Traditons Deerhunter Nipple exploded!

[Jondenver6764]

Today I was out shooting my Traditions Deerhunter muzzleloader rifle and the nipple exploded out of the drum on the third shot. I was extremely dumb and not wearing eye-pro, having not had any issues with this firearm whatsoever before. I am extremely lucky to have gotten away with just three pieces of shrapnel in my forehead and a black eye from the blast, I assume the nipple got sent to the stratosphere.

I have faithfully cleaned and dried and gently tightened the nipple down with a little lube every time I used and then cleaned it, and this is the first issue Ive ever had with the weapon. I will admit I'm newer to owning firearms and learning a lot on my own so it's possible I just didn't know exactly how to make sure its entirely cleaned out or seated properly, but as I stated it seemed to be running fine earlier in the day-except that it was key-holing wildly at only 50 yards (although funnily enough within a decent grouping) with the hornaday great plains bullets I was testing in preparation for deer season out here. Now In hindsight I assume that was probably the first indication of a loss in pressure or something else going wrong in the chamber, but at first I assumed it was because I was only using a small powder charge (50 grains) to start out, so I upgraded the charge to my normal 90 grains, cocked it back and then Kaboom!

It appears that the thread may have sheared entirely off the nipple as the shrapnel I pulled out of my forehead appears to have been threading bits and pieces, but I'm not sure if it was from the drum or the nipple itself. I shudder to think of what could have happened had the rest of the nipple itself hit my face.

I wanted to ask first off is this something that can occasionally happen with cheap nipples? I have yet to see any forum posts on here about this issue, most just seem to mushroom or crack, and second off, considering there appears to be no rust in the drum that may have caused it after some good cleaning, what might have caused this? And third off, what can I do to prevent this happening again?-especially cause it appears my drum is stuck so tight to the barrel I can't seem to remove it to get a new one without potentially drilling it out as the screw-head keeps stripping.

I got this thing for 99$, used and never shot a while back, so I know I get what I pay for but I am really not wanting to upgrade weapons this close to deer season if I can avoid it.

Any help/insight would be much appreciated.

 

[n.h.schmidt]

You can get the drum off. I have with several CVAs You will need to really soak it down with a penetrating oil. Inside and out. Even placing the breach end in a cup full to really get it in. Since your drum is toast,you do not need to worry about how it looks. A vice grips can really do the job. Dixie Gun Works sells a replacement drum for CVAs . CAT no NP0905 $ 15.95. Could be other places may sell them too.

 

[ohio ramrod]

It sounds like your heavier charge and projectile caused the nipple to seperate. Nipples have a slight undercut at the base of the threads to allow them to seat against the drum. It would appear that yours was undercut to deeply and therefore weak. The drums are a "force" fit into the barrel and are hard to remove and removing them will void any warranty. What you have is a job for an gunsmith

 

[waksupi]

Removing a nipple every time you clean weakens the threads. Remove it once a year for inspection and re-lubing, or if accuracy falls off. No need for such a heavy load either, that probably was the last straw for the weakened threads.

 

[SDSmlf]

Today I was out shooting my Traditions Deerhunter muzzleloader rifle and the nipple exploded out of the drum on the third shot. I was extremely dumb and not wearing eye-pro, having not had any issues with this firearm whatsoever before. I am extremely lucky to have gotten away with just three pieces of shrapnel in my forehead and a black eye from the blast, I assume the nipple got sent to the stratosphere.

I have faithfully cleaned and dried and gently tightened the nipple down with a little lube every time I used and then cleaned it, and this is the first issue Ive ever had with the weapon. I will admit I'm newer to owning firearms and learning a lot on my own so it's possible I just didn't know exactly how to make sure its entirely cleaned out or seated properly, but as I stated it seemed to be running fine earlier in the day-except that it was key-holing wildly at only 50 yards (although funnily enough within a decent grouping) with the hornaday great plains bullets I was testing in preparation for deer season out here. Now In hindsight I assume that was probably the first indication of a loss in pressure or something else going wrong in the chamber, but at first I assumed it was because I was only using a small powder charge (50 grains) to start out, so I upgraded the charge to my normal 90 grains, cocked it back and then Kaboom!

It appears that the thread may have sheared entirely off the nipple as the shrapnel I pulled out of my forehead appears to have been threading bits and pieces, but I'm not sure if it was from the drum or the nipple itself. I shudder to think of what could have happened had the rest of the nipple itself hit my face.

I wanted to ask first off is this something that can occasionally happen with cheap nipples? I have yet to see any forum posts on here about this issue, most just seem to mushroom or crack, and second off, considering there appears to be no rust in the drum that may have caused it after some good cleaning, what might have caused this? And third off, what can I do to prevent this happening again?-especially cause it appears my drum is stuck so tight to the barrel I can't seem to remove it to get a new one without potentially drilling it out as the screw-head keeps stripping.

I got this thing for 99$, used and never shot a while back, so I know I get what I pay for but I am really not wanting to upgrade weapons this close to deer season if I can avoid it.

Any help/insight would be much appreciated.

Could you post a close up photograph or two of the threaded hole in the drum? Might give a clue as to what occurred.

Without actually seeing the gun, I would GUESS the original threads were cross threaded or someone forced the wrong sized threads into drum, damaging the threaded hole, or possibly you had the wrong size nipple installed. Impossible to know the history of a used gun and what the previous owner(s) might have modified, but if you are working with a damaged factory 6mm-1 thread, there are repair nipples available. You just have to drill and tap for the larger 7mm-1 thread. And consider eye protection as required in the future.

 

[bang]

I too had a nipple blow out at just 50 grains. Odds are as mine the threads were either corroded or someone screwed in one with wrong threads.
Changing the drum overall best fix. Perfect fix is a drum you fit then drill and tap the nipple hole. Lots of care must be taken to insure correct alignment of the nipple. Sometimes if you put in a drum that has the nipple already drilled can be shimmed if the nipple hole goes past its point just a bit at torque.
You can order oversized thread nipple and a tap in same thread but if an incorrect thread nipple has been forced in the threads might be too far gone.

 

[ppg1949]

Jd6764, IMHO, you should contact Traditions. It seems this is not an isolated event as other members have posted similar threads in the past. Good luck.

 

[windini]

I am glad you didn't lose or damage an eye!

Good luck with the repair.

 

[PathfinderNC]

That settles it- go Flintlock!

 

[Nobody85]

I had the entire drum on a Kentucky pistol blow of the side. There’s an element of risk involved that you have to take into consideration when confining gunpowder in a barrel.

 

[sheriff john]

I'd suspect cross-threading or the wrong nipple. Sometimes either will allow the shooter to tighten to what feels like a good, secure fit, but in fact. only a small portion of the threads are holding it in place. If the entire nipple blew out, look carefully at the hole that's left with a good light and magnifier.

Had it happen with one of my underhammers when I switched nipples. My fault, not the manufacturer. Blew the hammer back to half-cock.

 

[cynthialee]

It is my advice that when you get a second hand gun always get new nipple/s on the gun. Hell I even do it with new production guns and step up to a better nipple than the issued ones.

also you can't account for manure happens

 

[Trapper Scott]

As others have mentioned, you can get a replacement drum from Dixie Gunworks, but you will have to take care in replacing it. I recently removed a similar drum from a Traditions kit I have to convert it to flintlock and it took soaking the drum for a few days to free it up. Once you get the drum out you can see what I mean about taking care to install a new drum. The drum has a powder channel that has to align itself to the bore of the barrel or else you will have ignition troubles. I recently machined an adapter for my flintlock conversion and had to time the threads with the powder channel to make it right. Here's a picture of a CVA drum the gentleman that helped me posted so you know what your dealing with.

 

[Bushfire]

I wonder if you cross threaded it.

My standard caplock load is 120gr 2F, 90gr isn't going to blow off the nipple if nothing is wrong.

 

[kyron4]

How does the factory get those drums torqued so tight with no wrench flats ? Just thinking about all the effort to get one out , and yet they get it torqued to a a million foot pounds without making a scratch on the drum.

 

[Trapper Scott]

How does the factory get those drums torqued so tight with no wrench flats ? Just thinking about all the effort to get one out , and yet they get it torqued to a a million foot pounds without making a scratch on the drum.

I'm not sure, but my opinion is they use some type of Loctite.

 

[dave951]

Guys, OP did not say what powder he was using. I want to know that before pointing fingers at Traditions.

Second- Removing the nipple for cleaning is NOT detrimental to the gun. Over tightening IS. I remove mine after each range session and replace at least twice per year. It is a wear item like tires on a car.

 

[Tenmile]

It sounds like your heavier charge and projectile caused the nipple to seperate. Nipples have a slight undercut at the base of the threads to allow them to seat against the drum. It would appear that yours was undercut to deeply and therefore weak. The drums are a "force" fit into the barrel and are hard to remove and removing them will void any warranty. What you have is a job for an gunsmith

 

[Tenmile]

I blew a nipple once years ago. I have always wondered if I short started it. It was a 40 cal with 45 gr of 3f. It could have been cross-threaded but I don’t think so. I’m a careful man in putting guns together.
Tenmile

 

[Rifleman1776]

It appears that the thread may have sheared entirely off the nipple

The problem was with the nipple, not necessarily with the gun. Overloading, removing the nipple frequently, etc. can create such problems. Replace with a properly fitting nipple. Or replace the whole drum and nipple. Read all the responses here, lot of good knowledge has been shared.