Nipple for Douglas Barrel

[nw_hunter]

My son recently bought a 54 cal.caplock with a Douglas Barrel.Since he works such long hrs. he never seems to find time to shoot, so he wanted me to test fire it for him.I took it to the range today and fired it with several loads and patch combo's with pretty good results.

One problem I found was the nipple is pretty well shot out, and would blow the hammer to half cock with a 70 gr. load of 3f.I tried to replace the nipple with a TC 1/4-28 and it is loose in the threads.Can anyone tell me the size nipple the old Douglas barrels used?

 

[Rifleman1776]

The barrels are simply a part of the rifle. The nipple size was decided by the builder who breeched/and/or tapped the barrel. Take your nipple to a knowledgable ml store or shooter to find out what size it is. It is possibly a musket size nipple? How about a pic?

 

[ohio ramrod]

As stated douglas made barrels, someone else made the breech plug or drum with the nipple. If you cann't find a replacement that seems to fit properly the threads may be oversized. This often happens on guns that are not cleaned properly and powder fouling starts to corrode the threads. Which is why Dixie, Log cabin, and TOW all carry oversized nipples. My bet is the builder used 1/4 28 nipples and the threads are now oversized. :idunno:

 

[nw_hunter]

Duh Me!Sure Douglas just made the barrel. I just put a new T/C nipple in it and it locks down tight. An older nipple I had with me at the range fit sloppy.He will need to replace the drum before long.Cannot take a pic. the gun is on it's way back home.

 

[nw_hunter]

Thanks for the reply fellows!! :thumbsup:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Most hardware stores have thread Pitch gauges to use by customers in finding the right sized screws and nuts to buy. If you take a nipple to these stores, they will let you use the gauges to figure out what your thread size is on the existing nipple. It then becomes nothing more than a phone call to one of the suppliers( listed here on the forum up under "links") to order a nipple or two to have on hand.

1/4x 28 tpi is a common thread size seen on MLer, made here in the States.

Guns imported from Europe often have metric sizes. Hardware stores now have metric thread pitch gauges on hand, too. You also might want your son to invest in some "Pin gauge" that are used to measure the diameter of the hole that goes down through the nipple. These wire or "pin" gauges can be found where welding supplies are sold, as they are used to measure the hole diameters, and wear on the nozzles used in welding torches. :thumbsup: