PH Volunteer.....nipple disaster.

[indian joe]

Well done !!! patience is your best friend .............................

[725]

Well done! Find the correct open ended wrench and put one in your kit.

[william l evans]

I have seen a couple of those rifles that were modified by replacing the clean out screw with a screw in vent to help relieve the pressure.
if you do this, warn the guy to your right before firing.

[Nobade]

Glad to hear you got it. Those rifles are too nice to not use!

[nagantino]

I never want that experience again. I learnt this though: Do not try to fix a problem like this in one go. Read about it and do it slowly. The next day your mind sees where to go next, it’s not insurmountable providing you go slow.

[saddler]

...Dromia used to be the subject-matter expert on Volunteer and Whitworth muzzle-loaders. I wish he’d chime in here, but he hasn’t posted in years now.

I see that the OP has sorted the issue, if not I could have phoned the above to ask for ideas.
He's still around and actively shooting, etc., but not on here as you say

[fgd135]

I got the old nipple out. The nipple must never have been removed in years.
I wrapped the new nipple threads in plumbers tape and greased it. Many thanks for the encouragement.

Excellent work!

As far as shooting goes, I think you'll find that a regular steel or Ampco nipple will burn out in just as few as a couple of dozen shots, and will need to be replaced maybe as often as every shooting session. A platinum lined nipple will last thru hundreds if not thousands of shots.

[Bent Ramrod]

Saddler, if you do talk regularly with Dromia, I’d appreciate knowing what the size and threads are in the Parker-Hale Volunteer cleanout screw are, if he happens to know. (IIRC, he had four or five of the things.) I might get desperate enough to try to get it out by nagantino’s method, but if they are Whitworth threads, it might not be worth the trouble. The steam cleaner does the job.

I found the owner’s instruction sheet somewhere On Line and it says to take the barrel out of the stock for cleaning after every shooting session. Does anybody do this? The guy who sold it to me (used) warned me not to take the barrel out of the stock.

(Sorry for the thread diversion, but the subject of gunsmithing on Volunteers doesn’t come up very often.)

[nagantino]

I’ve seen video where the barrel is taken out for cleaning. I had to remove the barrel to get it into a vice. The barrel on this one was bedded in Water Pump Grease. Loads of it. I have regreased it and don’t intend to take the barrel out again. I have read that this will change the point of impact which I understand. I hope by not much because its a great rifle.

[fgd135]

... I’d appreciate knowing what the size and threads are in the Parker-Hale Volunteer cleanout screw are, I might get desperate enough to try to get it out by nagantino’s method, but if they are Whitworth threads, it might not be worth the trouble. The steam cleaner does the job.

Mr. Bill Curtis, an eminent expert on these rifles, advises not to remove the clean-out screw, ever. See his post (#8) in this thread from the British Militaria Forum:
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/brit...p=80124#p80124

[Bent Ramrod]

Thanks for that link, fgd135! A lot of good Volunteer info there.

That screw isn’t coming out in any case, so it’s nice to be able to stop heartburning about it. Saves the possible problems involved with removing the barrel from the stock as well.

I did find early on that a .38 caliber mop is the thing for swabbing out the patent breech. Quite a constriction down there, as it turns out.