Vent hole plug?

[Weavedreamer]

Is there such a thing as a vent hole plug? I’m looking for something to keep moisture from affecting the powder charge in humid climates while out and about so I don’t have to discharge the rifle at end of each day or have a hang fire/failure with heavy rain. I’ve used toothpicks and slivers of wood but they end up soaking up moisture and snapping off in the vent hole easily which is a pain. I’m looking for something non-permeable and easy to insert and take out while still making a water tight seal.

 

[Weavedreamer]

Is there such a thing as a vent hole plug? I’m looking for something to keep moisture from affecting the powder charge in humid climates while out and about so I don’t have to discharge the rifle at end of each day or have a hang fire/failure with heavy rain. I’ve used toothpicks and slivers of wood but they end up soaking up moisture and snapping off in the vent hole easily which is a pain. I’m looking for something non-permeable and easy to insert and take out while still making a water tight seal.

I think an added benefit of being able to seal the charge like this would be like how reliable a percussion lock can be if done correctly. I’ve hunted for two weeks straight in the coastal rainforest of Washington state with a percussion lock and it’s gone off every time I’ve pulled the trigger. It’s somewhat tedious having to worry about hang fires from leaving your gun loaded for more than a day.

 

[French Colonial]

Try bamboo toothpicks instead of the store bought cheapies, you can get them at culinary stores or off Amazon, they are fibrous and do not break like the cheap ones. Bonus is they work great in the kitchen for wrapping bacon on stuff and other uses.

Small feathers work well but tend to get pulled out easily when brushing up against stuff.

 

[Grenadier1758]

The quill of a feather works well and the frizzen closed can hold the feather in place to avoid being easily oulled out.

 

[oldwood]

Use a lock cover in extremely damp conditions. Have never heard of inserting some object in a touch hole to damp proof the powder charge. What about the priming powder in the pan , or if unprimed w/ a touch hole block in place , that might mean the powder pan is wet , and unfit to receive fresh priming powder. Could be my fault I don't understand the details.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I apply superglue to the end of a standard toothpick, no breaking or moisture absorption. I cut the tooth pick off to where it just sticks past the pan enough for me to pull it out and I close the frizzen on it to keep it in place.

I go over them with a red sharpie so I know they have had the superglue treatment.

I have found a better thing to use instead of a toothpick, a bamboo skewer, you can't break one of these plus they are a slightly larger diameter than a standard toothpick for a better seal. Somehow, I have accumulated hundreds of these over the years, I found them unused in the back of one of my cabinets recently. I haven't gotten around to swapping out my toothpicks for skewers yet, hunting season is still a long way off.

 

[bldtrailer]

Yankee doodle went to town riding on a pony stuck a feather in his cap....... the feather was the touch hole pick and watertight touch hole sealer. or todays a round toothpick (I use to clean when not removing barrel)

many southern rifles come with a feather hole in the stock to hold the feather when not in touchhole. rich shooters used brass picks as brass would not in large the touch hole as steel might

 

[smo]

This is what I use… Thanks too Wattlebuster down in Sweet Home Alabama..
He showed me this several years ago, and it hasn’t failed me yet..

It’s a small piece of rolled up leather tied with string too my trigger guard.

It’s placed with the rolled end against the touch hole, then the frizzen lowered too hold it in place ,,,

 

[reddogge]

In the old days, I used a bluejay tail feather, however, it is illegal to do so. Use one if you dare.

 

[flatcreek]

how about a piece of electrical tape.

 

[TDM]

Like @Grenadier1758 and @bldtrailer said, bird feathers were the traditional method. I've read that song birds were more numerous from the early 19th century and before. Finding a new feather was quite easy if one was lost or needed replacement. I guess if they want to venture into deepest, darkest Mississippi and find me I might get into trouble. Oh well.

 

[rickystl]

It's been many years ago. But I remember using a very thin piece of leather, treated with leather wax that dries into the leather. Covered just the pan area and portion of the barrel with the vent hole. With the frizzen closed, it worked like a tent over the pan and vent hole. Seemed to work.
I once saw a guy use a thin pipe cleaner to keep the vent hole dry. He said not the cheap ones you find at Walmart, etc. The better, most thin ones they have at the smoke shops. Apparently, the thin wire flattens on the otter edge of the pan when the frizzen is pressed down hard against the wire. But I've never tried it.

Rick

 

[bpd303]

Use a lock cover in extremely damp conditions.

They are called a cows knee.

 

[tallpine]

This is what I use… Thanks too Wattlebuster down in Sweet Home Alabama..
He showed me this several years ago, and it hasn’t failed me yet..

It’s a small piece of rolled up leather tied with string too my trigger guard.

It’s placed with the rolled end against the touch hole, then the frizzen lowered too hold it in place ,,,

View attachment 302286

This works, I put a little beeswax on the end of the rolled up leather. way better than trying to dig broken toothpicks out of a touch hole

 

[smo]

They are called a cows knee.

Yep, I got them too.

 

[Weavedreamer]

Yep, I got them too.

View attachment 302459

Found these on Amazon I think the 1/16 or 1/32 word work perfect because of how they taper. My plan is to add a little lanyard to the fat end for easy removal and tying off to the trigger guard. I’ll let everyone know how it goes.

 

[bpd303]

I have a lot of places I would spend $29.95 on just to try a new fangled thing.

 

[M. De Land]

Is there such a thing as a vent hole plug? I’m looking for something to keep moisture from affecting the powder charge in humid climates while out and about so I don’t have to discharge the rifle at end of each day or have a hang fire/failure with heavy rain. I’ve used toothpicks and slivers of wood but they end up soaking up moisture and snapping off in the vent hole easily which is a pain. I’m looking for something non-permeable and easy to insert and take out while still making a water tight seal.

I like and use a snug fitting, soft wire pick with a round end and flat coil purchase, both as a plug pusher and vent block. It's not water tight but will prevent all but the most severe long term dunking.

 

[Rat]

Some interesting suggestions. I think keeping the powder dry is more about how you clean and prep the gun prior to loading, then anything else. Since the wolves have arrived, deer are getting pretty hard to hunt where I am, so I've been having some seasons where I don't fire my rifle...all season. When I empty it after season, it pops off just fine. Easily over a month or so of being loaded. And having hunted on wet days.

If it actually rains...I just stay in the camper and read a book.

If you clean the rifle well, then dry patch it, then clean it again with alcohol patches, and get some down in the breech with the worm, leave it alone for a day, then load, you can leave it loaded for months. In the field I don't stick anything in the touch hole. I think that just moves the main charge away from the hole. I like my main charge packed right up against the touch hole. At night, or at home between hunts, I roll up some paper towel or kleenex and pack that against the touch hole, and lower the cock on it, the flint holds it tight.

Some guys over-oil their locks, or even oil their locks with penetrating oil or WD-40. This will creep up between the pan and barrel, kill the prime and even get into the main charge, and these gents will be convinced that the prime "absorbed moisture from the air". Nope. It absorbed all that oil ya slopped on the inside of the lock.

If the rifle is cleaned and prepped properly with denatured alcohol, at night or between hunts, before you can hunt again some paper towel, rolled or bunched up, and put between the flint and pan, and pushed up against the touch hole will keep any moisture out of the main charge.

It's amazing how if you don't over oil the lock, the gun will stop absorbing moisture from the air. Go figure.

Actually hunting in the rain, yeah a cows knee will work, but unless water flows directly into your pan, it still won't "absorb moisture from the air" no matter how humid it is. Having the touch hole plugged while hunting makes no sense to me, but I may be misunderstanding that that was considered. ??

 

[Rat]

Use a lock cover in extremely damp conditions.

Well, yes if it's actually raining. Don't need one for "damp". Or I guess "extremely damp" could mean rain or drizzel. I just don't believe the prime will "absorb moisture from the air", and even if it did, the cow's knee would not stop that. It is absorbing oil from the lock that is the problem...and...a lock cover/cow's knee won't fix that either. Just saying.