sabotloader

No special request for this, but it does come up every now and then.

I feel I have completely conquered this problem. I felt even more confident after receiving and shooting this new Omega. The only procedural change I made from what is written below, was for the Omega I had to change from pink teflon tape to white teflon tape. The pink was to thick and would ball-up and tear as I was inserting the breech plug. The last time, Saturday, that i shot the Omega I shot 33 or 36 consecutive rounds of either 100 grains or 110 grains of T7-2f with 209 ignition. I did nothing to the breech plug while I was shooting. Tuesday, I finally had time to clean the gun. I put the socket wrench on the BP, I have to admit i was a little bit skeptical because of the new gun thing, and started to turn the BP loose - it popped loose very easily and turned out very easy - not with the fingers but really easy...

Quote:

Is there a significance to the color of the Teflon tape?

There is differences..
The white tape, plumbers tape, we see all the time is the thinnest tape out their designed for water lines.
The pink tape is a thicker tape and will with stand a greater temp.
The yellow tape is the thickest tape and is really designed for gasoline pipe.

The tape that you use will depend on how tight your breech plug is as it screws in - if it is so tight that it chews the tape up going in you will need to use a thinner tape. I have found the pink tape (TC Breech Plug Tape), or pink tape from Home Depot (less expensive) works great in the Remington’s - but is to thick for the A&H's they need white.

The tape that is patted down over the face of the breech probably does one or two things... a) a lot of it is blown out the barrel with the first shot but- b) some of it is blown up and into the gas seal between the breech plug and the barrel creating an even better seal.

One of the keys when tightening the breech plug is not tear or ball up the tape in the threads and when the to face of the breech plug meets the face of the barrel - squeeze the tape but do not crush it or tear it.

Here is some information I wrote up along time ago - it works for me but I can not guarantee it for you so experiment a bit at a time...


Breech Plug Sealing

www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=39309

It is my theory that sealing the breech plug should occur at the face of the breech plug against the rear flange of the barrel. If the blowback can be stopped where these two surfaces mate, blown back powder and more importantly the hot gases will be sealed from the threads of the breech plug. These gases and powder residue are responsible for the seizing of your breech plug. These same gases can cut your breech plug and cause a breech plug failure.


This subject came up again on another forum. This the information I posted and it WORKS, anyway on my four inlines. I really don not even worry about siezed plugs - I shoot several rounds each trip to the rock pit.

The following picture shows my efforts as explained below.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v130/sabotloader/BreechPlug2.gif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v130/sabotloader/BreechPlug.jpg

This is one of those things that I have really been fortunate with. When I go to the range I shoot 30-40 shots 100 grains of loose t7 with 209 primers. I shoot 2 Remington’s and 2 A&H's. With all four of these guns I believe I have the breech plug thing whipped. I do not loosen or even fool around with the breech plug at the range. When I get home and get to it I turn it (them) out with very little pressure. I have tried several anti seize products, and anti seize with tape, even tried the finger tight thing, but have settled on just TC's tape or a comparable Teflon tape from a local building supply - one wrap.

From the two side locks that I built I think I have learned something.... I believe the face of the breech plug should mate up with the face flange of the barrel, if this mating is clean and tight, this mating should stop gasses from going back into the threads of your breech plug. I have blackened the face of my breech plugs screwed them in snuggly against the barrel flange - backed them back out and checked the black to see if contact had been made all the way around. The 2 Remington’s and one of the A&H's showed that there was good contact all the way around on the plug. One A&H seemed to have a very small non-contact spot. The next thing I do is start wrapping Teflon tape from the barrel end of the plug back to the nipple end. The key for me is that beginning wrap - when I am done wrapping the tape on the barrel end of the plug it should extend out from the plug - I then push and press the tape down on the face of the plug - insert it into the threads and I tighten it snuggly against the barrel flange - not tight - do not want to tear the Teflon, but make it snug because you need to compress the Teflon a bit. If you look down into the barrel with a barrel light you should see the Teflon all the way around the breech plug in the barrel. Your very first shot will drive that excess Teflon back up into any gaps there might be and your threads are sealed... (the Teflon might even cover the flash hole when your done wrapping) Popping one cap will take care of that.

That is my formula it has worked well for me - but every rifle is different so I can't say it will work for you all. I really believe it all comes down to how well the face of the plug and the face of the barrel mate up.

cayugad

I have used your method and discovered also that my Knight Rifles will accept the pink tape. It is a snug fit going in, but they go in, and so far no problem bringing the plug out. Again, it's tight coming out but they have never stuck. On the Black Diamond XR with the pink tape it is impossible to put the plug in without tearing the tape up. I have used the white tape but was a little cautious about it since I worried about the temperatures the rifle might face.

I still put lube on the outside of the tape. I have not really seen a real advantage of the tape other then it is easier to clean the breech plug and the threads after the shoot...

Good information as usual there...

sabotloader

cayugad

I too was really skepticle of the white tape when I first started using it, but it is holding up just fine to all the torture I put it through.

This new Omega does have what i would describe as a tight BP - the pink tape will not go in satisfactorily at all even when Iswitched to white it was a bit iffy... so I decided to polish the BP. I put someJB's on some steel wool (0000) wrapped the BP up in the steel wool and while gripping the steel wool and BP tightly in my hand I turned the BP with a ratchet and socket for several dozen turns. This really cleaned the plug up and polished it... it was a dream to putback into the rifle and with tape (white) it nows screws in with very little effort with out tearing or balling the tape...

mike

Pittsburghunter

What kind of problems were you having with the breechplug or are you just doing this for easy removal?

Underclocked

Hey, I made up some pics too.

sabotloader

Pittsburghunter

Ages ago i did have a problem with the breech plug seizing using Triple Seven powder - some people still are...

I do not have any problems now - haven't for several years now - nor do i want any. I also do not want to have to baby sit or worry about the plug no matter how many shots I take. I shoot until I am done and then I go home.

No care - nor worry - hlps me shoot better....

Roskoe

Thanks for the research. I just ran out of pink T/C tape. Will try to find some of the white stuff. In the meantime, Gorilla Grease is the best breech plug lube I have found. Normally use it in conjunction with the tape, but the grease by itself isn't too bad.

Pittsburghunter

When I first started using Triple Sr7en I also had some plug freezing problems and found two solutions. One was to pour some cleaner down the bore wait a few minutes and then screw it out the second was I heard Cayugad talk about CVA's slick nipple and bought some. That stuff works great!! I haven't had a seized plug since I started using it.

As far as using the tape I haven't but you don't have to worry about the white tape and heat it is used in gas plumbing as well including stoves and dryers has been for years with no problems.

I thought you may have had a blow by issue.

sabotloader

Roskoe& Pittsburghunter

Yes I too tried the different greases - a lot of them, but I did not like the mess either putting it on or cleaning it up after use. Now with the tape I just pull it out some tweezers or with a wire bore brush.

The biggest thing and I know this is probaby in my mind only - I still think it is imperative to seal the gases at the face of the BP and the rear of the barrel and while using grease i was always worried about contaminating the the load over a long period of time. When I load to go hunting the same load may stay in the barrel for several days - even weeks - I really do not want any part of it absorbing moisture from the different greases that may be in the bottom of the barrel.

Roskoe

Good point. I had always hoped that firing a couple of caps and then swabbing the barrel with an ISO alcohol soaked patch prior to loading would take care of any potential contamination, but I'm sure a certain amount of grease gets pushed up into the rifling ahead of the breech plug.

One thing that would be noteworthy to mention is that when wrapping teflon tape around the breech plug, don't let too much extend past the front of the plug. I can fold inward and block off the flash hole when the powder is added and bullet seated. Happened to me - once. Never had a misfire from the grease issue, though.