Cayugad, do you have a scope mounted on your rifle?
Yes I have a scope mounted on the rifle. a 1.5-4.5x32 mm Bushnell Banner Dusk to Dawn EER. It has worked excellent. Although I wish now I had put a 3-9x40 only because it would be nice on the range when doing range work.
I do, and I'm not so sure the wrench that came with the gun will help.
You can remove the scope with that wrench but it is a real PITA. The 8" extension works much better. Also they sell a
Deluxe Breech Plug Wrench for the Black Diamond which is a tube wrench that fits in the back side of the rifle through the striker area. You can use that to take the nipple and plug out of the rifle.
I have the extension, but as you know, you have to disassemble the whole breech end to use it.
I realize that you have to take the striker out but that is not all so bad. It gives you a chance on the range to wipe it off. Also take some Q-tips with you. Get the kind with the plastic stick that holds the ends on, you can bend them and reach right into the spots you need to. Wipe out the 209 nipple with a wet Q-tip and the 209 primers will fit better. The more fowled the rifle becomes the more loose fitting they become. A simple Q-tip to wipe that area out and the area behind the breech plug will give you a faster striker hit.
I will keep an eye out for the CVA lube and the gorilla grease and pick some up.
I personally refuse to try the Gorilla Grease. I have heard others had good luck with it, but Thompson Center burned me once with their other breech plug grease. I am not taking any more chances. I use only the
CVA Slick Nipple and Breech Plug Grease.
Do you just apply the bore butter to the threads and then put a few drops of oil on it?
Use the bore butter for what it was intended for... lubing conicals. Otherwise personally I keep that stuff away from my rifles. Use the CVA because that it what it is made to do, handle the high temperatures of the ignition. If others want to use the bore butter which is nothing more then wax, vegetable oil and a nice smell... so be it, their rifle.
You got a great shooting rifle there. Some excellent loads in mine are 250 grain Shockwaves with 100 grains T-7, 375 grain Buffalo Bullet SSB sabot with 100 grains Goex 2f, 460 grain No Excuses Conicals with 85 grains of T-7. The accuracy of those three loads are outstanding. You can push them harder butI personally see no reason to do so.
A good bore swab solution is a 50/50 mixture of isopropyl alcohol 91% and car windshield washer fluid (summer blend). You can also use this to clean the fowling off the rifle and bore of the rifle before you really have to use any expensive cleaner to get the job done. I have a long solid range rod that really works good for swabbing the bore of the rifle. A cleaning jag and a wet patch and I can get most of the fowling out easy..
Good luck with your rifle..