My neighbor gave me his 50 cal T/C Hawken barrel. He tried to remove the clean out screw, by the caplock nipple. It wouldn't come out, so he tried to drill it out, with no luck. Anyhow after me trying, using Kroil, an easy out, and some acetylene, it is frozen still. 50 years of black powder fouling, has it in there solid. I was hoping to rethread, and install a new plug. Is the factory thread an 8-32 or a 10-32, or something else? I guess if I have to, I can make it any size I want.
Why not just leave it in?
Yeah - it's a manufacturing plug screw, not a cleanout access screw.Originally Posted by dondiego
I'd just clean up the drilling attempt mess and colorize the area to match the rest of the snail/breech.
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It's drilled all the way through, so it needs a replacement.
If they are stuck , I just leave them in.
I believe that they are 8/32.
But I would not recommend redrilling and trying to tap them.
It will work if you totally had to , but you better be an accurate machinist.
There is no good reference to use to be drilling them accurately.
I have seen several that the slotted screw was broke and you couldn't use a screwdriver on it.
Those , people just ground the tip of the screw smoother so it didn't look like a damaged part.
Then it looked like a permanent plug for the hole.
If it is stuck and drilled all the way through just rethread to the size of the drilled hole and install a set screw done deal
drill it until you can tap into sound metal then use whatever size works - i reckon my CVA's have a 3/16 whitworth
the thing to be careful with on a nipple drum setup is length of the screw its easy to foul the thread on the end of the nipple
Hello GBertolet,
I agree with indian joe, step the hole up untill the plug is completely removed.
I believe they were installed at an angle, it covers the flash path to the center of the barrel.
When you tap for a set screw, be sure to stop the tap so you can bottom out the set screw.
AntiqueSledMan.
That's exactly what I did. I went with the 8-32 screw size.
Those were never intended to be removed!
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that is what I thought as well
just clean the gun while leaving the breech plug alone
Hit em'hard
hit em'often
Remove the barrel from the stock. Place on a drill press and drill the clean out screw with a No. 21 drill. Tap new threads to 10-32.
The 50 Hawken I got in with the as-shot bore left un-cleaned for well over a decade, just got left when it would not turn out and the bore got scrubbed clean, once I got the barrel breach plug and nipple out. There was no reason in the world to remove that plug screw, except to simply put it back in.
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Guess your (SCREWED) it was never meant to be removed!!!!!!!!!!!! Amateur's with drills are dangerous !
What he said and knows (not an amateur) ! Ed
on a patent breech yes - just a plug to fill the hole - what I am familiar with is a plug screw with no head as such
otoh the nipple drum guns usually have a screw with decent head - meant to be removed as a clean out screw
It might have been gunked up solid and had to drill it to clear the channel out ?
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