Vent liners dangerous?

I'm sure this topic has been discussed here before but I'm new to this forum and would like some insight on this. I have been reading about how even properly installed vent liners are dangerous and can be blown out of the barrel causing harm to anyone near by. Is this a legitimate concern or just something to keep me up at night worrying? One question that comes to mind is: if vent liners are dangerous than why aren't percussion drums and nipples also a health hazard? I understand that it is not good practice to stand in front of a flintlock vent during ignition liner or no liner.

Dunno bout liners but since you brought up nipples.... Once my pop was shooting his mountain stalker out alone and returned with his straw cowboy hat scorched, his glasses smoked and a slight scrape on his forehead when the nipple blew out! Kept the gun till he passed then I had a buddy retap it for a bigger nipple and I'm shootin it! Not sure if he overloaded or just didnt have the nipple in tight or what? Funny after a few weeks

Have heard this over and over through 50+ years of muzzleloading. But have never even heard of it happening in a truly legitimately recorded case, let alone seen it happen. Some builders like Caywood are so adamantly against the use of vent lines, they will void all warranties, expressed or implied, if you install one on their product. No idea how serious this problem could be, have never heard of it actually happening.

My first build in the 70s had a poorly installed vent liner. I had too big of a drill to drill the pilot hole before tapping. I blew out,stripping the liner and bending it around the flashpan. I learded my leson About getting the right tools. I had shot charges of 150 grains behind a .54 ball without a problem, but it failed under a 70 grain charge. Thank god it didnt fail under one omy heavy charges and some one was next to me.
The last gun I built I just drilled a touch hole and that has worked fine. I can't tell a difference in fire time. A steely eyed target shooter may see the difference, but I aint that good of a shot.
Properly installed I doubt they could be a problem. At least with me I never had a problem since. On the other hand I doubt I will ever place one again in any flinter I might build. Maybe If I burn out a touch hole, but otherwise just a drilled touch hole works fine.

Stringbean; blown out nipples are nearly always caused by cross threading and/or over tightening. Inexperienced shooters not installing the nipple properly in the round surface of the drum. Because vent liners are installed in a flat surface, barrel flat, they are virtually impossible to start cross threaded. In my 38yrs in this genre, i've never encountered a blown vent liner, though i've seen maybe 5-10 cross threaded/blown nipples. It seems that shooters trying to install a nipple in a round drum without due consideration for the hammer interference is an accident waiting to happen. Very common among rookies using CVA or Traditions style caplocks. I've never seen a T-C rifle with a cross threaded nipple, because their drum/snail system provides a flat surface in which to install the nipple. BTW; you don't stand on the fire side of a flintlick because of the blowby coming back out of the liner, not because there's any danger of the liner coming out. Hope this helps, Buzzard

Personally, in my 40+ years of shooting muzzleloaders, I have never heard of an actual case of a liner blowing out. It just doesn't happen under normal conditions. I guess it could happen if the bore was obstructed but then under those conditions, you are likely to blow up your barrel as well.

It is possible that what you heard or read was referring to the danger of the normal side blast from a flintlock. This is a real thing and, when shooting with friends, you must make sure that you are not going to hit anyone with the jet of fire and debris that comes from the touch hole when you fire. Also, do not get any of your body parts in front of the touch hole when you fire. I did that once......only once. I am a quick learner. I was holding my off hand back too far on the rifle and let my extended little finger get back beside the pan. The jet of fire from the touch hole burned a small hole in my finger and filled it with burned powder. I will carry that tattoo the rest of my life as a reminder.

A touch hole liner blowing out is highly unlikely but the side blast from a touch hole when the gun is fired is a reality and a real safety concern. Some ranges and reenacting groups require a flash guards http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Search.aspx?search=flint flash guards on your pan to protect the other shooters who may be beside you when you fire.

only heard of wrong threaded or liners put in oversized or worn hole giving trouble.

stringbean said:

I'm sure this topic has been discussed here before but I'm new to this forum and would like some insight on this. I have been reading about how even properly installed vent liners are dangerous and can be blown out of the barrel causing harm to anyone near by. Is this a legitimate concern or just something to keep me up at night worrying? One question that comes to mind is: if vent liners are dangerous than why aren't percussion drums and nipples also a health hazard? I understand that it is not good practice to stand in front of a flintlock vent during ignition liner or no liner.

Click to expand...

One needs to define "properly installed". One mans "properly installed" is another's hack job. People also fail to properly proof barrels thinking its not needed. This is a mistake.
If carefully installed onto a shoulder there is little chance of its blowing out. Even without a shoulder its very difficult to blow one out if its properly installed. I don't worry about vents blowing out. But I make and install my own.

Dan

I have liners in my three flinters and have not had any problem with any of them in 35 years.
However, a friend was shooting his T/C renegade, .50 calibre, and he had the nipple blow out. He sent the barrel back to T/C and they sent him a new barrel and nipple.

It's like asking if breech plugs are dangerous. Both are threaded rods exposed to breech pressures.

Some builders like Caywood are so adamantly against the use of vent lines

Click to expand...

To say the Caywoods are "adamantly" against touch hole liners is to put it gently. :shocked2: They are absolutely rabidly :cursing: opposed to their use. Although to watch them talk about this subject is an interesting stage act. :yakyak:

Have no first hand knowledge of a nipple or vent liner blowing out.

Have "heard" from "some guy" who knew this other guy...

I'm sure someone who spends many many hours at a popular range with dozens of BP shooters may have witnessed an event maybe a time or two over many years.

Given that collectively, on this site, the number of shots taken is probably well in the "millions", the rate of occurrence is probably infinitesimal compared to your getting killed in a car accident on the way to the range...

Vent liners, breech plugs, drums and nipples, those are things that I just do not trust to other people, period.

I've never heard of a documented case of a blown out liner that was fully seated. I have heard of nipples blowing out, however. It's all second hand reporting because I've never actually witnessed a blown nipple.

Ventliners can be DEADLY.


Only when swallowed :rotf:

A hundred years ago, when I was a kid, and there was no internet and very little information regarding M/L'rs, I had snapped my percussion gun, (in defense of home and hearth of course)until I had worn out the nipple.
The only other person I knew who shot M/L'rs was a friend of dads and he gave me a pack of nipples to replace mine. I didn't know there were different sizes, I recall it not threading up like before, but I had removed it so often I thought the threads were worn. Well guess what...one day the nipple blew out and the side of my face was blackened, and it hurt like h@#l.
The only thing that saved my eye was I'm left handed and shooting a r/h gun, and my right eye was closed.

God looks after drunks, fools, and children.

Eterry

AZbpBurner said:

Ventliners can be DEADLY.


Only when swallowed :rotf:

Click to expand...

Obviously you've never eaten them deep fried; tasty, they can be. :grin:

I personally have had a vent liner blow out and can tell you it is not a pleasant experience. An after-incident examination appeared to indicate the hole into which the liner was screwed was not drilled perfectly true. Fortunately I was able to clean up the original hole by drilling it out for the next larger size liner. After tapping the new hole the replacement liner screwed in nice and snug and square, but I used red Locktite on the threads anyway as an additional safeguard.

The original liner lasted less than 50 shots before it blew out. The replacement has been fired several times that number and is still secure. That being said however, I now make sure prior to shooting that no one is "downrange" of the vent.

All due respect to Caywood but vent (touch hole) liners have been used for hundreds of years (at least as early as the 1720s) on the finest firearms money could buy.
Also you will find liners on all "off the shelf" and nearly all custom and semi-custom arms being made today.

Toomuch
...........
Shoot Flint

I know a lot of dangerous nipples :rotf: :surrender: