Moving Nipple

[Lostinidaho]

I am prepared for all the jokes. Fire away.

I have an under hammer. I got a very nice 20ga barrel. When installing the nipple I put it in 1/2 a nipple too far away.

In the antique motor hobby you just plug the hole with a bolt. Fix it in with green loc-tite. And drill a new hole.

I have a shorter nipple on order, but can you plug and re drill?

Lost

[oldracer]

If I understand your question correctly, you want to insert a plug (set screw or similar) and drill and tap a new hole? The new hole will use part of the plug? If it were me I would take it to my gunsmith who can do TIG welding and finish the barrel flat and start over. You could try the plug idea and I would use a small amount of JB Weld instead of loc-tite then finish the barrel flat so it is smooth and the new nipple will seat okay.

[Dan Cash]

How about pulling the barrel and cutting the required amount off the rear so the existing nipple is in the right position?

[oldracer]

I was going to suggest that and it will work with the H&A action but the Allen action has a threaded on barrel that is torqued ( forget what). I would imagine it should be cut on a lathe and not by hand or a band saw?

[DCM]

Good suggestions above.
The title sounds like something for jenner.

[Bent Ramrod]

Ive heard of people hot-bending or forging the hammer out to a more gradual curve in order to hit the nipple more centrally. That would seem the easiest solution to the problem.

I’ve plugged a drilled-through scope mount screw hole and that worked OK, but that was a small surface exposed to the pressure. I’d be kind of leery about plugging a hole that big, and then drilling it half-away for another threaded hole.

[KCSO]

Cut the hammer and weld in a section and dress it down and polish. Or weld up the hole and re drill and thread. In welding the hole you will need to dress it down in the inside where it contacts the chamber and polish it.

[country gent]

A plugged hole can be very strong as long as the new threads stay in the plug. This would be okay for your use. But if the new threads are half in the barrel and half in the plug then it greatly weakens the threaded joint. If your nipple is 1/4 28 and you move it 1/2" your in new steel. You might get by inserting a snug 1/4 28 allen head bolt into the hole, cut it off and dress it down then silver solder it into place as a final lock. then drill the new hole on location and tap. As long as your not into the the original threads you should be okay. But if your overlapping the holes then its a weakened joint.

To run the numbers 1/4" 28 threads are 1/8 " from center each way so the existing hole is 1/8" towards the new hole and the new hole is 1/8" towards the old hole which equally 1/4" moving 1/2" leaves roughly 1/4" between the holes, plugged and new.

[reivertom]

Bend or extend the hammer. The less you do to the barrel, the better. I had to do that on a Hawken type rifle with a patent breech that I built from different parts I accumulated. The hammer was 3/16th short from striking the nipple flush. I just heated the hammer until it was easy to bend and stretched it to reach where it hit just right. You'll need a heat source hotter than a propane torch like an acetylene though. Also, let it cool slowly so it won't get brittle.

[oldracer]

The original poster still has not said what type of action it is I.E. H & A or an Allen. The Allen action has a machined hammer that can't be bent as the indentation that strikes the nipple and it would be off to much to strike squarely. The H & A under hammer has a cast then hardened hammer and would have to be annealed to get it soft, then bent and then hardened once again. Once again the striking face of the hammer would be off and from what my mentor told me that metal is hardened in a furnace and he tried one a few years ago when repairing a crack half way down the hammer. The first shot shattered the hammer into several pieces?

[Lostinidaho]

I appreciate all the help and ideas. The barrel is and octagon barrel on an H&A action. So I made a threaded plug. And silver solder the plug into the poorly located threaded nipple hole. I made the plug so it was flush with the inside of the barrel. I then filed and sanded the outside of the plug flush with the outside of the barrel. I then rotated the barrel one flat and installed the nipple in a new location. Luckily there was not other barrel hardware. I have done 4 test loads in a vice and it looks good.

[John Taylor]

Silver solder was probably more than needed, a little loctite would have kept it from moving. Sounds like you did good.

[Lostinidaho]

I cant weld, but I can soft solder, silver solder and hard braze.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

[bob208]

you are plug over thinking this simple repair. just drill the hole out to the next larger size plug it with a loc-tight. then redrill to the right location. I have done this many times. never had one fail. do use fine threads