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Flash hole liner maintenance

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Please forgive me if this is painfully basic.

I recently acquired a used Investarm 50 caliber flintlock. It has a stainless steel flash hole liner that you install/remove with an Allen wrench.

Is it advisable to routinely remove and clean this liner and the threads themselves? If so, how often? Do I need to worry about corrosion in the threads weakening the physical connection?

The reason I ask is because many years ago when firing a friend's percussion cap rifle, the nipple blew out of the rifle upon firing, hyperextending the hammer to the point that it gouged the stock when it was forced beyond the fully cocked position. It scared the tar out of me, but thankfully didn't injure me or anyone else.

Out of an abundance of caution, I'm asking for your best advice.

Thx,

KP
 
I do not remove my touch hole liners. Some people do remove them each time they clean their rifle. The Chambers White Lightning liner is designed for permanent installation only to be removed when the touch hole is burned out.

There are rifle that have a simple touch hole only. I think Caywood only uses the drilled touch hole, no liner.

Some are concerned that the wear resulting from frequent removal will result in a blow out of the liner. Others have had their liners in for years, remove the liners for cleaning and see no wear or corrosion.

If the liner was installed using a good never seizing lubricant there should be no need to worry about corrosion.

My opinion is that the liner does not need to be removed and will not need to have removal as part of the regular cleaning regimine.
 
Half my rifles have White Lightnings which are not removable, one drilled flash hole, and the rest are slotted(and never been removed). I have never had any issues. I just swab them with a pipe cleaner and solvent at every cleaning.
 
Are you experiencing hang fires or slow fires? If not then leave it be. If you are then there may be a build up of caked ash caused by improper cleaning. Either way I would not remove it. You can take a paper clip and bend a slight hook on the end of it, stick it through the touch hole and scrape the inner cone of the liner. Removing it would be a last resort for me.
Robby
 
I have a couple used guns I purchased that have seized up liners. The screwdriver slots are also buggered up so they would have to be drilled to remove them. Because of this I always install RMC OXYOKE liners in my guns and remove them as part of my normal cleaning routine. Every time I put them back in I add a little anti-seize. I like knowing mine will come out if needed. I’ve never had a cross threading issue or worn threads. It’s your choice.
 
Like the others said, put Anti-Seize on the threads and Do Not over tighten it , just snug , will do.
 
This topic comes up every so often, and there tends to be as many "remove and clean 'em" guys as there are "leave 'em in" guys. I personally remove mine every time, drop it in an empty modern casing filled with black powder cleaning solution while I'm cleaning the rest of the gun, then I clean it out, put some purple grease on the threads intended for this purpose, and carefully thread it back in. If I'm cleaning my guns, I clean the whole thing, including the hole! HeHe
 
Like others, I see both camps.
I am now somewhere in the middle.
On my guns with a hooked breech - I don't remove the liner as bucket cleaning and "pumping" get the barrels and liners spotless clean.
On my flintlocks with a straight breech - the jag and patch will reach the bottom of the breech - so I only remove those every occasionally when I "deep clean" for yearly total maintenance.
Now for the ones with a patent or that type of breech - like Pedersoli - I remove those every time so I can get them clean to my standards of clean. I also - really like the OXYOKE liners with the hex socket. The straight slot is more traditional - but a real PITA to deal with.
Either way or methods, if you decide to remove the liner - as indicated above - use a good anti-seize and don't over torque.
The threads are not going to wear out in a lifetime.
The holes do erode, so sooner or later a liner will likely need changing out.
I have seen several Long Land pattern muskets that normally have only a drilled hole that have been drilled and threaded for a liner.
 
On my guns with removable liners, I take them out at every full cleaning. Just my routine. Re-grease and re-set. It gives me a chance to fully inspect the breech end of my barrel. I use a threaded cleaning port with a plastic tube to flush my barrels. I also have a clamp style flush tube for those that don't have removable liners. My favorite liners all have hex wrench slots; no buggered screws.

ADK Bigfoot
 
The only time I remove mine is if I dryball the rifle. I keep a small tube of anti seize in my ML box and ALWAYS reapply it. I also keep a spare liner in there. I see no need to routinely take it out.
 
The nipple on your friend's rifle was probably cross-threaded or had the wrong threads and was forced in at some point and finally gave up. I would venture a guess that properly installed nipple won't blow out. The cleanout screws don't blow out, and, unless they are Allen type screws,they are made from soft screw metal with very little thread
 
I remove it every time I clean the rifle. With every shot the antiseize gets forced out of the threads and fouling is forced in. When you pump it in a bucket of water, the water gets in the threads. I remove it and then pump the water. Never tighten more than snug and youll never have a problem. The threads wont wear out if you dont abuse them.
 
Oh, and as TreeMan said, I too upgrade to the RMC liners. They use an Allen wrench and are easy to remove and are concave so powder gets closer to your main charge. First thing I did even before shooting it.
 
When I drilled and tapped my antique French musket, to reduce the size of the worn flash hole, I was advised to use Teflon tape on the threads.
 
I recommend AGAINST removing the vent liner for routine cleaning/maintenance. It one wants, removal for annual checkup or work/repair/etc, should do it.
 
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