Venthole Location

[Carl Aldridge]

I am restoring a flintlock rifle for a friend of mine. When the rifle is fully assembled the vent is way too low in the pan. If I shim the front of the tang 1/16" the vent is positioned perfectly(it is a hooked breech barrel by the way.) My question is this, is it a good idea or would I be better off deepening the priming pan with my dremel tool?

 

[Mike Brooks]

You'd be best off plugging that hole and positioning the new vent liner in the correct place.

 

[rickC]

Hey Mike, I have one that needs that treatment. How or what do you use to plug an old touchhole safely?Enlarge the hole and drill the plug?? any info would help?thanks!! ::

 

[Mike Brooks]

I think they weld them shut and re drill.....never done it myself, but fellows in the know have mentioned this to me several times. I don't but rarely ever work on old guns, and certainly wouldn't tackle a job like that myself.
You need to get it to somebody who does this sort of stuff on a regular basis...I'm not sure who that would be.

 

[Carl Aldridge]

This rifle has no vent liner, just a hole drilled through the barrel. The reason I am leaning toward shimming the tang, is because it was inletted too deeply into the stock which leaves the vent all the way at the bottom of the pan. It will be almost impossible to fire this rifle without a fuse effect no matter how I situate the priming powder in the pan. This is an inexpensive Armsport rifle that was sorely neglected by the person who heired it to my friend. I just want to get it into shootable condition without undue expense.

 

[Birddog6]

Be tha the case, you could shim the tang up & bed the breech to secure it & get the barrel in the right place & also get the flat in the position for a vent liner. Then install a vent liner in the correct place, since it has none in it, should be an easy task to install it at the correct position to make it all work right.

:m2c:

 

[Mulebrain]

That gets my vote! Shim it and bed the barrel. You could just tack, or glue in the shim, then glass bed it. Done!

 

[flintkeeper]

This rifle has no vent liner, just a hole drilled through the barrel. The reason I am leaning toward shimming the tang, is because it was inletted too deeply into the stock which leaves the vent all the way at the bottom of the pan. It will be almost impossible to fire this rifle without a fuse effect no matter how I situate the priming powder in the pan.

Roarin'54, good morning!

Actually, you can do both: raise the barrel, and install a vent hole. If you don't, the hole drilled in the barrel will rust and increase in diametre in time, and that's not what you want to happen. Jim Chambers' White Lightenin' vent is the best there is in the market :imo:

Otherwise, you can leave the original touch hole intact, and do nothing. Just ask the owner to clean it with a pipe cleaning "brush" and oil the hole well after each shoot.

:m2c:
All the best!

FF