Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders how to clean t/c breech plug?

I can't find anything to go in the firehole to clean out the primer residue.
Everything is too big. I have been reduced to using a small allen wrench and a sewing needle to push thru to make sure the hole is open.

This feels not very satisfactory. I have bought breech plug cleaners from Midwayusa that were all too big for the firehole.

Ultimately, I am afraid of a buildup that clogs things up. I have been using BH209 and BH209 cleaner but just can't find anything small
enough to scrub the hole.

Any ideas appreciated.

thanks
Seeker

I start with a 3/32 bit then go to a 1/8. Finish up with a pipe cleaner and Hoppes #9

Get you a set of cutting torch tip cleaners. You’ll need to be careful with them as they will remove metal so go easy. Windex is one of the best black powder and muzzleloader cleaners there is. It’s designed to evaporate fast. It’s easy to patch dry with air movement. Oil after cleaning with it.

https://www.amazon.com/Herain-Carbu...amp;hvtargid=pla-1497937776687&psc=1

Good luck,

Todd

You must never have cleaned it the way Western has advised on their website if only a needle fits. The T/C plug flash channels are 1/8". Shoving a torch tip through the fire hole erodes the hole that much faster. A simple piece of smooth wire is all that is needed for the flash hole. The flash hole grows each shot because of erosion. The flash channel shrinks because of carbon build up............Dont confuse the 2.

A 1/8" bit turned by hand and a nipple pick is all you need. Make yourself one of these.

A person would have to have heavy handed to start removing metal with torch cleaning pins. They come as set form small to big. Start with the smallest and work up until you find one that just barely fits

Pin vice is cheap. Just chuck the bit up in a pin vice or better yet. Buy hex head drill bits and store 2 of them in your screw driver kit. Thats about $20 total for the Wheeler screw driver set and a 4 pack of hex head bits.

There is NO NEED to mess with the flash hole. It erodes each shot. Its easy to prove because breech plugs wear out all the time. If you cram some crud into the hole while cleaning the channel its simple just to poke it out even with a piece of copper wire. If you really want to use something on the hole, get a .035 pin gauge so you know then the plug or vent liner is wasted. If it goes in then its time for a new one.

thanks guys. A lot of good information here that I will follow up on and use.

thank you very much. I really appreciate everybody's response.

Seeker

Go to Westerns BH209 website. There is a pic of a bit in a pin vice.
https://blackhorn209.com/specs/breech-plug-cleaning/

A hex shank drill bit works just as well with a Wheeler Screwdriver kit. Its under $15 and a set of bits will run you $5-10 at places like Lowes. I got mine at Sears Hardware store in a 4pack.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1007360766

I use automotive brake cleaner.

Seems to work very well.

I have a torch tip cleaner and then Chlorine free brake cleaner.
The tip cleaner set has about 12 different sizes, they are like tiny files.

And how does that clean a flash channel? Drill bit takes seconds.

I clean the flash hole with a piece of 40 lb monofilament fishing line. Thread it through the flash hole and tie one end to something secure. While holding the loose end slide the breach plug back and forth over the line. Works for me.

That’s pretty slick I’ll have to try that next time

Soak in brake cleaner overnight then use compressed air to blow everything out. No need for ANY drill bit.

What tomme said works great.

Overkill, it cleans very well, and its easy

A good substitute for a nipple pick is a short section of brass-wound acoustic guitar string. The core is a single straight steel wire that's about the same diameter as a nipple pick and will fit through the flash hole. There's typically a few inches of the single strand on the end of the string that gets cut off and discarded once the string is installed along with a few inches of the brass wound string. If you get the top e-string (the thickest one), the wound part is just the right diameter to fit in the flash channel and since it's wound it will scrape the inside of the flash channel and clean out any crud.

So if you know someone with a guitar or can visit a local guitar shop they will be able to hook you up.

Torch tip cleaners work for me. Also, the diagram of the drill bit that was posted above. 👍🏼

Buy a small ultrasonic cleaner. They cost about $25-30 bucks.

"There is NO NEED to mess with the flash hole" ----- NOT my experience at all.

Torch tip cleaners are the way to go.

Hot water has always worked getting 777 out of my Omega breech plug.

I use BH 209 and carry 2 drill bits and the largest torch tip cleaner that fits the flash hole. I cam make 20 25 shots and then pull the snake through and clean the plug. Anyone that wears out a plug by enlarging the flash hole, either does a lot of shooting or sits around in their lazy boy scrubbing the bejeezus out of their breech plug!

I also carry a spare breech plug and o ring's when hunting.

Shoot Rio primers and you wont have near as much trash in the canal.

soak it for a week in diesel fuel or fuel oil in plastic cup

All the talk about flash hole erosion is interesting. The best ignition of my inlines is my knight. The knight has a 1/8" or better flash hole. It ignites SOOOOOO much faster than my other rifles. The choke point in that gun is the nipple.

Soak in Seafoam overnight will melt the carbon. Good stuff.

Newer Knight bare 209 primer plugs made by Lehigh have a 5/32 flash channel and the vent liner can be removed/replaced. So its less than $6 when the flash hole erodes past .035.

Again you are confusing the flash channel with the flash hole. If the flash hole was 1/8" you would be blowing primers. Kinda why i posted a pic because people confuse the 2 all the time.

Cant imagine why i would want to soak it in anything when i can clean my plugs spotless in a few minutes.

I use the drill bit and some very stiff pipe cleaners dipped in solvent (I use Blackhorn 209) to clean the flash channel. I poke out any large carbon in the flash hole with a needle of the appropriate size then use Superfloss (purchased at Walmart to clean teeth) again with some solvent on it to clean the flash hole without fear of enlarging it.

tag

From what I have read elsewhere it’s the shotgun primer that produces the slag in a flash channel. Next year I’ll be using rifle primer adapters in our CVA Optimas if they are still available. The BH209 plug has a short flash channel but it still will clog. The flash hole choke point apparently keeps much of the burn afterproduct upstream of the flame.

As far as picking primer manufacturers that turned into a no go this year. I let the season sneak up on me without checking inventory. None available locally. Mrs shootem and I went into the season with 8 primers for both shooting and dropsies. Given lack of availability and dirty burning of 209s. I’ll be using
THESE
If at all possible.

All of the trash in the canal comes from the dirty primers you use. Find some Rio primers and will see a big differentshttps://reloads-supply.com/product/rio-209-primers/

Looking at the ones from Hankins Precision gun parts myself. He has a system he builds.

https://hanksprecisiongunparts.com/c/hankins-ignition-systems