doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Removing muzzle loader plugs

High all whats the best way to remove muzzle loader plugs they are usually out when they arrive but I have a two pairs of barrels come in that retain all their colour hardening they are very valuable so I do not want to get it wrong! thanks in advance.

V.M. Starr makes recommendations in "The Muzzleloading Shotgun It's [sic] Care and Use". The book is printed online and in hard copy. Every m.l. shotgunner should have (or, at least have access to) a copy of this classic little book.

Nowadays plugs are put in with anti-sieze and teflon tape. And lots of torque, so it takes a lot of torque to back them out, which means you need a really good grip on the barrel, but not so much that you will dent or mar the barrel. Shift all that to an old set of barrels and some possible rust on the threads, and you could have a real job on your hands.

That said, how important is it that they come out? I'd sit back and think about it, listen to some of the others here, and see if someone can offer up a professional that is familiar with the task.

Success!

They can be tough to remove without damaging the plug itself.
There is a tool designed just for this, though it is expensive.
http://www.drake.net/products/Breech-Wrench?id=26123

Watch the joints to make sure you don't pop anything lose. I recently re-finished a muzzleloader that I did not dare try to get the plugs out. Extremely tight and probably had never been removed. I carefully taped off the barrels and applied several coats of poly to the breech to keep it from rusting. Once I was done and stripped the coating, you could not tell the breeches were not pulled.

Good luck!...
Craig

From V.M Starr

If you feel that you just have to get those breech plugs out yourself, you will have to have some special equipment first; a pair of hard wood blocks shaped to fit the barrels at the breech and then a good stout machinist's vise to grip them in, then a piece of emery cloth to put between the blocks and the barrels, with the emery side to the barrels to keep them from turning, if one barrel turns a fraction against the other if they are soldered together you will have two single barrels instead of one double. Now lay one block down barrel side up and lay the emery cloth on it, lay the barrels bottom side down on the cloth then lay the other piece of emery cloth on top of the barrels and the other block on that.

If you are right handed pick up blocks and barrels with the breech on your right with the nipples pointing towards you and place the whole works in the strongest vise you can find and really tighten up on them, I put all of my 210 pounds onto the vise handle and really heave, because if one of those barrels turns a fraction of an inch against the other you will have a very nasty soldering job on your hands that will make you sweat and maybe swear as well. The next thing to do is to take out the nipple from the right barrel, if you have not already done so as it is not likely to clear the left breech plug when you try to turn it. Now you must either have a Starr patent bung starter or some other device that will take a firm hold on the lug on the breech plug and I mean FIRM and still be small enough to allow the right plug to turn and not jam against the other lug.

With my bung starter I am able to put all the turning pressure on the wrench that the lug will stand using my left arm only this leaves my right hand free to rap the end of the starter with a hammer, this not only keeps the starter full up on the lug but helps a lot to break the grip of the rust that has been undisturbed ever since Granpa touched her off the last time.

If that don't start something you can either twist off the lug or if you have some time to spare set the breech in kerosene or penetrating oul and let her set for a few days and try again, if it still don't come try a little heat but be careful or you will be in trouble with that solder again, but if the barrels are Belgian you can use more but never use more than just enough to loosen the rust. I heat a little and give her a try, if nothing gives I cool it off and heat ant try again and keep repeating the process until something gives, all the while hoping that it will be the plug and not the solder or the lug that lets go first.
http://members.aye.net/~bspen/starr.html

Instructions for installing a breech plug once it has been removed:
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/(S(tynfsx5...artNum=LABOR-BP

Pete

The slick and easy trick for nearly 100percent contact on your barrel-vise jaws for a pair of SxS (or drilling/vierling/funfling.../) tubes is to use Bondo or similar polyester resin filler material (as used in autobody panel repair etc)

Wrap your barrels in thin plastic-wrap (from the kitchen pantry) and set them a pair of wood (or whatever material) vise jaw blanks set-up with the two-part polyester filler material.
It sets up very quickly, and once hardened will give you a perfectly sure-footed grip on your barrel set.



cheers
Tinker

I don't like the thought of the emery paper in contact with any part of the barrels. I used the Bondo method with hardwood blocks roughly pre-shaped to the barrel contours and it worked great. Like V.M., I heated gently a few times with penetrating oil (I used diesel fuel) atop the plugs between tries. Keep the blocks as a dedicated pair in case you wish to remove the breechplugs again in the future. Be sure to note the line-up marks on the bottom of the barrels when re-tightening. Old V.M. jug-choked by Dewson 10-bore in 1968.