Green Mountain barrels

Do the regular ML hook breech barrels have a removable breech plug?
I was thinking they didn't.

They certainly can be removed with a big wrench and a stout vise. But be really careful of boogering up the barrel or breech.

But there's no good reason to remove them unless you're doing some kind of smith work that needs you to get access to the bore.

It's definitely not like the user-removable breech plugs in iGuns.

Thanks BB, that's what I was thinking.
On a forum devoted to modern center fired there is a guy got a brush broke off down in the chamber.
Bunch of guys keep telling him to just unscrew the breech.
Only thing similar I have is a T/C Hawken and the breech sure ain't meant for bubba to clamp in a vise and go the cranking.

That's what I did 25 years ago and buggered up the barrel (needed a three foot cheater bar to do it - should have known better). Have not removed a breech plug since.

Better to slip a slightly sub-bore sized section of copper pipe or a trimmed c.f. case on a rod over the brush and pull it out the muzzle.

That's what myself and several others have told him to do, anyway he can't seem to get it out that way.
I just hope the guy doesn't wreck a good barrel.

Best bet yet is to keep the brushes for centerfires. I have made do without them in muzzleloaders since my brush with disaster.

Yup :thumbsup:

1. The guy used the wrong kind of brush. Probably one with a crimp on design instead of the threaded through design. The cheap kind for modern guns carried by almost every gun store. Here is what I did once (before I learned my brush lesson) and it worked:Build a corkscrew like brushpuller. It needs to be longer than a patchpuller, preferably as long as a brush and needs to be sturdy. It needs also to screw on close to the twisted wire center section of the brush to use low leverage on the bristles. Make sure the corkscrew puller is secured good to the pulling stick, you don't want to pull it off either....
a good piece to work as a corkscrew base is one of those screw on adapters. You can drill a hole in it sideways and thread through the corkscrew.
Another easy way is to put a longer cleaning jag in the drill and file it down to base diameter, then file out a piece left and right flat. Drill holes through flat to thread through corkscrew wire and hook it in securely. Try sturdiness when it comes to pull out strength first, before getting it over the brush. Spray also some oil down the barrel to lubricate the brush on the barrel walls. Just my 2cents.

He was using a brand new T/C brush, how it broke off at the bottom of the bore is unknown.
I've stepped back from making any more comments, too many "experts" telling him to clamp the barrel in a vise and "just" unscrew it. :surrender:
At least he didn't do that and I guess has given it to a gunsmith.

It has nothing to do with the brand of a brush, but how this brush holds together mechanically.
T/C brushes are of the crimp on style which should be avoided in traditional ML but might be ok for inlines,becasue you can pull the breachplug if it really comes off. Buy a brush made for muzzleloaders.
With my method he would have that thing extracted within 15min. Probably about 30 min to build the tool,depending on his skill, which could be used over and over again as a patch puller as well.
Now he probably pays a gunsmith to either use his already existant tool or build one and use it.
To each his own...

How about one of those mechanics tools that are used for retrieving things from tight places. It has a metal coiled shaft with retractable jaws like a claw on one of those vending machines....and down the other it looks like a syringe to make the jaws protrude and grab the objects. I have one that is probably long enough to grasp a brush they are procured at auto parts stores.

I wonder if he was to pour some of that late model sooper dooper copper solvent in the bore and let it set for a week???

Seems like could just point it at the floor and drop the steel part out,,I dunno...

I've taken a few plugs out with my action wrench and barrel vice but none of them came easily.
The action wrench is massive and 1 inch thick sideways. It clamps down flat on the top and bottom flat of the plug if it has one.
The plugs with the tang welded to them flush with the barrel need to soak for a while with liquid wrench and usually need some heat to break things loose.If worse comes to worse they can be drilled and easy outed.
The action wrenches are made so you can smack the steel handle with a two pound hammer and the shock is what does the trick.
They stress the barrel and breech plug much less than the raw torque from a cheater bar.
I have a flint pistol I picked up a year ago for 20.00 bucks that has a pretty rough bore but strong rifling and tried to get the plug out. I finally just left it as even my action wrench wouldn't budge it and I decide I didn't need it out bad enough to drill it out.
If the jag is hung up on a reduced diameter ignition chamber in the breech plug you may well have to get the plug out to remove it. MD

Reference some of the recent comments.
Some strange ideas to come from a bunch of BP muzzle stuffers.
Really only two suitable methods to recover a broken off brush.
A length of tubing just the right size to be pushed in over the lost brush and alternately running a smaller caliber brush down on a good stiff rod to get into and behind, if possible, the broken off brush.

Re the length of tubing to push into the bore and over the brush: Do you know what caliber bore this is? The tubing would probably be copper or aluminum, and might be hard to find. If I was to do this, I'd find a centerfire rifle cartridge case that would fit into the bore and use that. Cut off the neck at the shoulder, don't debur the cut. Punch out the primer with a nail. Drill the primer pocket out to the size of a 10x32 or 8x32 bolt, whichever size the cleaning rod takes. Get a round-head bolt of that thread size and put it into the cartridge case. Might have to cut the case off some more or grind the bolt head down so it will go in. Feed it through the hole and screw it into the cleaning rod. Cut the bolt off so the case screws tight against the rod tip. The cases have some taper to them, which would help hold the captured brush. Cases to use? A .30-30 would fit into a .45, a .270, 30-06, .308, .243, etc, would fit into a .50 caliber, and a magnum belted case would go for a .54. You'd have to file the rims and/or belts off the cases. Best to use a range rod for this, or make sure the rod tip is pinned to the wooden rod, if used.

It was a .50. Any number of ways to come up with a socket type affair if a little ingenuity is used.
Around here thin wall tube in aluminum or brass is pretty easy to find. 3/8" will run over a .50 caliber brush.
The thread where this was going on has pretty well died, whether the guy will come back and let everyone know if the gunsmith got it out for him remains to be seen.

Well, the original question was if patented breech guns (hooked)have a removable breech plug and the answer is definitely affirmative if you have the proper equipment.
I would not poke and bang around down a muzzle loader barrel if I could remove the breech plug and simply push out the stuck obstacle. MD

Not a lot of people have the tooling to do it themselves.

Sorry,but my described method works fine. I used it in a 38" .50 cal barrel where the brush came loose from the connection to the thread on part.
I used the same method when a friend used such a brush spinning in a shotgun barrel to clean the rust out. It worked there as well. There is no poking or force used, you just twist the longer corkscrew in until it hits the bottom of the barrel then pull.

A kinda sorta update.
The original thread was brought to life by someone wanting to know the status.
The OP replied that a gunsmith still has his gun and has been unable get it apart!
I wonder if this poor guy will ever see his rifle in working condition again.