My first re-barrel

[Dusty_Traveler]

Good afternoon gents.

After weeks of waiting for the square brown truck to deliver all the components, I believe I am ready to start on my first re-barrel.

I am starting out with an unaltered .36 Frontier. The new barrel I will be fitting is a Colerain .45 with 5/8-18 breech threads.

The breechplug I am using is a NOS Hatfield plug, which is very close in dimension to the Pedersoli plug/stock fit

My biggest concern is fitting the breechplug to the barrel.

What is the sequence of events during the fitting of a breechplug?

Where do I remove and NOT remove material from?

I'm guessing the removal of material is what lets you time/seal the plug?

I humbly ask for your wisdom.

 

[Phil Coffins]

The treads in the breech needn’t be longer then 1/2” if fitted well. The position of the lock on a rebarreling job has to be considered to get the breech where it needs to be. Is this a flint or percussion rifle?

 

[rchas]

You need to get some dykem or other marking fluid. In a pinch a black sharpie marker will work. Mark the the plug where it hits the shoulder at the bottom of the threads, and the breech edge on the barrel where the tang will jam--if that makes any sense. Remove metal only from those two surfaces (the bottom of the plug, and the breech end of the barrel) where the marking fluid is removed when you screw in the plug. It can be done by hand, but it is file and try over and over again removing minimal amounts of metal until you get three things happening at once: a) the plug bottoming out against the shoulder at the bottom of the threads, b) the tang snugging up against the breech edge, c) the flat on the tang and barrel lining up.

Don't drill for a percussion drum or flashhole until the breechplug is fitted.

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

The treads in the breech needn’t be longer then 1/2” if fitted well. The position of the lock on a rebarreling job has to be considered to get the breech where it needs to be. Is this a flint or percussion rifle?

Phil, the rifle came to me as a percussion, and I fitted an L&R RPL flintlock to it. I planned on drilling a plain ol 1/16" vent hole in such a manner that if at a later date I desired to make this barrel percussion, all I would have to do is enlarge the hole and thread it for the drum.

You need to get some dykem or other marking fluid. In a pinch a black sharpie marker will work. Mark the the plug where it hits the shoulder at the bottom of the threads, and the breech edge on the barrel where the tang will jam--if that makes any sense. Remove metal only from those two surfaces (the bottom of the plug, and the breech end of the barrel) where the marking fluid is removed when you screw in the plug. It can be done by hand, but it is file and try over and over again removing minimal amounts of metal until you get three things happening at once: a) the plug bottoming out against the shoulder at the bottom of the threads, b) the tang snugging up against the breech edge, c) the flat on the tang and barrel lining up.

Don't drill for a percussion drum or flashhole until the breechplug is fitted.

rchas: it does make sense, thank you.

So, when fit correctly, should the outside edge of the threads for a drum or vent liner be just barely forward of the breechplug face, or can it be a little further forward if the lock position requires it to be?

 

[rchas]

The center of a drum or vent liner should be as close as possible to the face of the breech plug, i.e. as far back as you can. Some builders file a slot in the face of the breech plug to facilitate this. Others say that practice exposes too much of the breech plug threads to possible corrosion, and prefer putting the vent/drum well ahead of the breech plug threads. I have done it both we ways and have seen little difference. However, the farther back the vent/drum, the farther back the lock, and this makes for more attractive architecture of the gun.