Blown nipple

[silverfox]

Need a little advise. Last week at a match one of our shooters blew his nipple out. The rifle is a Dixie Mountain rifle in .36. There are still some threads showing.
The question is what is the best way to fix this. (1) Get oversized nipple from Dixie. (2) Drill and tap for new standard nipple. or (3) Get a new drum.
Number 2 would depend on whether it could safely be drilled. depending on old nipple size.
How hard would a drum replacement be.
Thanks Fox :thumbsup:

 

[BrownBear]

I haven't experienced it, but in his shoes I'd be looking first at a replacement drum. That appeals to me more than drilling and tapping, much less contending with oversize nipples. It would put me back in shape to continue using conventional nipples, or for the next owner to do so if I ever sold the gun.

I have removed drums from my rifles, but never replaced one. Doesn't seem like it would be too hard to do.

 

[Dave K]

Couple of question really need addressed here. Like, why did it come out? Was it the correct thread for the gun? Was it even tight to begin with or just started in the threads, because he removed it and failed to tighten it properly? I think and this is just an I think, if the threads in the drum are sound, I would find the correct thread nipple and install it properly. If the threads in the nipple are damaged, there are 2 courses of action. He could get an oversize tap and matching nipple to make a good fit or replace the drum. But we still need to find out why, this happened. Gun problems or operator error.

 

[flintlock75]

I have had this happen to me on a .40 cal longrifle. The drum had previously been rethreaded for a different nipple size. This held for several years before it to blew out. I replaced the whole drum and added a proper size standard nipple. I highly recomend a new drum be used. if i had done that first the second blowout would not have happened.Track of the wolf sells a tool for drilling and threading new drums and nipples.

 

[Birddog6]

If it came from Dixie, it could have had a metric thread & someone put a std. nipple it. :shake:
Not a good idea........ Lots of people don't realize the here are Both, Standard & Metric nipples & they are not interchangable.... :nono:

 

[cgg]

If it came from Dixie, it could have had a metric thread & someone put a std. nipple it. :shake:
Not a good idea........ Lots of people don't realize the here are Both, Standard & Metric nipples & they are not interchangable.... :nono:

That's exactly what I was thinking. And if that's the case I would recommend a new drum. I don't think that would be too difficult for some one with a little machining experience.

 

[silverfox]

Birddog I think that is what happened. I have not been able to get ahold of the gentleman yet but left word that I thought we need to pull the drum to get the correct thread size and order him a new drum.
I think The Gun Works has drums with 1/4 X 28 nipple treads cut. Now if they have the right drum treads maybe we will get him back to the range.
Thanks to everybody for your answers and help.
Fox :thumbsup:

 

[Birddog6]

If the nipple threads are metric, most likely the drum threads are as well...... :hmm: