What have I gotten myself into?
05-07-2009, 06:38 PM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Lake Tahoe
Posts: 308
What have I gotten myself into?
Well, I have my new to me rifle. Its a used Traditions Hawken Woodsman. I posted before that I was having trouble with caps and nipples for it. I have other issues to deal with first. It came with no owners manual but I downloaded one from Traditions. It says its made in Spain and then its says Old Saybrook , CT U.S.A. So, I dont know what thread size it has. It came dis-assembled so when I tried to put it together, I noticed that there is a little "flat spring" that is on a pin at the rear of the barreland can rotate up or down. Up, it puts tension on the barrel and I can not for the life of me seat the barrel all the way to push the shim in. No problem with the spring down...no tension. So, whats the trick? I feel like a dumb a$$ for this question, but I have to ask. I have an In-Line and it has a removeable breech plug. Does this have a removeable breech plug? If not, how can you check the bore? How do you know if you get all the fouling out during cleaning? How do you know if there is any pitting or........AAARRRRGGGG. Please help a newbe to Traditional Mlng keep his sanity.
05-07-2009, 06:46 PM
#2
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 5,425
RE: What have I gotten myself into?
This spring, if you turn it over can it act like a spring tension to keep the ramrod from falling out of the ramrod hole??? It's dang hard to tell without pictures...I can't imagine them using is to put pressure on the barrel...
Don't worry about looking at the bore, you'll know what kind of shape it's in when you run a cleaning patch down or load a ball or sabot, whatever you decide to use...
With my flinters I just stick a toothpick in the touch hole, pour rubbing alcohol, cleaner, water, whatever I want to use and tilt the barrel over a few times...This pours most of the fouling out and you can go from there...
Don't worry about looking at the bore, you'll know what kind of shape it's in when you run a cleaning patch down or load a ball or sabot, whatever you decide to use...
With my flinters I just stick a toothpick in the touch hole, pour rubbing alcohol, cleaner, water, whatever I want to use and tilt the barrel over a few times...This pours most of the fouling out and you can go from there...
Boy do I feel silly.
05-07-2009, 08:26 PM
#5
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 21,193
RE: What have I gotten myself into?
6mm x 1 is the metric nipple. They can be found at RMC Sports. #ML094 http://rmcsports.com/catalog.htm
The rifle actually does have a breech plug, but it does not come out. It is not removable is what I mean. There are a number of different ways to clean a traditional rifle. Some use a water bath, others just patch them clean.
To check the bore you need a bore light. Another way is to take a piece of tin foil and roll that in to a ball, SMALLER THEN THE DIAMETER OF THE BORE. Drop that down the bore then shine a good flashlight to the side down the bore and it will reflect off the foil. Its not the best way to check, but it does work.
The rifle actually does have a breech plug, but it does not come out. It is not removable is what I mean. There are a number of different ways to clean a traditional rifle. Some use a water bath, others just patch them clean.
To check the bore you need a bore light. Another way is to take a piece of tin foil and roll that in to a ball, SMALLER THEN THE DIAMETER OF THE BORE. Drop that down the bore then shine a good flashlight to the side down the bore and it will reflect off the foil. Its not the best way to check, but it does work.
05-08-2009, 03:06 PM
#6
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Lake Tahoe
Posts: 308
RE: What have I gotten myself into?
Right on! Thanks for the help. Pretty soon my questions will get more challenging but, thanks for your patience with the newbe to Trad. MLng. I got my in-line for Christmas "08" and never imagined that I would have a Trad by 5/09. Cant wait to shoot it!
