This post especially for Omega shooters,but will appreciate any comments/help.Have two 50 Omegas.Purchased Two years apart.As most of you know there was a plug design change.The older plugs exit channel is almost flatand the newer one very concave.Should I get a newer one for the older gun so both match?Have any of you done any test/comparison to the two plugs?If so, did you find any differences?As in accuracy,cleaning etc.Also,this could be my immagination but I swear the older plugs primer pocket fire channelseemes to have gotten smaller.Have I not been cleaning properly?Could this be?And one more question.Do any of you have suggestions on Breech Plug maintaince/cleaning with regards to the fire channel?Currently I use 13 and as small a pipe cleaner as I can find.But at times I can see small bits of the pipe cleaners fibers in the channel.Very difficult to remove.Is there a certain tool for this job?Do you oil the channel after cleaning?Have been.Will popping a cap or two clean it out?Really I guess I need some breech plug tips/advice.Sorry for the length,I know this is a lot but dadgummit,this MZL stuff is....well....a lot.Thanks for the help guys.

When I clean my breech plugs with the very smallnarrow fire channel, the way I find easiest to cleanthemis in the kitchen sink. Make up a solution of very warm dish water. Then with atooth brush, scrub the threads and the outside nice and clean. I then pump the plug up and down in the water like you can do with a glass to force water to climb up through it. When the outside is clean and I suspect the inside clean, I take it outside and spray the inside channel with brake cleaner. After that I go to the air compressor in the shop or my small can of air and spray the hole open and dry. After that I can re-grease it and am pretty certain it is nice and clean.

On the ones like the Black Diamond XR or Knight Wolverine which have a larger hole because of a nipple removal, I clean the pretty much the same way but then force Q-tips though the opening and center to clean all that out and to make sure it is dry.

I don't think you need to buy a new plug unless you shoot powder in disc form. The older style plugs had a problem with crushing discs. I don't think you need to put any oil on the plug, it is stainless. Try spraying either carb cleaner or brake cleaner through the hole, before and after you use your pipe cleaner. You could use a number drill that is just barely undersize, (BY HAND), and that should take out anything that has built up. Just buy a cheap set of number drills an find one that takes out the buildup, just make sure you don't inlarge, or oblong ,the hole.

No need to change -- plus you can swap them from gun-to-gun.

Using 777 FFF, I get less crud ring & less plug seizurestickies using the flat-face plug.

I have a new Omega with the newer plug. I have
found a cleaner that works well for me. It's called
simple green cleaner. I just remove the plug and
place it in a small plastic container full of simple
green,let it soak for 5 or 10 mins. Then use the
tooth brush on the threads. This cleans very well
and it is harmless "in other words" it will not harm
any metal surface. Just my opnion. Good shooting
God Bless............Danny

HUNT4ME,
I have both of thebreech plugs that you mentioned. I wouldn't say one is any better than the other. I think the flat one is better suited for pellets and the concave one is better with loose powder. I never did any experimenting with these. I haven't had problems with either.
I do get a hard fouling that I can not get out using hot water and a pipe cleaner. I use a 1/8" drill by hand to clean out the breechhole and then I follow up with the pipe cleaner.
I blow the breech plug out afterwards with an air compressor and leave dry, except for breech plug grease on the outside threads.

FWIW my friend has a flat plug and I have a deep concave plug so he decided to call up T/C to find out what the story was on the differences. The T/C rep said that the deep concave plug was T/C attempt to get rid of the dreaded crud ring problem,especially when using T-7 pellets. When my friend asked him if it was successful and should he switch the rep was vague with his answer. What I got out of the conversation was that the plug change really did not do much for the crud ring problem. It did sound like the deep concave plug is more suited to pellets(no crushing of pellets) but loose powder works fine too. The flat one is fine for loose powder but pellets may get crushed when using this design therefore they decided to keep this design change.This year I did not shoot my omega during BP season so I just popped out the breech plug and the pellets came out whole along with the PB.Just wanted to say that all this info. was told tomy friend by a T/C rep therefore I felt I would pass it along.

I will add a little more. There are actually three breechplug designs for the Encore/Omega (since they are interchangeable). There is the flat one that originally came with the first Omega. It was designed to keep pellets from crushing (contrary to the comment above). Then the crud ring came so since some Encores which originally came with a very deep concave face breechplug with no flat didn't appear to have the crud ring problem T/C decided to make a similar plugbut in order to also be usable with pellets a plug with a concave but also a flat ring around the concave was made which is what comes on most Omega rifles now. I have all three and the deep concave seems to work best with loose 777 for me although I have found nothing that will eliminate the 777 crud ring completely for me in my Omega. I just switched to Black Mag'3 which seems to be made for the Omega. I am also looking at Pinnacle as another possibility. I also use a number drill to make sure the breechplug hole is clear. I also do not lubricate the plug once it is clean as it is stainless. If anything a little WD-40 would be plenty as it is mostly mineral spirits and mineral oil. My personal opinion is do not use Rem Oil on anything. It becomes very sticky and cruds up very easily. I use Ballistol on my rifles as it is compatable with black powder and the synthetics and will also protect the barrel from rust. The traditional guys use it as a patch lube.