Flintshooter
Member
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2019
- Messages
- 287
Shortly after I bought it I found out that one of the two Tingle halfstock rifles I have has a problem. The drum isn’t tight enough. When I cleaned it after the first range session I could see black water coming from between the barrel and the drum. It wasn’t a lot, it probably wouldn’t have been noticeable it the breech hadn’t been in a bucket of clear water, but it was there. After cleaning and oiling the rifle I stuck it in the safe and pretty much forgot about it until last night.
I was thinking about just getting a new drum not drilled for the nipple so everything could be snugged up tight so I removed the drum to check the threads. They proved to be 7/16/14 which seems a little coarse but the drum is original to the rifle (Bob Tingle put numbers on just about every part) so it isn’t something a shadetree gunsmith did after the rifle left Tingle’s hands.
I have already decided that the fix will be done by a pro nearby who specializes in muzzleloaders. I am mainly posting this as kind of food for thought on how the problem came to be in the first place. My guess is that a previous owner felt it necessary to remove the drum on a regular basis. As it is, it doesn’t snug up against the barrel until the nipple is at the 12:00 position. I very much doubt that it left the shop in Shelbyville in that condition.
I was thinking about just getting a new drum not drilled for the nipple so everything could be snugged up tight so I removed the drum to check the threads. They proved to be 7/16/14 which seems a little coarse but the drum is original to the rifle (Bob Tingle put numbers on just about every part) so it isn’t something a shadetree gunsmith did after the rifle left Tingle’s hands.
I have already decided that the fix will be done by a pro nearby who specializes in muzzleloaders. I am mainly posting this as kind of food for thought on how the problem came to be in the first place. My guess is that a previous owner felt it necessary to remove the drum on a regular basis. As it is, it doesn’t snug up against the barrel until the nipple is at the 12:00 position. I very much doubt that it left the shop in Shelbyville in that condition.