Removing Old Touch Hole Liner

[El Toro]

I bought a vintage .50 caliber Hatfield that appears to have been rarely shot or was just well taken care of. It has a slotted stainless touch hole liner and I tried unscrewing it but after one slip I am afraid of stripping the slot. Anybody try PB-blaster or Kroil on these? Would a heat gun application help or should I just drill it out? I'm an electrician not a gunsmith.  

FYI - The bore looks clean and bright - no rust so I don't think it's rusted in place. I want to replace it with a better liner and use some tape on it for future replacement.

[Rob DiStefano]

ah me, probably a case of not using anti-seize lube on the liner threads, not smart.  you can plug the liner's vent hole and spray/pour in enuf pb blaster to soak from the inside out (preferred, since that's where the bp corrosion has entered into those threads).  give it a good day or so of soaking.  worse case if the liner's slot gets chewed is to use a back out (reverse) screw and a bunch torque ... else drill out the liner and rethread.  but i do hope the pbb works!

[El Toro]

Good advice Rob on plugging the hole and soaking it. Yes my plan is to replace with a T/C liner and use anti-seize - teflon tape was another suggestion.

[Semisane]

El Toro, I recommend you consider an RMC Touch Hole Liner as a replacement. They are installed with an Allen Wrench and the bore side is coned. They greatly improved ignition in my Lyman and Pedersoli flintlocks.

RMC Flintlock Touch Hole Liner Replacements

[rollingb]

If you're planning to replace the liner with a new one anyway, just use an "easy-out" to remove the old liner.
Be sure to apply a little anti-seize to the threads of the new liner.  

[freddy]

Why do you want to remove the liner ... just to replace it with a better version? If it was me, I'd shoot it with the existing liner, then someday when it's worn out, PB or use an easy-out. If by "better" you mean the Chamber's White Lightning version, they are not made to removed for maintenance or cleaning. The slotted head is for insertion rather than removal. If you are very clever, you may be able to drill the old unit out without damaging the threads, otherwise D&T to the next largest size liner.

I'd like to hear from any forum users that had a touch hole liner burn out and need replacing, and how many shots did it take?

[freddy]

In my opinion, the touch hole liner should just enter the bore. You can generally determine its length by measuring the outside flat/wall to the edge of the bore at the muzzle. Now reduce the length from the shoulder to the inside so it barely enters the bore after installation. Too long will snag cleaning patches and leave a space for crud & corrosion to build, a little too short is not a problem. Every liner I've encountered were as-sold too long, to allow user to adjust for different barrels. 

[hotfxr]

In converting a percussion cap to a flintlock the hole from teh drum was bigger than any vent liner I could find at the time. I just re-tapped the hole to 3/8" fine thread, took a 3/8" grade 8 bolt that was already conned, drilled a 1/16th hole into the end about 1/2" in and cut that piece off. Made a slot with a hacksaw and screwed it in with Loctite, waited for it to set then cut and filed off the excess. Instant perfect fit vent liner for a cost of about $0.12.