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Touch Hole location #2

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F.G. Ford

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What difference does it make if the touch hole is right on the face of the breech plug ( just ahead ), 1/8" or 1/4"
I can appreciate it not being at the very front of the charge, but a fraction of an inch either way should not make a whole lot of difference.
Above the bottom of the pan...yes, and center of the pan...yes.
Please enlighten me.
Fred
 
Being a newbie gun builder myself I have often pondered this same question. As fast as gun powder goes off I can't see where it would make a noticeable difference in ignition speed, especially if you used a liner that is internally coned.

I can see where having a drilled touch hole against the breech face would be more likely to get the charge out the hole and closer to the pan than one drilled 1/4" away from the face.

With a coned liner, not so much.
 
Fred,

It doesn't!! Here's the only thing that I can see that would ever cause a problem.
If the touch hole is far enough forward, and you happen to dry ball , your ball and patch can actually cover the touch hole.

No blowing that one out!!! It must be pulled.

I've put touch holes in all kinds of location, I build Lehighs, and they all work just as well. I've placed them above, and below the horizon as well with equally good results. A Lehigh lock is traditionally high on the barrel to allow for the super thin wrist and forearm, so that touch hole is often NOT centered.
 
When I first started building MLers, the actual TH {used a liner} was 1/8" forward of the plug face. Still have one of these LRs and the ignition is very reliable....possibly because the TH didn't clog up when swabbed as w/ a TH that's flush w/ the plug face.

My next few LRs had the actual TH intruding on the plug face and a generous relief had to be cut in the plug face...this TH location was done to minimize the length of that small wood protrusion behind the pan. This setup was very reliable and although the seal at the plug face was interrupted, saw no gas blowby when unbreeched. Many originals had this setup and withstood the test of time.

Presently use 1/4 dia. White Lightning TH liners and maintain 1/32" between the liner edge and the plug face, This works out well.

All in all, I think the worst situation is to have the actual TH edge even w/ the plug face....because swabbing could clog the hole. The other TH locations seem to supply reliable ignition....just one person's opinions....Fred
 
If your just drilling a vent hole, it doesn't matter a lot if it is close to the face of the breech plug.

That said, if there is any chance that someone will want to install a threaded vent liner later on, it's nice if the original hole was drilled at least 5/32 (.156) in front of the breech plugs face.

At that distance, a 1/4" thread can be used for the liner and threading it won't damage the breech plugs face.
 
flehto said:
When I first started building MLers, the actual TH {used a liner} was 1/8" forward of the plug face. Still have one of these LRs and the ignition is very reliable....possibly because the TH didn't clog up when swabbed as w/ a TH that's flush w/ the plug face.

My next few LRs had the actual TH intruding on the plug face and a generous relief had to be cut in the plug face...this TH location was done to minimize the length of that small wood protrusion behind the pan. This setup was very reliable and although the seal at the plug face was interrupted, saw no gas blowby when unbreeched. Many originals had this setup and withstood the test of time.

Presently use 1/4 dia. White Lightning TH liners and maintain 1/32" between the liner edge and the plug face, This works out well.

All in all, I think the worst situation is to have the actual TH edge even w/ the plug face....because swabbing could clog the hole. The other TH locations seem to supply reliable ignition....just one person's opinions....Fred
Click to expand...

I'm glad to hear someone else had a problem with a touch hole at the breech face. When wiped between shots, the TH would be prone to clogging. I found this problem on a custom rifle I acquired. My fix was to go from a 1/4" diameter liner to a 5/16". When I drilled the hole larger to tap for the 5/16" liner, I egg-shaped to previous hole to move the larger hole slightly forward. Even with that, the drill actually cut into the breech face a lttle bit. But now the TH is more than 1/8" forward of the breech face and the clogging problem went away.
 
As far as ignition goes, not all that much. Moving the touch hole forward means the lock also moves forward- that could factor into it. BUT, eventually you WILL dry ball. :cursing: Say you moved it forward 1/4 inch in a < .50 cal barrel, you won't be able to get any powder behind the ball to shoot it out and will have to either pull the ball (more difficult) or remove the breech to get it out.
 
I would rather deal with pulling the ball or pulling the breechplug, rather than have fouling jammed in the vent hole all the time. :idunno: But that is just me.

I set all of my vent liners about 1/16" in front of the breech threads, as not to intersect the threads. For me this eliminates allot of fouled vent hole issues.

Some like it hot, some like it cold, Ford..... Chevy..... your mileage may vary, etc. :idunno:

Keith Lisle
 
Just to clarify, I think when you said you set all of your vent liners about 1/16" in front of the breech threads, you were speaking of the threaded area of the liner being 1/16" ahead of the plug face?

The center of the actual vent hole would be 1/16" plus 1/2 of the liner thread diameter?

If I'm right, the center of the vent hole for a liner with 1/4" threads would be 1/16" + 1/8" = 3/16" (.188) ahead of the breech plug face.

For a vent liner with 5/16" threads the center of the vent hole would be 1/16" + 5/32" or 7/32" (.219") ahead of the breech plug face.
 
Yes. I take the breechplug out & lay it on the barrel flat, scribe the flat exactly the end of the plug depth. Then I make another scribe line 1/16" ahead of the initial line. Lay a vent liner on same flat & mark where the center of the vent liner is & scribe a 3rd line. The center of the 3rd line is where I centerpuch a mark for my pilot hole to drill the vent liner hole.

Keith Lisle
 
Glad to hear I was right. :)

I could just see someone new to building, reading your other post and saying, "OK. Just measure 1/16 inch ahead of the breech plug face location and that's where the hole should be." :( :td:
 

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