on the inside and maybe 3/8-24 out side. Have to measure for room.
Pull the breech plug and inspect the barrel. What I would do at my shop.
Off subject, my 1978 TC Renegade shot very well..I installed a ball bearing on the tumbler shaft of
the Renegade lock, just to take out wobble. Coil spring and sheet metal bridle are a little weird, but work reliably.

 

[Kansas Kid]

Looks like you got it but if not I have a factory stock renegade BP from a 54 cal percussion.

 

[Bad Karma]

UPDATE:

Well, the plot thickens. Or maybe just gets stupider. This is NOT a 1/4-28 nipple.

Bubba done got me again.

My initial inclination was to blame T/C for poor quality control, but now I'm thinking someone buggered the threads on the nipple and did some very amateurish repair work when they re-tapped it for a larger size. This looks/feels an awful lot like an M8-1.25 when compared to some random bolts on my workbench, but I won't know for sure until I find my thread pitch gauges and a set of mics.

at any rate it looks a lot better and I’m kinda surprised that the corrosion on the lock isn’t much worse than it is. Seems like 20 years of direct fouling would have eaten more metal.

 

[Drain_Bamage]

Thanks all!
To close the loop on this one, I did have another user reach out with a serviceable, used T/C plug so I'm back in the game. I appreciate all the feedback and suggestions, I'm just looking forward to finally getting to shoot this barrel and see what she'll do.

 

[Drain_Bamage]

My apologies if this post has a bit too much present day content, but I wanted to give an update.

Can confirm, rifle shoots fantastically.

Factory TC Renegade 1:48 .50cal barrel with minty bore
Williams FP-Hawken rear sight on DIY 1/8" aluminum riser with 1/2" aperture, .050 hole
Lyman 17AUG .584 high front globe with Lyman "3.1" insert

After getting it "on paper" I took 5 shots at ~85 yards:

Even with the gusty cross wind, clearly this barrel can shoot and was 100% worth saving. I'll take this result any day.

The load is...
October Country sourced .50cal Maxi-Ball, 370gr
SPG Tropic lube (filled both grooves, pan lubed)
Eastern Maine Shooting Supplies .54cal "Grey Smoke" prelubed 1/8" wool over-powder wad
70gr by weight Schuetzen 2F black powder

The Williams sight was a rusty, positively disgusting example of a 1340 FP-Hawken that I grabbed off eBay for about $40. The aluminum parts cleaned up fine and I replaced the steel elevation and windage adjustment screws with new "target knob" screws from a 1342, sourced from Midway. I also added the gib lock knob. I decided to piece this one together after calling Williams directly and finding out these would be on back order for at least another 3-6 months and that was *IF* they decided to do another run. I tried the taller Lyman 17ATC (.852 high) front sight but I couldn't put the rear sight bridge down far enough without hitting the stock, so I went with the shorter 17AUG (.584) for now. If I start pushing my range out further, I have a Lyman 17AML (.494) waiting in the wings.

My eyes have never been perfect but the combination of the Williams rear peep and the Lyman front globe is like a cheat code for accuracy. Like idaholewis keeps saying on the other forum, these guns are capable of great accuracy if you do your part. I recognize I'm copying most of his formula here but I still have to do my part and actually pull the trigger. Its been a fun challenge and I look forward to making some more smoke.

I'm absolutely overjoyed with how this turned out, and I appreciate everyone who offered feedback. If I hadn't started this thread I would have never found the user with the TC breech plug that I ultimately used to fix this barrel. Thanks again to all!

I think I'm going to take that 1:70 .54cal 33" Green Mountain Renegade barrel I scored and build a full stock percussion rifle using a Pecatonica replacement T/C full stock. Should be a fun project, I'm not sure you can really have too many muzzleloaders!

 

[Nor'Easter]

Looks great ! Shoots straight !
Winner!
Winner!

 

[brushblind]

Weld it, dress it up, enjoy that rifle.

I agree, no end mill required just a steady hand and a file or 2.