TC Patriot breech plug

[Nobade]

Recently I came across a early production Patriot pistol. I shot it some with 15gr. FFFg and it was fairly accurate. Went to clean it, and the patches would catch at the bottom and come off the rod. It was a bear to clean! So, I looked at it with the borescope and saw a big gap between the end of the bore and the start of the breechplug. Took the plug out, measured, and sure enough there was a .025" gap between the two. Not only that, but the breechplug is very deep and holds 25gr. of powder itself. So when I loaded it, the ball was ending up inside the breechplug. I made a washer to take up the gap (ID the same as the breechplug, OD just under the minor diameter of the plug threads which are 11/16X20 BTW.) and reassembled it, now the cleaning patches go in and out like they should and there isn't so much room for fouling and water to accumulate. When I shoot it I'll use powder than cream 'o' wheat filler to keep the ball in the bore and not inside the breechplug. If you own a Patriot or Cherokee/Seneca rifle you might want to keep this in mind if you shoot light loads.

[pietro]

FWIW, ALL sidehammer T/C percussion gun's breechplugs (not just Patriots & Senecas) have that "feature" .

Called a "Patent Breech", it contains an auxilliary powder chamber, smaller than bore diameter.

My Austin & Halleck rocklock has the same type breechplug.

There has long been cleaning tools/scrapers available, specially-made to fit/clean the chamber.

That said - the patent Breech/breechplug should seat snugly against the rear of the barrel, with the external seam hard to discern.

If it isn't/wasn't so, then IMHO something's rotten in Denmark.

.

[Nobade]

It is not smaller than bore diameter on this pistol. It's .445" and huge. About the size of a 44 mag case. I would expect something smaller, that didn't hold so much powder and didn't allow the ball to enter.

As for the seam, on the outside it does fit tight. The problem is the hole drilled for the breechplug threads in the barrel is too deep. You must not have a gap between the end of the plug and the start of the rifling, or fouling and water when you clean it will accumulate. And in this case catch the patch and make it very hard to clean.

Many other production muzzleloaders have this "feature" because it is easier to drill a hole too deep than exactly the right depth. But breechplugs should be fitted so they hit on two surfaces - the start of the rifling and the rear of the barrel. No gaps at either place. But that is hard to do and takes time, so the factories leave a gap in the inside.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

I have a .36 Seneca, the "nice" thing about the patent breach is if you dry ball there is room to add powder behind the ball! I use a .30 cal brush to clean mine out.

I don't have any problems with snagging patches . . .