Pulling a breech plug??

[42va.reb]

Hello,
OK so I have been pretty much out of the game for a few years trying to get my carrer started up and want to get out to a few events this season so I pulled out the old Enfeild to make sure everything is kosher. Well...it wasn't. I have some serious fouling going on and I can't seem to make anything work to get it out. I bought the musket from someone on this site about 2 years ago and to be honest I haven't used it but once and only have fired it at one event (a LH). The owner(who I couldn't even began to remember) was getting out of the hobby and I don't know if they ever live fired it but, I am not ruling out the possibilty of lead fouling. So to see what the problem is the only option left is to pull the breech plug, something I have never done. My question is how hard is this to do? I know that some are proably harder than the others but, is it wise to do try at home? I feel stupid asking but I don't even know how to start to pull the dang thing. I just don't want to send it to a gunsmith and end up paying more than a new musket cost. And if it is something that I can do myself I would rather spare the cost. Can anyone assist in this? Any assistance would be very helpful.
YOS,

[Chris Suppelsa]

Re: Pulling a breech plug??

Hello,
OK so I have been pretty much out of the game for a few years trying to get my carrer started up and want to get out to a few events this season so I pulled out the old Enfeild to make sure everything is kosher. Well...it wasn't. I have some serious fouling going on and I can't seem to make anything work to get it out. I bought the musket from someone on this site about 2 years ago and to be honest I haven't used it but once and only have fired it at one event (a LH). The owner(who I couldn't even began to remember) was getting out of the hobby and I don't know if they ever live fired it but, I am not ruling out the possibilty of lead fouling. So to see what the problem is the only option left is to pull the breech plug, something I have never done. My question is how hard is this to do? I know that some are proably harder than the others but, is it wise to do try at home? I feel stupid asking but I don't even know how to start to pull the dang thing. I just don't want to send it to a gunsmith and end up paying more than a new musket cost. And if it is something that I can do myself I would rather spare the cost. Can anyone assist in this? Any assistance would be very helpful.
YOS,

With your knowlege of the weapon I feel it would be best to send it to a gunsmith.

[C.R. Henderson]

Re: Pulling a breech plug??

Don't do it, Chris. Try a super cleaning of it before you even think of pulling the breech plug. Have you tried boiling it out with super hot water or coffee. If so, have you tried boiling it out with hydrogen peroxide? Go to your local gun shop and get a cleaning rod and a proper size bronze brush and/or call Lodgewood and order one from them as well as a breech scraper. to see down to the breech, you can get a penlight or a bore light to get a decent view. I've never tried to remove a breech plug and have always been advised not to (even by my uncle who owns a gun shop locally and who is a master gunsmith and has been for over 30 years). If you try all this and still don't have any luck, send it to a reputable smith like the folks at Lodgewood. Remember to take your time and don't get in a hurry. If it's as dirty as you say, it might take a good afternoon to get it back to par.

My 2 centabos

[ACo.]

Re: Pulling a breech plug??

Did it fire alright the last time you used it? If you properly cleaned it after you fired it then it should be fine, right? Unless you have a good vice and the proper wrench AND the knowledge of how to do it (you have said you don't) then it would be best to have a reliable gunsmith do it, the cost will not be that bad but the time may be so contact someone now in order to have it done by the beginning of the season, good gunsmiths are very busy. Do not try to do this yourself, the consequences of a mistake WILL be disasterous - take it from someone who has pulled many plugs from originals and reproductions.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Pulling a breech plug??

Hallo!

Technically, physically, a breech plug is not pulled, it is threaded in and out... ;-)

Ignition problems are usually cone (nipple) and flash channel related, and not really breech plug face related
It is possible depending upon how much shooting and improper cleaning was done -it may just need a "proper cleaning." and that there may possibly be a deposit of "coke" or fire-hardened black powder residue built up like frost on a window pane at the interface where the barrel wall meets the breech plug face. I have seen the breech end of a barrel completely "coked" closed. But again, that would not affect ignition (but it might cause the dreaded and dangerous "cook off" on loading).

Modern breech plugs are fine pitched and very hard to remove without the proper tools without damaging the barrel cosmetically as well as functionally.

Ideally one needs a stout workbench, a 3 or 4 inch vise, pads, and a breech plug wrench or a GIANT 18, 20, 24 inch wrench to unscrew the plug.

I also second the previous advice, or WARNING, if you do not have the tools, knowledge, and experience with working with barrels and breech plugs- let a gunsmith who does do it!

And again, I suspect your problem may be as simple as having a dirty or "coked up"
N-SSA style competition cone (nipple) with too small a vent hole, and/or a dirty or "coked up" flash channel (neither of which involves the breech plug).

Curt

[42va.reb]

Re: Pulling a breech plug??

Thanks for all the info. I have owned several repro muskets over the past 9 years and I hve never had this problem before. I tried to boil out the barrell several times and still couldn't get but a small amount of water out of the flash hole. Like I said before, I got the musket and only got the chance to use it once. Afterwards I cleaned it like I have done with all the muskets before it w/ a regular standard bore cleaner and bore buttered the inside before storage. I could understand a small amount of rust or crud in the bottom after sitting there for the last 1-2 years but not like this. I have an order sent to Brownell now for something a little stronger in the bore cleaner area. Will see what that does...
Thanks again for all the help,

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Pulling a breech plug??

Hallo!

1. What does the bottom of your cone (nipple) look like in terms of aperature/hole?
2. Does a pipe cleaner pass through the barrel's flash channel?
3. Can you blow a goodly stream of air through the flash channel, and through the flash channel with the cone installed, by blowing down the muzzle?
4. Do you have the abiity go outside to "snap a cap" with the muzzle pointing at a blade or two of grass or a leaf to see what amount of force exits the muzzle and moves the grass or leaf?

Sight unseen, I am still convinced your problem is cone or flash channel rrelated.

Curt

I once cleaned a gun for a pard with a notorious reputation for 1. laziness, and 2. not cleaning his guns. I stood the barrel up on end, plugged the cone, and soaked the breech with several inches of hot soapy water- and let stand over night. The next day, I poured out the waterm and ran the first soapy patch down the bore. It forced a two inch "sludge worm" out of the cone!

On another pard's gun, I once discovered a piece of brass fragment from a cap that had somehow been blasted loose back off the hammer nose recess and down through the cone vent to lodge in the flash channel.

And last but not least, on yet another pard's gun, I once discovered a toothpick section plugging the flash channel that must have broken off when the owner was plugging the vent for cleaning...

[42va.reb]

Re: Pulling a breech plug??

[QUOTE=Curt-Heinrich Schmidt;45589]Hallo!

1. What does the bottom of your cone (nipple) look like in terms of aperature/hole?
2. Does a pipe cleaner pass through the barrel's flash channel?
3. Can you blow a goodly stream of air through the flash channel, and through the flash channel with the cone installed, by blowing down the muzzle?
4. Do you have the abiity go outside to "snap a cap" with the muzzle pointing at a blade or two of grass or a leaf to see what amount of force exits the muzzle and moves the grass or leaf?

Sight unseen, I am still convinced your problem is cone or flash channel rrelated.

Curt,
The flash channel had small build up but nothing major.
I can't blow the steady stream through the barrel. A little air comes through put not much. Same with water. I have snapped several caps with no movement. I also have used a bore brush and that doesn't seem to be moving anything. I'll keep on trying. I think it must be some sort of major fouling as well.
Thanks again,

[maineman]

Re: Pulling a breech plug??

Even at 3% dilution, which most over the counter Hydrogen Peroxide is, if you don't buffer it with denatured alcohol, or the like, when it reacts with the fouling , there is a good chance of producing Hydrogen Sulfide Gas, which is HIGHLY TOXIC. Plus being a pretty good oxydizer (read rust producing) I would try a commercial bore cleaning solvent.

[ACo.]

Re: Pulling a breech plug??

By all means, avoid the use of hydrogen peroxide in the cleaning of firearms.

[tarheelpvt]

A greaat barrel cleaner.

Try a product called Break Free. Can be bought at most sporting goods stores. It is a foam barrel cleaner. Fill the barrel and let it sit an hour or so. It's not period but work great. A clean barrel is a safe barrel.