I have a Lyman Great Plains .50 caliber rifle that I have owned for roughly 20 years. I recently noticed that the snail has a roughly drilled hole for the cleanout plug and that the plug itself is bright steel. The "drilled" hole looks as though it was made by a very small bullet -- it has uneven, raised edges -- but it is blued. Did something happen to the rifle or was this the way it was made?
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Lyman Great Plains snail
- Thread starter diego_m
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wayne terry
40 Cal.
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Your good as long as the threads aren't stripped. got in a new GPR just 3 weeks ago and lyman has changed their QC quite a bit, the new rifle is not near the quality of my older guns and the clean out hole screw on this new model is an allen screw not a sloted screw.
nwtradegun
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the hole is from drilling the castind to the chamber it is not meant to be removed per lyman. this was in response to meant trade rifle.
ohio ramrod
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Yep! If it ain't broke don't "fix" it! :idunno:
AZbpBurner
54 Cal.
Looks like you're either perpetuating some kind of 3rd hand wisdom, or else Lyman has since changed their minds.rj morrison said:
In all my Lyman manuals, screw #4 for the Deerstalker Rifle is called a "cleanout plug".
On the Trade rifle, part #7 is called a cleanout plug.
On the GPR, screw #9 is called ... (wait for it) ... a cleanout plug.
Nowhere is there any admonition to never remove it. It only makes sense to regularly clean out a small diameter fire channel to remove any residual obstructing debris that may impede ignition.
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I agree it's a clean out screw. I once bought a mis-treated Invest arms cap lock. The fire channel was so plugged with crud the only way to get to it clear the path was via that clean out passage.
nwtradegun
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only quoting what lyman cust, ser. said about it.
There is no way that I can find to remove that "plug" (which is why I think it was broken off). It's just a bright metal tiny plug deep in the recess with no screw head of any kind. I'm just going to leave it alone as my method of cleaning removes everything.
It is a "clean out" screw. Those things are a bugger to care for, they need to be removed and lubricated with an anti-seize every time or left in place and forgotten. They very easily get so gummed up/corroded they won't come out.
Many rifles of that design have had that screw either stripped or broken.
It's really no big deal, the rifles flash channel cleans up just fine without it.
Your right to just leave it be.
Many rifles of that design have had that screw either stripped or broken.
It's really no big deal, the rifles flash channel cleans up just fine without it.
Your right to just leave it be.
Please leave this ALONE as you have said "you have had this rifle for 20 years and JUST noticed this "plug". This rifle worked OK for all this time with no issues it SHOULD keep on ticking for another 20 years or so without "monkeying" with the "plug" :hmm: Just keep the rifle clean and you will be fine :v.
I didn't just notice this plug. I always knew it was there but when I saw bright metal I was concerned that a piece had broken off of the plug. As it is now, I can't remove it; it would have to be done by a gunsmith or machinist.
I shot quite a few rounds today with a 3F black powder hunting load and the plug is still intact so I will leave it alone as you and others have suggested. I always lean toward safety and have had no accidents in 60 years of shooting. :thumbsup:
I shot quite a few rounds today with a 3F black powder hunting load and the plug is still intact so I will leave it alone as you and others have suggested. I always lean toward safety and have had no accidents in 60 years of shooting. :thumbsup:
More than a few of these little plugs get "frozen" in place because they are often left in place when the barrel is cleaned.
I've seen a lot of barrels that were in excellent condition but the heads of the little "clean out screw" was stripped because someone decided it needed to be removed.
As for safety, these screws aren't subjected to a lot of force when the gun fires, even if a stout load of powder and a bullet is being shot.
The actual force trying to push the plug out of the hole is small because the screw is small.
For instance if the screw was a M4 (4mm) or a #8 (.164 diameter) even with a breech pressure of 18,000 psi, only about 380 pounds of force is trying to blow the screw out.
A rifle shooting a patched roundball won't even begin to come close to that amount of pressure.
As a side note, a #8 screw can produce a force of over 600 pounds of force without being overloaded.
I've seen a lot of barrels that were in excellent condition but the heads of the little "clean out screw" was stripped because someone decided it needed to be removed.
As for safety, these screws aren't subjected to a lot of force when the gun fires, even if a stout load of powder and a bullet is being shot.
The actual force trying to push the plug out of the hole is small because the screw is small.
For instance if the screw was a M4 (4mm) or a #8 (.164 diameter) even with a breech pressure of 18,000 psi, only about 380 pounds of force is trying to blow the screw out.
A rifle shooting a patched roundball won't even begin to come close to that amount of pressure.
As a side note, a #8 screw can produce a force of over 600 pounds of force without being overloaded.
I am by no means an experienced guy, but I have 2 Lyman's a GPH and Deerstalker. Personally I always remove those little clean-out screws when cleaning the barrels, pump the water through and then run a pipe cleaner through. Don't know if it's right or wrong, or makes a difference but figured they put it there for a reason, it is labeled as a clean-out in the manual. Definitely can't hurt right?
It won't hurt to remove the "clean out screw" as long as you don't lose it or cross thread it when you screw it in.
Speaking of screwing it in, more than a few of these end up jamming against the threads on the nipple and locking it in place.
Worse, if they are screwed in too far, the nipple will interfere with the little screw and seem to be tight when it isn't fully installed.
You might want to think about coating the screw threads with some "clear nail polish" and then only screwing it in until it lightly touches the nipple threads. Then, back it out 1/4 of a turn.
The clear nail polish will dry, acting like a very weak thread locking compound so the screw won't loosen and fall out.
By the way, the real reason the "clean out screw" is there is because drilling the cross hole to connect the nipple with the powder chamber in the barrel is most easily done with the drill hitting the outer surface squarely at 90 degrees.
Then, by just running a tap into the hole to thread it, the machining is done.
Speaking of screwing it in, more than a few of these end up jamming against the threads on the nipple and locking it in place.
Worse, if they are screwed in too far, the nipple will interfere with the little screw and seem to be tight when it isn't fully installed.
You might want to think about coating the screw threads with some "clear nail polish" and then only screwing it in until it lightly touches the nipple threads. Then, back it out 1/4 of a turn.
The clear nail polish will dry, acting like a very weak thread locking compound so the screw won't loosen and fall out.
By the way, the real reason the "clean out screw" is there is because drilling the cross hole to connect the nipple with the powder chamber in the barrel is most easily done with the drill hitting the outer surface squarely at 90 degrees.
Then, by just running a tap into the hole to thread it, the machining is done.
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