Plug grease?
08-24-2008, 08:13 PM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Arnold Missouri USA
Posts: 244
Plug grease?
I was at my local Cabella's just "looking" at the black powder accs. I had a tube of anti-seize breech plug grease in my hand when a 'know it all' says, "you don't need that--just use white grease if you have any". I said, "Lithium grease?". "Yep", he said, "I use it all the time".
I will admit I don't have a clue! But I want to know what would have happend to my new KRB if I'd have listened to the guy?
I will admit I don't have a clue! But I want to know what would have happend to my new KRB if I'd have listened to the guy?
08-24-2008, 08:15 PM
#2
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Idaho
Posts: 11,703
RE: Plug grease?
MoNoFletch
Lithium grease will work just fine... Actually I do not use any grease at just teflon tape.
Lithium grease will work just fine... Actually I do not use any grease at just teflon tape.
08-24-2008, 08:46 PM
#4
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 5,425
RE: Plug grease?
You could use vasoline, axle grease, crisco, anything to keep it from freezing up...
I heard years ago that after you take 3-4 shots at the range, then loosen and then retighten the breech plug, when I shoot an inline I do that and it seems to work...
I heard years ago that after you take 3-4 shots at the range, then loosen and then retighten the breech plug, when I shoot an inline I do that and it seems to work...
08-24-2008, 08:57 PM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 1,607
RE: Plug grease?
MoNoFletch - Lots of anti-seize's out there, if you have easy access to lithium grease then I'd use that.
sabotloader - Man I wish I could get teflon tape to work. I've tried it in several inlines and never could get it to work like I wanted it to. Sure would be a lot easier if I could get it to work. Do you use the white or the pink?
sabotloader - Man I wish I could get teflon tape to work. I've tried it in several inlines and never could get it to work like I wanted it to. Sure would be a lot easier if I could get it to work. Do you use the white or the pink?
08-24-2008, 09:27 PM
#6
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 21,193
RE: Plug grease?
I use Slick 50 One Grease... it really works good and a tube should last me the rest of my life. I bought it at Wal Mart. A lot of that breech plug grease don't work as well as some of the others. I never used that grease you mentioned.
08-24-2008, 09:53 PM
#8
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Idaho
Posts: 11,703
RE: Plug grease?
TNHagies
I use both depending on how tight the breech plug fits...
The key to using tape is to snug the face of the BP up to the face of the flange in the barrel. If you have applied the tape correctly (what I call correctly) when you snug the plug up it will compress the tape between the two flanges and stop blow back at that point so it does not even enter the threads...
Here is a pic of what I am talking about thanks to UC and his graphic abilities...
Like I said works for me on each of my inlines but know guarantees on yours...
I use both depending on how tight the breech plug fits...
The key to using tape is to snug the face of the BP up to the face of the flange in the barrel. If you have applied the tape correctly (what I call correctly) when you snug the plug up it will compress the tape between the two flanges and stop blow back at that point so it does not even enter the threads...
Here is a pic of what I am talking about thanks to UC and his graphic abilities...
Like I said works for me on each of my inlines but know guarantees on yours...
08-25-2008, 05:32 AM
#9
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 2,037
RE: Plug grease?
Sabotloader, I am thinking of changing to the tape. When you have a separate nipple on the plug do you put tape on that too? I have been putting a little dab of grease on the nipple but maybe that isn't necessary.
Thanks, Art
Thanks, Art
08-25-2008, 08:36 AM
#10
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Idaho
Posts: 11,703
RE: Plug grease?
flounder33
My Remingtons have the two peice breech plug and nipple setup also. I tape the breech plug but I do use a dab of grease on the nipple. So far it has worked fine.
I have know idea why this works so well for me and not for others. I know i do get problems if I do not get the seal at the face of the brrech plug - so I know I have to snug it up to the barrel. When I first started doing this I would crack it every 10 shots or so as Cayugad suggests but I then found that I was tearing the tape - so eventually I even stopped doing that.... but you must experiment with you own gun to find out for sure.
One other thing I did/do is to polish the treads of the BP so they are not as sharp as they can be when they are new. Do the same thing with a brass bore brush on a drill to the BP threads in the bore.
Here is a write up I did several years ago - do not know if the pictures are still in place...
My Remingtons have the two peice breech plug and nipple setup also. I tape the breech plug but I do use a dab of grease on the nipple. So far it has worked fine.
I have know idea why this works so well for me and not for others. I know i do get problems if I do not get the seal at the face of the brrech plug - so I know I have to snug it up to the barrel. When I first started doing this I would crack it every 10 shots or so as Cayugad suggests but I then found that I was tearing the tape - so eventually I even stopped doing that.... but you must experiment with you own gun to find out for sure.
One other thing I did/do is to polish the treads of the BP so they are not as sharp as they can be when they are new. Do the same thing with a brass bore brush on a drill to the BP threads in the bore.
Here is a write up I did several years ago - do not know if the pictures are still in place...
Is there a significance to the color of the pipe 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 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 too 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 faces meet 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 seized 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.
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 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 too 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 faces meet 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 seized 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.