doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Help removing corroded nipples

I received my first BP percussion sxs yesterday. It is nicer than I expected. It is a plain gun, but in good condition with good bores. Below are some pictures.




Here are the proof marks. The gun is unmarked as far as a maker goes. I can see that the barrels are Belgian in origin. It has 4 file marks on the right and three on the left. I wonder if the marks represent choke like today. It is also marked 17.2. Not sure if that is bore or choke?



Does anyone have any tips for removing the corroded nipples? It looks like they have not been removed in many many years.

You might try soaking the breech in some penetrating oil for a few days, then tap the nipples lightly with a hammer and use a good fitting wrench. The 17.2 is the bore size. It's not likely to have any chokes( meaning cylinder).
Enjoy it.

PS, make sure it isn't still loaded. Sometimes MLs are found to have been left loaded for many years.

What bore size would 17.2 equal? I know 18 is 12ga.

Just lick on them a little and they should perk right up, no need to remove!

I was waiting to see how long before the jokes . I tried that method but they are smashed out of shape by the previous fondler.

I just had to look at the post to see who would be the first to come up with a funny.

17.2mm converts to .677". In the gauge system this would be a 16/1 (.674). If 16ga wads do not have a good tight fit use 14ga ones, the wads want to fit snug to prevent the 2nd bbl wads from moving on firing the first, particularly so with the overshot wad. Remember also it may not still measure that dimension, it may have been honed or polished over the ensuing years.
As Jim said the vast majority of ML'rs were bored cylinder with no choke.

The way I go about removing old nipples is to drill them partially out and tap them with a left handed tap. Then use screw you make with a matching die. Works good, lots of Kroil helps too.

Heat gun, Liquid Wrench, easy out. If they're really bad, heat w/LW and freeze (ice cubes anyway) and heat w/LW and freeze and heat with Liquid Wrench until the easy out finally works. Worked on pistol cylinders anyway.

Dr. WtS

A 50-50 mix of acetone and ATF has been shown by comparison testing to be the best penetrating oil( better than Kroil)around if you should need it.

OB

Quote:
"PS, make sure it isn't still loaded. Sometimes MLs are found to have been left loaded for many years."

This is very important and with a muzzle loader use the following technique:

Drop a range rod down each barrel as far as it will go and note the distance. Lay the rod along the outside of each barrel and make sure the rod is going in very close to the bottom. If the rod doesn't you'll have to use a threaded rod and a worm to pull the charges. Any heat applied to these charges or an inadvertent spark could set them off with potentially disasterous results.
Jim

I just did the same job. I soaked them for a week in Kroil. tightly tapped the niple which had broken off half way. The Kroil didnt work. I then drilled for a small easy-out and the old Nipple came out no trouble at all. The original threads are 1/4 28 (miss print)but the outer diameter is larger then any nipples I can find. Looks like I will have to have one made. To bad I sold my lathe/mill combo last month.

Wait 'til clASSless jOe crawls out from under his rock.
If the nipples are the usual 1/4-28, they are readily available. If the threads are a bit oversize, Dixie Gunworks has a series of slightly oversize nipples. They would surely be cheaper than having them made.

It would appear my apparition is harder to remove from Jim Leggs brain than a frozen nipple....Jimmy take two 300 mg prozac and check back with me in a couple of days.
Dr.jOe

Penetrating oil, patience, and some heat (after ensuring that the gun is not charged, and the acetone has evaporated) are the first approach. Drilling and extracting the next (much riskier for mortals).

Track of the Wolf and Dixie Gun Works have good supplies of various nipples (not quite the same inventory either). If you can get one out more or less whole you can seek the right size by trying it in various nuts of known size at any decent hardware store.

Caplocks are fun!

I have had good success pouring kerosene down the muzzles to kill the powder on old loads. Leave it a few days. It only works on shotguns. Rifles are too tightly sealed. I once pulled out some newspaper wadding dated 1904!

Check to see if it's loaded first! I worked on an old timer last year and it still had a charge. ATF and acetone is good try an easy out and then be ready to go to the next size. Dixie gun works had a good choice of nipples.
bill

Check to see if it's loaded first! I worked on an old timer last year and it still had a charge. ATF and acetone is good try an easy out and then be ready to go to the next size. Dixie gun works had a good choice of nipples.
bill

Thanks guys! I will give it a go. It is unloaded so that is a good start. I am going to soak it this week and try to remove them this next weekend.

Thanks guys! I will give it a go. It is unloaded so that is a good start. I am going to soak it this week and try to remove them this next weekend.

Henry Krank or Peter Dyson, both in England UK will have replacement nipples. If Krank hasn't got it for a muzzleloader, it probably never existed.

and if Dixie Gun Works don't have it you probably didn't need it.