Safety checklist for newly built gun

[windsor]

Hey all,

My first build, an Isaac Haines in .54 from TOTW could very well be assembled by the end of this week. The build went well and I believe everything is just right. I was just curious if anyone has any procedures that they use to check gun safety prior to firing first? Any particular way to go about the first few firings of the gun?

I know some people proof their barrels. I'm not sold on doing this in my application as I won't be doing crazy loads (plus I don't have a proofing bench... heh...) I got the Rice barrel assembled with the breech already on. I had tried to remove it, but couldn't. I realized with my fully carved stock that I wouldn't have to. Any concerns anywhere?

Thanks all. :hatsoff:

 

[wulf]

No real concerns from here...When i do test I get
a tire and put the butt inside the tire while it
is laying flat on the ground..I tie a rope around
the forestock and the tire. tape back the trigger
and loop a lanyard over the cock...get back and
pull the string...Naturally,,,,,,,I loaded
the gun first...helps in the testing process...
This is just my opinion based on no facts what so
ever................

 

[rich pierce]

It must hold on half cock no matter what, and must hold on full cock until the finger releases the trigger. You knew that. :grin:

 

[Zonie]

Of course it is just my opinion, but I don't believe you need to preform any proof load testing.

If all of the threads in the barrel are full threads, the gun will be much stronger than it needs to be for shooting even very 'hot' loads.

If, on the other hand you have partial threads from using an oversize tap drill, or from cross threading when you tapped the hole, no amount of proof testing will fix it.

zonie

 

[Birddog6]

Just out of curiosity, how did you bevel the edge of the vent liner hole inside the bore, if ya never took the breechplug out ? :hmm:
If you don't bevel that edge, every time you run a jag past it the patch will hang & tear.

 

[windsor]

Just out of curiosity, how did you bevel the edge of the vent liner hole inside the bore, if ya never took the breechplug out ? :hmm:
If you don't bevel that edge, every time you run a jag past it the patch will hang & tear.

That is a very real concern and I debated that. Tonight I tested it out. I swabbed with 5 patches with #13 bore cleaner, followed by a few dry patches and then a few with bore butter. Fortunately, none of them got stuck. I examined each patch and did not notice any tearing at all. Perhaps this could change once the rifle has been fired and there is some fowling, but I feel rather confident with it.

I guess one thing I was thinking about with safety is perhaps starting out with small powder loads, like 40 grains with a .54cal, checking for any stress where pin meets wood, tang meets wood, etc. Perhaps I am just too anal. Hopefully, two weeks from now I'll be at the range with it and will come back with a report. Thanks again to everyone! :hatsoff:

 

[Vaino]

Me thinks you were very lucky as to not pulling the breechplug, especially w/ the lack of burrs at the TH. Upon receiving a bbl from any maker, the first thing I do is to chisel in 2 witness marks, remove the breechplug and check for thread fit and secondarily for shutoff w/ the bore. There's nothing difficult or "sacred" in removing a breechplug, although a few precautions should be observed, eg.... padded wrench jaws and a firm grip in a suitable vise. Seeing I normally "violate" the bore shutoff by locating the TH liner within the plug, the thread fit is more important to me. Otherwise, a builder should know as the building progresses, if there are "weakspots" in his "creation" and in fact, who would know any better? The final firing w/ an average load, should reveal whether the locks' function, touch hole size and location and smoothness of trigger pull are all satisfactory. What's left?..........Fred

 

[wulf]

Umm I think tying back the trigger would
eliminate the half cock and full cock position..
I knew that...

 

[wulf]

A friend of myne was shooting his bess when he
decided to shoot his 5"barrel 58 cal pistol. And
he did ..but what a blast and recoil??? I looked
to check what happened..He mistakenly loaded the
bess charge in the pistol which was about 80 gr.
Damage control,,,a crack in front of the forward
lock bolt and the recoil tore the stock pin that
holds the bottom of the barrel. Thats all the
dammage with such a load...no one hurt and the
shooter didn't even know what he did till I questioned the "blast"....

 

[ski76]

After reading this forum, I am a little concerned. My Lancaster kit that I put together, I had to drill/tap the vent liner partly into the breech plug because of how the barrel and lock lined up. Will this weaken the plug in anyway say if I use 80g of ffg or am I just getting the jitters being this was an expensive kit ?

 

[MikeChapin]

After reading this forum, I am a little concerned. My Lancaster kit that I put together, I had to drill/tap the vent liner partly into the breech plug because of how the barrel and lock lined up. Will this weaken the plug in anyway say if I use 80g of ffg or am I just getting the jitters being this was an expensive kit ?

I wouldn't worry about it. I've seen a lot of rifles where the liner went into the front of the breech plug a little. The did it for the same reason you did. Many of those rifles are 30 or 40 years old and have had a lot of rounds through them with no problems.