Thompson Center Hawken percussion rifle

["Toot"]

put the powder in BEFORE forcing the ball down to make sure you have a charge behind the jag

That was going to be my step to try and fire it out. Just wanted to see if plug could be moved down the barrel just a short distance before my adding any powder. I attempted to use the grease fitting method and pressure it out with my grease gun, not sure what kind of pressure that even develops, but that didn't work, I pumped grease until the barrel was completely full an all I got was a 45 cal. slug of grease exiting the muzzle, lol. Used air compressor to clear most of the grease out. Now for a through cleaning, with some grease cutter then I will try to move plug further down to breech to see if it will even move. Then I will try to small black powder charge through the nipple hole and then try to fire it out. I want to THANK each an everyone of you that made suggestions on my initial POST. Some very good advice from a lot of you. I am not sure if the powder charge and firing will work either, but that will be my second to last try. Then I will get up to my friends FAB SHOP and make a breech end remover tool, and perhaps a jig to hold the barrel in a vice to keep from messing things up to bad, lol. THANKS AGAIN Fellas, I really appreciate all of the advice.

 

["Toot"]

I attempted to use the grease fitting method and pressure it out with my grease gun, not sure what kind of pressure that even develops, but that didn't work, I pumped grease until the barrel was completely full an all I got was a 45 cal. slug of grease exiting the muzzle, lol. Used air compressor to clear most of the grease out. Now for a through cleaning, with some grease cutter then I will try to move plug further down to breech to see if it will even move. Then I will try to small black powder charge through the nipple hole and then try to fire it out. I want to THANK each an everyone of you that made suggestions on my initial POST. Some very good advice from a lot of you. I am not sure if the powder charge and firing will work either, but that will be my second to last try. Then I will get up to my friends FAB SHOP and make a breech end remover tool, and perhaps a jig to hold the barrel in a vice to keep from messing things up to bad, lol. THANKS AGAIN Fellas, I really appreciate all of the advice.
This is what I POSTED on Beaverman2's feed to my original POST to reply to his advice to me attempting to move plugged obstruction further down toward breech end of the weapon. I was only going to see if it would actually be able to be moved in that direction before putting any amount of powder in the barrel through the nipple hole. Figured I would POST it all again here hoping that more of the guys that sent advice for me to try gets to read it.

 

[brushblind]

I've never tried this but if you can find a piece of conduit or tubing that's rigid and will slide down the barrel and push over the ends of your broken rod it may work, it works on broke off brushes but not sure about jags.

 

[brushblind]

Those TC breach plugs are tough to get loose but might be your only option, hope it shoots out!

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

if it is a flintlock my suggestion is to remove the barrel. Find a nipple that screws into the touch hole liner with the barrel removed from the stock. and try a co2 discharge through the barrel. that in itself should dislodge the offending obstruction I would of course pour oil or copious amounts. of a lubricant down the barrel first. I cannot see the end of the rod or cleaning jag making it all the way into the chambered breech. there has to be some headspace on it.

 

[Crockford]

If you put the barrel in a vise, I have used a piece of copper pipe over the barrel a little wider than the vise jaws. The piece of pipe will flatten onto the barrel flats and not damage the barrel.
The last T/C breech that I took off broke the jaw of my vise. Those plugs can be extremely hard to break loose.
What type of jag is in it? It's hard to believe the grease did not push it out. Is it a brush?

 

[Steve Wagner]

Those TC breach plugs are tough to get loose but might be your only option, hope it shoots out!

At this point, after the grease gun method was applied, I'm skeptical about shooting it out. I hope the EPA isn't around if it works. Maybe put a zirc on your muzzle and hit those u-joints when you pull the trigger. SW

 

[sturmkatze]

How about going to a gun smith? Just a thought.

 

["Toot"]

How about going to a gun smith? Just a thought.

I gave that some strong consideration, lol. I have tinkered and repaired firearms since before I was 15 yrs of age. Worked locally here in Baton Rouge, LA. with a long time Gunsmith. He asked me to stay with him a few years to learn more of the trade, but I told him that I didn't have to be able to build a weapon for anyone in this area, they were just wanting to keep their firearms working. He then told me you are not a Gunsmith, you are a part changer, but you are good at what you do, lol. I managed to get the plug out yesterday. I had attempted grease gun after finding a zirk fitting that fit the nipple hole. Filled the rifle barrel full of grease, but plug didn't budge. I had to remove a ton of grease as the whole barrel was full. Used air compressor to blow a lot of it out, then I used solvent to dissolve some residue that air pressure just seemed not to remove. Cleaned the barrel with clean solvent several times, then rinsed out several times with alcohol. Purged dry with air compressor, Moved plug down the barrel toward breech, probably 3/4 down the length of the barrel, got more grease to come out of nipple hole,. I guess the cleaning patch on the jag sealed up well enough to force grease that was between the LANDS of the rifling out. I figured I would go ahead and seat it all the way down the barrel to clear out as much grease as possible. Cleaned charge end again numerous times with solvent and alcohol. Then air dried it again, thoroughly. I was able to force approx. 5 grains of 3F into the nipple hole and across to the barrel. I gauged the depth of the plug with the ramrod. Fired that charge, and plug moved to approx. 1/2 length of the barrel. Pulled things back loose and put in approx. 25 grains of powder, then reseated the plug down to the powder charge. Fired this charge into a stack of old newspapers layered in a garbage bag. THIS WORKED!!!!! After plug was out, I cleaned the barrel thoroughly, lightly oiled it and loaded a 50grain 3F charge then set up a target at 50yds. to check how it was going to shoot. 1st shot was about 5 inches low on target, went back to the table and loaded up a 70 grain charge to attempt a shot at what I normally used as a hunting load charge with my Hawkens Rifle, 2nd shot, was just at the top edge of the 2x2 inch piece of white tape I had put on the target. I figure that it is close enogh, lol. THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!!!!! Louis O., better known as TOOTIE, lol
I will attempt to put a photo up here of my two shots at the target!!!!!

 

[Jasonb1911]

Glad you got it sorted out!!! That's great news.

 

[sturmkatze]

I gave that some strong consideration, lol. I have tinkered and repaired firearms since before I was 15 yrs of age. Worked locally here in Baton Rouge, LA. with a long time Gunsmith. He asked me to stay with him a few years to learn more of the trade, but I told him that I didn't have to be able to build a weapon for anyone in this area, they were just wanting to keep their firearms working. He then told me you are not a Gunsmith, you are a part changer, but you are good at what you do, lol. I managed to get the plug out yesterday. I had attempted grease gun after finding a zirk fitting that fit the nipple hole. Filled the rifle barrel full of grease, but plug didn't budge. I had to remove a ton of grease as the whole barrel was full. Used air compressor to blow a lot of it out, then I used solvent to dissolve some residue that air pressure just seemed not to remove. Cleaned the barrel with clean solvent several times, then rinsed out several times with alcohol. Purged dry with air compressor, Moved plug down the barrel toward breech, probably 3/4 down the length of the barrel, got more grease to come out of nipple hole,. I guess the cleaning patch on the jag sealed up well enough to force grease that was between the LANDS of the rifling out. I figured I would go ahead and seat it all the way down the barrel to clear out as much grease as possible. Cleaned charge end again numerous times with solvent and alcohol. Then air dried it again, thoroughly. I was able to force approx. 5 grains of 3F into the nipple hole and across to the barrel. I gauged the depth of the plug with the ramrod. Fired that charge, and plug moved to approx. 1/2 length of the barrel. Pulled things back loose and put in approx. 25 grains of powder, then reseated the plug down to the powder charge. Fired this charge into a stack of old newspapers layered in a garbage bag. THIS WORKED!!!!! After plug was out, I cleaned the barrel thoroughly, lightly oiled it and loaded a 50grain 3F charge then set up a target at 50yds. to check how it was going to shoot. 1st shot was about 5 inches low on target, went back to the table and loaded up a 70 grain charge to attempt a shot at what I normally used as a hunting load charge with my Hawkens Rifle, 2nd shot, was just at the top edge of the 2x2 inch piece of white tape I had put on the target. I figure that it is close enogh, lol. THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!!!!! Louis O., better known as TOOTIE, lol
I will attempt to put a photo up here of my two shots at the target!!!!!

You sure had an adventure

 

[Beaverman2]

I attempted to use the grease fitting method and pressure it out with my grease gun, not sure what kind of pressure that even develops, but that didn't work, I pumped grease until the barrel was completely full an all I got was a 45 cal. slug of grease exiting the muzzle, lol. Used air compressor to clear most of the grease out. Now for a through cleaning, with some grease cutter then I will try to move plug further down to breech to see if it will even move. Then I will try to small black powder charge through the nipple hole and then try to fire it out. I want to THANK each an everyone of you that made suggestions on my initial POST. Some very good advice from a lot of you. I am not sure if the powder charge and firing will work either, but that will be my second to last try. Then I will get up to my friends FAB SHOP and make a breech end remover tool, and perhaps a jig to hold the barrel in a vice to keep from messing things up to bad, lol. THANKS AGAIN Fellas, I really appreciate all of the advice.
This is what I POSTED on Beaverman2's feed to my original POST to reply to his advice to me attempting to move plugged obstruction further down toward breech end of the weapon. I was only going to see if it would actually be able to be moved in that direction before putting any amount of powder in the barrel through the nipple hole. Figured I would POST it all again here hoping that more of the guys that sent advice for me to try gets to read it.

I can't believe that the grease found it's way around that jag and out the barrel without moving the jag, wierd, glad you got her fixed!

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

Glad for you TOOT!

 

[Acorn Mush]

What an ordeal! However, your tenacity paid off. Well done. I am happy your efforts were successful.

 

[Ed C.]

I gave that some strong consideration, lol. I have tinkered and repaired firearms since before I was 15 yrs of age. Worked locally here in Baton Rouge, LA. with a long time Gunsmith. He asked me to stay with him a few years to learn more of the trade, but I told him that I didn't have to be able to build a weapon for anyone in this area, they were just wanting to keep their firearms working. He then told me you are not a Gunsmith, you are a part changer, but you are good at what you do, lol. I managed to get the plug out yesterday. I had attempted grease gun after finding a zirk fitting that fit the nipple hole. Filled the rifle barrel full of grease, but plug didn't budge. I had to remove a ton of grease as the whole barrel was full. Used air compressor to blow a lot of it out, then I used solvent to dissolve some residue that air pressure just seemed not to remove. Cleaned the barrel with clean solvent several times, then rinsed out several times with alcohol. Purged dry with air compressor, Moved plug down the barrel toward breech, probably 3/4 down the length of the barrel, got more grease to come out of nipple hole,. I guess the cleaning patch on the jag sealed up well enough to force grease that was between the LANDS of the rifling out. I figured I would go ahead and seat it all the way down the barrel to clear out as much grease as possible. Cleaned charge end again numerous times with solvent and alcohol. Then air dried it again, thoroughly. I was able to force approx. 5 grains of 3F into the nipple hole and across to the barrel. I gauged the depth of the plug with the ramrod. Fired that charge, and plug moved to approx. 1/2 length of the barrel. Pulled things back loose and put in approx. 25 grains of powder, then reseated the plug down to the powder charge. Fired this charge into a stack of old newspapers layered in a garbage bag. THIS WORKED!!!!! After plug was out, I cleaned the barrel thoroughly, lightly oiled it and loaded a 50grain 3F charge then set up a target at 50yds. to check how it was going to shoot. 1st shot was about 5 inches low on target, went back to the table and loaded up a 70 grain charge to attempt a shot at what I normally used as a hunting load charge with my Hawkens Rifle, 2nd shot, was just at the top edge of the 2x2 inch piece of white tape I had put on the target. I figure that it is close enogh, lol. THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!!!!! Louis O., better known as TOOTIE, lol
I will attempt to put a photo up here of my two shots at the target!!!!!

Very good! Glad you didn't get into pulling the breech plug. Sort of took the long way around but took some thoughtful steps getting there. Shooting stuff out should be the first step.

 

[Rebel bull]

Toot, good advice so far. But here is the T/C factory wrenches and their measurements as close as I could get.
Taking the plug off the barrel would be the last resort.View attachment 260922View attachment 260923
Hope you can read my terrible writing.
And I didn't check my numbers to see if they matched up going across. These wrenches have a little play on the breech plugs.
There are always people looking for these, so if you make several I'm sure someone else will want one.
Good luck!

I took both of mine and drilled a hole on each end then i sliced them in half and drilled one half of each for a slip fit on a appropriate dowel pin pressed the said pin into the non slip side. now when i use them with my custom wrench there's is absolutely no wiggle in them no marring that a little copper wool doesn't polish right up