Im back breach
- Thread starter dog697769
- Start date
I would not. The risk of damage is high.
Suppose the barrels are held in a padded vise, and a wrench is applied to the right hand breech plug's lug. The plug might turn out, but it would probably require real torque to unscrew the plug. The risk is that the right hand barrel will be broken loose, the solder joints holding the barrels and ribs together failing.
To avoid this happening, the right hand barrel only would need to be clamped. The top rib cannot be involved. Just grabbing the barrel in padded vise jaws won't do it. And the barrel itself is rather thin, and is made with rather soft iron. Easy to crush in the vise. It would be necessary to make close fitting blocks to grip the barrel. Hardwood blocks appropriately grooved could be glass bedded to the barrel. This greatly increases the gripping surface. There is still the risk of squashing the barrel. IF the RH plug can be removed, the same procedure (and risks) apply to the left hand barrel.
It is simply not worth the risk.
Clean the barrels thoroughly from the muzzles. Use an appropriate light source or borescope to inspect the bores.
Suppose the barrels are held in a padded vise, and a wrench is applied to the right hand breech plug's lug. The plug might turn out, but it would probably require real torque to unscrew the plug. The risk is that the right hand barrel will be broken loose, the solder joints holding the barrels and ribs together failing.
To avoid this happening, the right hand barrel only would need to be clamped. The top rib cannot be involved. Just grabbing the barrel in padded vise jaws won't do it. And the barrel itself is rather thin, and is made with rather soft iron. Easy to crush in the vise. It would be necessary to make close fitting blocks to grip the barrel. Hardwood blocks appropriately grooved could be glass bedded to the barrel. This greatly increases the gripping surface. There is still the risk of squashing the barrel. IF the RH plug can be removed, the same procedure (and risks) apply to the left hand barrel.
It is simply not worth the risk.
Clean the barrels thoroughly from the muzzles. Use an appropriate light source or borescope to inspect the bores.
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I don’t bother removing the plugs on the ones I own. I figured I’d probably do more damage than it was worth. I just clean them with the plugs in.
Are those in fact plugs? They almost look like threaded, screw on "patent beeches" that were common prior to welding technology allowing reliable welding of the lump. So, the breeches were installed prior to the barrels being soldered together. This probably doesn't change the fact that they shouldn't be removed for normal service, but, if anything, would make it even more difficult.
milsurpo
milsurpo
- Location
- Eastern Ontario
I am with all the respondents here - learned the hard way. Removing the plug with the assistance of a vise, pipe wrench, vise grips, etc. when great force is applied can be quite detrimental to your health and the health and welfare of your BP friend. I keep it cleaned from the inside with available attachments and proper cleaning agents.
I am of mixed emotions on removing the plugs; I agree completely with what Tiriaq wrote but the counter to that is that I have had two guns in which presumably the breach threads were a bit loose and quite a bit of the threads had been eaten away with rust. I almost never remove the beach plugs
cheers mooncoon
cheers mooncoon
Is that not the way most of them were installed. Cannot recall seeing a different arrangement.
