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Tell me about touch hole liners

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Doug Lykins

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What are the pros, or cons if any, to the popular white lightning liner? Is it your preference and if not what do you use?
 
There are no cons, beyond once the threads are cut into the barrel, you often have no other easy options but to use the white lightening vents, and I see no real con there.
 
All my LR builds have "White Lightning" TH liners....because the powder charge is very close {w/in 1/32"-1/16"} to the pan, reliable ignition is guaranteed if sparks are present.

Directions for installation are straight forward and the drill and tap should be purchased from Chambers along w/ the liner. Some suppliers sell "this product" but don't know if it's the real thing. Also their recommendations for drill sizes is different.

The first time I shot one of my LRs w/ a "White Lightning", I was disappointed.....thought all the fun of shooting a flintlock was gone....the ignition was too fast w/o any delay. Got over that in a hurry.

Some for whatever reason don't like the "white Lightning" because of the bright SS circle...doesn't bother most buyers.

Tom Snyder of Michigan sells small cutters that duplicate the parabolic cone of the "White Lightning" from the bore side. I suppose that when the TH "wears out", it can be replaced w/ a liner.....Fred
 
I like em an can find no cons. The stainless circle doesnt bother me in the least :thumbsup:
 
flehto said:
Some for whatever reason don't like the "white Lightning" because of the bright SS circle...doesn't bother most buyers.
I believe Chambers may also offer White Lightning liners made from barrel steel.
 
I believe that stainless erodes slower than 12l14, 8620,1137 or even 4140 for that matter. In the cartridge guns the guns with stainless barrels deal better with throat erosion than the barrels made of chrome moly (4140). The Chambers WL vent liners in stainless are my first choice when building a rifle.
String
 
Sorry, I forgot to designate the type of stainless as there are many. The above post should read 400 series stainless.
String
 
I make my own from bolts. I drill the flash hole on my drill press, ream it partway out with a 5/32 or 3/16 drill, screw it into the barrel, cut and file. Voila!
 
Muzzleloader Builder's Supply sells carbon steel vent liners. Easy to cone your self with a simple countersink. When correctly installed they completely dissapear,,, except for the hole :v
 
PO Ackley, a famous barrel maker of the 50's did extensive testing of shot out barrel that he would bore out and re-rifle.
He found that there is practically no difference in the erosion resistance to the stainless steels of that era which I think pretty much are the same alloys used today.
Its the chrome in them that lends to the corrosive and erosive resistance of the alloy.
4140 has chrome in it's make up.
That being said he found that the 10 series steels used commonly in 40's was nearly as resistant to erosion as was the vaunted stainless barrel steels of the era.
Winchester came out with the nickle alloy that was supposed to be very erosion resistance but was a gripe the machine smoothly.
I would think perhaps a TH liner made of beryllium-copper alloy ( if it had the strength for the pressure involved) would be the best material for longivity.
 
Perhaps we should request liners like those of "old" made from gold or platinum...?
 
I don't know what alloy Chambers uses for his liners, but it seems quite soft to me. I always use white lightning liners and have never had a problem. I made one rifle where I tried a direct drilled vent. After 6 months of fiddling, including outside cones, I finally gave up and installed a white lightning. No problems thereafter. If you have the tools to cut an inside cone in the barrel, that should work the same. I don't think barrel erosion is an issue until several thousand shots. As far as I know, none of my rifles are likely to see that many shots for a very long time.
 

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