Traditional Muzzleloading Association
Craftsmanship => Gun Building and Repair => Topic started by: Lonewolfe20 on January 21, 2018, 11:09:00 AM
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Hi Everyone
I have a very small octogon barrel that I'm going to make another child's muzzleloader
The barrel measurements are 5/8 wide
How should I go about finding a breech plug
What kind of steel is best for it
Any suggestions are very appreciated
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5/8 inch across the flats, that's narrow. What caliber is it, and is the barrel's breech drilled and tapped for a plug?
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It's a 22 barrel that I came across
It isn't drilled or tapped for a plug
I was half tempted to make it into a BB gun that fires off of caps
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You'll probably have to find a bolt with the head 5/8" across the flats and make your own. Fitting it would be a little fiddling around, filing down the end of the barrel and the end of the bolt until the corners of the head match the corners of the barrel. this after you have drilled and tapped the barrel to the depth you make the breech plug so it bottoms out when the corners are aligned. Or something to that effect...
-Kees-
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I've got an old .22 barrel I've been setting on for a few years and have been thinking about making it into a muzzle loading rifle, but I've just not gotten around to it.
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Here you go:
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I hear you Joe
I came across 2 on eBay my wife bought me
And I was thinking of boring one out to a larger diameter and my son dropped a BB down the other one and said man this would be a sweet BB gun. So began my idea of that.
I was just curious on what steel I should use if I machine a breech plug or just use a grade 5 or 8 bolt and weld a Tang on it
I am not as concerned on the BB gun breech but not sure on the actual black powder one
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It would be such a low charge on the black powder barrel even if you left it .22 and made a mold
Were you going to keep yours 22 caliber or bore it out
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A #5 bolt should be plenty stout IMHO as all the breech plugs I've ever installed in my build have been bought from Track of the Wolf, and they are soft metal as they appear to me as I work with them in the filing process and drilling for Tang screw.
I had no plans for a mold, as I believe one of the buckshot lead balls fit the .22 Rim Fire barrel, but I can't remember which one it was.
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That's a great idea on the buck shot
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FWIW, back around the late 60's I made a front stuffer pistol from an 8" section of rifle (round) barrel from a .444 I shortened to 16".
Not knowing any better back then, I just tapped the rear of the barrel cutoff for an unknown steel bolt, to which I welded a tang, then grafted the assembly to a 10"x14"x2" slab of black walnut I had come across a year or two earlier.
Cutting to the chase, after I got 'er done, I shot it with PRB's for several years before I sold it - none the worse for wear or other issues.
While I rounded the bolt head of my build to match the barrel, the flats alignment suggestion above are skookum.
Please take some pics, and let us know how you make out.
IIRC, small caliber (.22) muzzleloaders tend to foul quicker than larger bores, but the smaller caliber IS interesting.
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FWIW, back around the late 60's I made a front stuffer pistol from an 8" section of rifle (round) barrel from a .444 I shortened to 16".
Not knowing any better back then, I just tapped the rear of the barrel cutoff for an unknown steel bolt, to which I welded a tang, then grafted the assembly to a 10"x14"x2" slab of black walnut I had come across a year or two earlier.
Cutting to the chase, after I got 'er done, I shot it with PRB's for several years before I sold it - none the worse for wear or other issues.
While I rounded the bolt head of my build to match the barrel, the flats alignment suggestion above are skookum.
Please take some pics, and let us know how you make out.
IIRC, small caliber (.22) muzzleloaders tend to foul quicker than larger bores, but the smaller caliber IS interesting.
I've personally never owned anything smaller than a .32 cal, and as Pete mentioned, it required a lot of wiping, even with mild loads.
But, that little .32 was likely the MOST fun gun I have ever owned! Period!
Another reason I was doing so much wiping could have very well been due to the load I was using, which was always a bit more than the MAX listed for that gun.
IIRC the MAX load should have been around 32gr and, the gun should have never been fed a steady diet of even that much, but suffice to say I did use more than the recommended maximum load for several years because that gun really liked those "hot" loads.....In fact, it shot every bit as well as a center-fire in a similar caliber.
Back in that time frame, early to mid 1970's, there was an old axiom that you "loaded 'em till they cracked".....
At the time I was young enough, and foolish enough, to do just that. Fortunately I'm still around to tell the story.
And, fortunately, others who was shooting BP in those days remember all to well what I'm saying and they too seem to have made it OK.
Nowadays I'm very adamant about NEVER DO THAT, stick with the recommended loads!
If ya have to wipe a bit more with the smaller calibers, so be it.
That's all a part of owning and shooting one of these little jewels.
Never try to "shoot 'em clean", and never take any short cuts......short cuts, and other such madness never seems to end well.
Good luck with these small bore projects, they sound like a lot of fun.
Uncle Russ..
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I read on another site that they had used a grade 8 bolt but by the time they welded and dressed it to make the Tang it had turned brittle
When they went to proof the barrel the breech blew out
This was on the internet so not sure if was true or not
But it did make me think
So since I've Wondered if machining a whole breech with a Tang an intregal part of it was better than welding a Tang on a bolt
If I have time this week I'll probably sort out a breech for this this little pup and post some pics
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Small bores do take a lot of wiping. The BB /buckshot idea is more interesting to me. Seems like a neat way to introduce kids to muzzleloading without making it complicated.
Who knows, with a strong musket cap it might make a nice squirrel gun. 8)
IronHand