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touch hole liners

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When installing a liner I always cone the inside. I usually drill to within 1/16 of an inch of the ouside, then use a larger drill to open the inside and finish off with a dremel and a small grinding point. Works with carbon or stainless.
 
I take mine to about 1/32", to .030 of outside. A sixteenth is much more than necessary. Every little bit helps. Blowout is a thread wall concern, much more than a hole problem. With .030 of firewall, or thereabouts,you can easily see your charge, and that gives plenty enough metal for safety. I have found that coning the outside a tad bit, may be just as important for reliable and instant ignition. The outer cone collects fire/heat, and directs it to the hole. Mathematically, it directs about four times the flame into the fireway for every amount in advance in size. I am far from a mathematition, but the principal works.
 
Got few questions on liners. I shoot my rifle (pedersoli .54 frontier) at the range, I try for 20+ shoots per outing, I am having fast and reliable ignition for first 10 shoots or so, and ten it begins flush in the pen a lot, vent liner is drilled to 1/16. I try to clean and pick at the vent hole, but it just will not fire first time. Would going to larger hole help? (sounds like it would from all the talk on the forum).

I am happy to hit my targets (sometimes) but I think I want the rifle to fire every time I pull the trigger.

Also, I find it very hard to remove vent liner after the night at the range (already had to drill out one liner, just would not come out), what is everyone using/doing to prevent liner getting all stuck.

Cheers
 
Many/most folks never remove the liner and the liners many use don't have a slot or hex key etc. If you are wiping between shots or after 10 shots etc, you may be pushing fouling down to the breech and plugging your vent or building up a fouling cake there.
 
Drill, baby, drill. Use a #50 or #51 drill. Get some Hornady Muzzloader Multi-Lube and put a tiny amount on the touch hole liner's threads. Don't over tighten it either.
If you use a #49 or even a #48 you can throw that vent pick away!
 
I use anti sieze on all my breech plugs, drums, nipples, ventliners , etc. Also the problem may be in the breech assembly.Many pedersolis have a version of the patent breech with a small hole in the breech into which the drum/vent liners fit.Many people find enlarging this hole eliminates the problem of misfires. :hmm:
 
I do clean between shots, so far I found alcohol works better then other types of cleaning solutions (less problems with missfire)
 
My frontier has one of those patent breech, is there any articles or instructions on how to do this? In case I would want to do it. For now I will try drilling the vent some more, to see if this will help, but would like to find out about the modification to patent breech.
 
No, you certainly don't have to remove the liner when you clean your rifle. If the liner has anti-seize
lube on the threads it should come out after a little scrubbing with a wet toothbrush and a good screwdriver - if you absolutely have to remove it, that is.
 
My frontier has one of those patent breech, is there any articles or instructions on how to do this?

This isn't your problem. You don't have a real "patent breech". Of coarse if there are any maching burrs anywhere in the ignition area, that ain't good.
 
If you do not remove the liner, are you not going to get a build up at the breech and behind a vent?
 
The fire channel where the vent liner screws into looks clear of any burrs. It must be the "dirt" build up, since lock is very quick and reliable at the begining of the night.
 
Providing the liner is installed correctly, it should line up perfectly with the inside of the barrel, or “patent breech” of your gun. No crud should build up there that can't be removed by a good water cleaning. That said I remove the liner each and every time I clean the gun. If you submerge the barrel into a bucket of warm water and pump a patch up and down, most if not all the crud is going to be expelled (liner or not).
But I always remove the barrel from the stock and the lock and the liner and clean each separately. I also run a brush a couple times just to make sure and I check it afterward with a bore light.
Did I mention, I hate FTF's? :( There is just no reason to accept them. :grin:
 
Thanks for the info, I drilled the liner to little over 1/16, and conned the side facing the lock (not too much). Will go shooting tomorrow, and if still not happy will drill and conne some more.

My goal is to get this rifle to fire evrythime, even if already had 25 shots. I do like the idea of removing liner for cleaning.
 
I like using Track's "flint flush" every other time for cleaning. Also Jim Chamber's "White Lightning" liner works really well for me, but must be opened up to a #51 or #50 for reliability.
No fussing around with picking/cleaning etc.
 
hexblade said:
My frontier has one of those patent breech, is there any articles or instructions on how to do this? In case I would want to do it. For now I will try drilling the vent some more, to see if this will help, but would like to find out about the modification to patent breech.

pedersoliplug.jpg


Your breech looks like this, just substitute a vent liner for the nipple drum. The powder chamber is only about .220" diameter. Once you have some fouling build up it becomes even smaller and 2f powder won't easily flow into the bottom of the chamber. You can get a .22-.30 caliber bore brush to fit your ramrod and clean out the powder chamber at the range. I'd suggest a nylon brush because black powder residue will eat up a bronze brush pretty quickly. You might also try 3f powder to see if it will better flow into the chamber. One or both of those changes should solve your problem. If not you can pull the breechplug and drill out the chamber to a larger diameter. Don't worry that drilling will weaken the breech, you still have 1/2" of solid plug behind the chamber and drilling as large as 3/8" will not materially weaken it.
 
hexblade said:
Got few questions on liners. I shoot my rifle (pedersoli .54 frontier) at the range, I try for 20+ shoots per outing, I am having fast and reliable ignition for first 10 shoots or so, and ten it begins flush in the pen a lot, vent liner is drilled to 1/16. I try to clean and pick at the vent hole, but it just will not fire first time. Would going to larger hole help? (sounds like it would from all the talk on the forum).

I am happy to hit my targets (sometimes) but I think I want the rifle to fire every time I pull the trigger.

Also, I find it very hard to remove vent liner after the night at the range (already had to drill out one liner, just would not come out), what is everyone using/doing to prevent liner getting all stuck.

Cheers

Could be flakes of fouling blocking the vent.
Fouling buildup keeping powder from entering the liner.
Dan
 
"If you do not remove the liner, are you not going to get a build up at the breech and behind a vent"

One thing to consider when wondering how one can keep a gun clean without removing the liner is to consider that for many years folks did fine with out even having liners to remove.
 
I don't have a liner in mine,just drilled out the touch hole with a #50 bit, used to be 1/16. Lots faster now, with little or no fouling.I think it's just as fast as one with a liner.I run a pipe cleaner thru it every now and then when at the range though, just in case.It's coned just a little bit inside and out to help direct the sparks.
 
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