Euroarms Kentuckian .36 questions

[Billnpatti]

I hate to tell anyone to remove the breach plug but it seems that doing so is about the only way that you are going to get the mystery stuff out of your bore. Use a pad of some kind on your vice jaws so you don't mess up your barrel. Pads can be any metal that is softer than steel. Sheet brass or aluminum is a good choice. When you tighten the jaws of the vice, do not tighten them as tightly as you can, just snug enough to hold the barrel and not allow it to twist. Do not clamp the vice over the breach plug or you can just cause it to be harder to remove. Use as large of a wrench as you have and used a piece of pipe over the end of the wrench as a "cheater bar" to give yourself as much leverage as you need to remove the breach plug. Use steady pressure on the wrench to unscrew the breach plug. If it just won't move, take the barrel out of the vice, plug all holes and fill the bore with a 50/50 mixture of automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Let it stand for a day or so to allow the mixture to penetrate the threads. Then give it anther try. If it still won't budge, put it in the vice and use a torch to heat the barrel around the breach area. Get it good and hot and then apply ice to the breach plug to chill the plug. Then immediately apply the wrench and unscrew the breach plug. The heat will expand the barrel and the ice will contract the breach plug making it easier to remove.

 

[nebraska steve]

Progress. I shimmed my vise, got my 12 inch knuckle buster and a 24 inch cheater bar. The plug backed right out. I sprayed some One Shot down the barrel and and used a 3/8 aluminum rod to hammer the obstruction out of the bore. The first thing to come out was a plastic sabot, next a slug of lead that probably was at one time round. Followed by a bronze brush which was caked with a mixture of what appears to be pyrodex and oil, then another plastic sabot, a ball, finally a patch retriever. In other good news the patch retriever is going to be salvageable.

 

[nebraska steve]

The rifle is disassembled to it's smallest parts. Now I am thinking I want to strip the stock for an oil finish, and remove the blue for browning. The lock has a heat treatment effect, which I like, but I'm sure I can shine up the inside of the plate. Now looking for videos of lock dismantling and reassembly. The bore was filthy but for the most part is shining up nice. Rifling appears to have survived also.
I figure I am 300 dollars away from having a 200 dollar rifle. :wink:

 

[mooman76]

At least you got it. Good deal! Now you can put together and take it out.

 

[nebraska steve]

Thanks, your post came in ahead of my cosmetic changes post. I thought now would be a good time since it is all apart.

 

[Billnpatti]

Sounds like the previous owner was well on his way to filling it all the way to the muzzle with manure. It's a good thing he didn't keep it any longer or he may have run out of stuff to poke down the bore.

I once bought a very nice .50 cal. flintlock Hatfield rifle for $250 and it included a bag, horn, knife, a bag of balls, a leather cover and a few other things. The owner couldn't get it to fire and just wanted to get rid of all of his muzzleloading stuff. I found a wad of some hard unidentifiable "stuff" packed in the breach. I removed the breach plug and poked it out. I cleaned the bore and found it to be in perfect condition. It was a beautiful rifle with the plug of crud being the only thing wrong with it. I came out smelling like a rose on that deal. I think you, too, will come out smelling like a rose on your deal.

 

[nebraska steve]

For the first time since I bought this rifle it is now whole. It was an enjoyable process for the most part. Tomorrow I will find out how it shoots. Hopeful for a photo of rifle on a good target.

I appreciate the knowledge I found here, I would not have got it done without the help.