India made guns ,

[Henry]

Has someone ever tried to remove the breach plug of a India made gun ? Was it difficult ?

 

[Swampman]

I'd give it a lot of thought before I removed it. Why do you feel you need to?

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Lot of different India made pieces from various sources. I did see a couple of the Middlesex Village muskets, was rather surprised at the quality for the money. If one of theirs, I would contact them for advice.

 

[faw3]

AS said above I have one the only flintlock I have and have been Very happy with it, they make sure each one is just right before they ship to you, and dont mind dumb Qs. FRED :hatsoff:

 

[Henry]

Here is the story :

A friend from another F&I war re-enactor unit just bought a 1728 french musket with the flash hole
still un drilled . When we took measurements we found that
the breach plug is .21" too long , the vent will
just dead end in the plug .

Now , the importer agrees to take back the gun
and replace it with one of the next shipment , wich could take months , by that time the re-enacting season will be well advanced .



Logical solution would be to unbreach the barrel
and drill the plug .25" deep , Nock Patent faschion , as suggested in Kit Ravenshear books .

The importer says the barrel was breached while
hot , making un breaching difficult .

Next solution , thread a 1/2 " drill to a
steel rod , drill ¼" deep and finish with a cherry
It had been done in the past .

Anybody with experience in that matter ?

 

[TN.Frank]

If it was breached while hot then why not just heat it up and unbreach it while it's hot. This is one reason that I'm leary of buying a "non-firing" gun that's not been proof tested. You can't be sure if it'll work or not. Still, it seems an easy enough fix if you want to take the time to do it.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Guy with the Middlesex guns told me they come ready to fire and MS tunes up the lock before shipping.

 

[Henry]

This one does not come from Middlesex Village ,
there are more than one maker in India .

I would rather not start an argument about
the importer . As far as I know , all three importers do respect the customers and offer
a good guaranty . The problem for the momment is
quality control at the factory and delivery delay
of the replacement .

 

[TANSTAAFL]

"..there are more than one maker in India ."

Must be an echo in here, read my post #3 from top.

 

[Mr. Chester]

Here is the story :
the breach plug is .21" too long , the vent will
just dead end in the plug .
drill the plug .25" deep , Nock Patent faschion , as suggested in Kit Ravenshear books .

The importer says the barrel was breached while
hot , making un breaching difficult .

Next solution , thread a 1/2 " drill to a
steel rod , drill ¼" deep and finish with a cherry
It had been done in the past .

Anybody with experience in that matter ?

I believe there are premade drill bits used by electricians that may serve you well. (depends on how long the barrel is but they sell them at HomeDepot)
2 tenths isn't much - can you put your vent in and then drill down the barrel till you hit the hole? Just a thought..

 

[Henry]

Oh ! An occasion to,look smart ahead !

Ever notice that the drill bit sometime get
scratched at the " non-buziness end " ?

Actually , only the cutting end is tempered
the other end can be drilled and threaded ,
so it is easy to screw a large drill bit on whatever extention , as long as it is solid enough
of course .

 

[TN.Frank]

One thing I like about Loyalist Arms is that all their guns are vented and ready to go. If they'd just use better wood,LOL.

 

[BLAHMAN]

Here is the story :

A friend from another F&I war re-enactor unit just bought a 1728 french musket with the flash hole
still un drilled . When we took measurements we found that
the breach plug is .21" too long , the vent will
just dead end in the plug .

Now , the importer agrees to take back the gun
and replace it with one of the next shipment , wich could take months , by that time the re-enacting season will be well advanced .



Logical solution would be to unbreach the barrel
and drill the plug .25" deep , Nock Patent faschion , as suggested in Kit Ravenshear books .

The importer says the barrel was breached while
hot , making un breaching difficult .

Next solution , thread a 1/2 " drill to a
steel rod , drill ¼" deep and finish with a cherry
It had been done in the past .

Anybody with experience in that matter ?

Sounds like a lot of work that could end up a disaster. You may find that it may cost less (time, tools, agrivation) to buy one that is functioning as opposed to one that isn't.

You could always sell what you have to some one else and let them have the headaches.

 

[Henry]

The gun is not mine , I make my owns , but ...

The main thing is : I just got a metal lathe !

I just love to have new projects .

I just ( 8 minutes ago ) finished a contraption
made of a ½ " drill , drilled and threaded ¼-20
that is sitting on top of a 3/8 " rod , 48 "
long , with .69" - .38 " Delrin spacers .

I just wait to know what the owner of the
gun decides .

 

[BLAHMAN]

See what happens when you leave out little details?

Now I see where your headed, this is one of those "fun" projects that we all love to test our skill and ingenuity.

I bet you'll have a ton of fun.

 

[Henry]

I just do not want to have fun at the expense of
somebody else's gun :redface:

Just come back from another's friend home ,
he has a similar gun , but the breach plug is a bit
shorter , barely 1/8 " to long , he just drilled
the vent hole at an angle and it seems to work OK .

 

[Colonial Boy]

While you're havin' fun :grin: Make a bore diam (less a little) bush to centre the drill. Or else make a ditto centre punch, You need that hole to be central for cleaning purposes.

Colonial.

PS Make sure that the barrel doesn't have a hole in the underside---some Indian non-firers are like that.

 

[Mike Brooks]

I just do not want to have fun at the expense of
somebody else's gun :redface:

Just come back from another's friend home ,
he has a similar gun , but the breach plug is a bit
shorter , barely 1/8 " to long , he just drilled
the vent hole at an angle and it seems to work OK .

With all of the various lengths of breech plugs you've come across , I'd be kind of curious as to how far the barrels are threaded. You'd think it would be a pretty simple thing in quality control to keep the breech plugs all the same length. I'm begining to believe the breech plug may not be butting up against a shoulder in the threads of some of these barrels. This could be a dangerous situation.
You might consider your liability in the case this barrel ever fails at the breech. I'm not saying your modifications would be at fault in a case like this, I'd say the poor breeching would be the likely fualt. Reguardless, I personally wouldn't touch a gun of this quality for fear I would be the one facing a law suit if the barrel ever failed. It ain't like you can sue the barrel manufacturer. :winking:
It's just a matter of time, with this kind of quality, befor some poor guy blows his head off with one of these things. :shake:

 

[Henry]

"... While you're havin' fun Make a bore diam (less a little) bush to centre the drill. Or else make a ditto centre punch, You need that hole to be central for cleaning purposes.... "

Done , in Delrin , another in the midle of the
rod to prevent fles , another at the muzzle
and a steel collar as a depht gauge .

As I understand it , there is no shoulder in
the barrel , it is trheaded from the inside
of the barrel , wich is the authentic XVIII th cent practice .( .69" is even a bit over
.6875 ", the recomended hole size to thread
3/4 " - 16 tpi ) but this is only spéculation untill I get to see the hard facts . There are
already so much legends ( urban or otherwise )
about those guns , I do not need add some more .

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Yep, they don't have OSHA like they did in the mid 1700's gunshops. :hmm: