Stupid question

[DocBernard]

I bought a used CVA Wolf Magnum .50 cal about 3 years ago for 50.00 and it has sat in my safe since then. Today I finally got it out and started going through it.

Note: I have never owned nor shot a muzzle loader.

Here’s my question: I pulled the breech plug out and it seems to be blocked. Should I be able to look through and see light through the flash hole?

Thanks, Doc

 

[MrTom]

Welcome aboard.

Right behind the pocket where the primer fits in the plug is the flash channel....about +/- 1/64". That may need cleaning using a drill bit turned using your fingers. On the barrel end of the plug is the flame hole which is much smaller and can be poked clean using a piece of soft copper wire. Don't use anything in that tiny that will scratch or abrade it in any way.

Plugs can be soaked to soften carbon caking at either end. Try some warm soapy water first. If that doesn't help use some Hoppes solvent. At the primer end I'd lean towards the Hoppes as primer carbon can be different from powder carbon...different powders have different make-ups chemically. Basically the only powder that requires the Hoppes for clean up is the Blackhorn 209 powder. All others just use soapy water or windex.

That Wolf is a nice little gun to get started with and at $50.00 is a steal if the barrel is clean and no pitting. How does the barrel itself clean up?

I'm a Blackhorn powder guy and will offer that a starting load of 90 to 110 measured grains of the 209 powder or granular Triple 7 powder under a .45 cal 25 to300 grain XTP will offer great performance. I'm thinking the 100 to 110 grain charge with either bullet will have amazing accuracy for you.

 

[deermanok]

Welcome from Oklahoma, yes you should be able to see daylight through the breech plug.
Mr. Tom offers the best advice on how to clean it.
A little grease on the threads after you get it cleaned up helps to prevent the plug from seizing up.

 

[Idaholewis]

Welcome to the Forum

MrTom & deermanok give you good advice

 

[JIMYJAC]

2nd that!

 

[DocBernard]

MrTom: Barrel looks pristine. Ran a bore brush/swab down it to remove the powder fouling and it looks great.

The breech plug appears to be clogged with something metallic (that might be why it was so cheap), so it looks like I might need to just go buy another. Plus it looks like there is something missing, that primer pocket is deep and I don't see how the primer would sit flush to be struck by the pin. Looks like they have them at Midway.......

PS: Thanks for answering my next question about load data before I even asked it! LOL, read my mind!

 

[MrTom]

The first thing I do when either considering a used gun or actually planning on buying one is to check on availability of replacement plugs. Kodiak plugs are readily available and relatively cheap. Buy two or three. When I bought my current Kodiak used I bought three plugs and just tossed the one that came with the gun. Start fresh with your new-to-you gun and you'll appreciate the ease in which you can slip into the sport with that gun.

And as for your thread title.....we'd rather answer questions that have been answered before or seem like it, but very few questions we see are stupid. Our first concern is safety.

 

[deermanok]

Like Mr Tom said, there's no stupid question about gun safety.

 

[shiner200gr]

Yup, buy a new breech plug....maybe even one and a spare.
When I clean my CVA Accura I pull the breech plug and stand it up in a small sauce pan with about an inch of water that has a few drops of dish detergent in it. Then I put it on the stove and get a rolling boil so that the soapy water "perks" out of the flash hole. I take it out while it's still hot and shoot compressed air through it from one of those duster cans. Let it sit while you're cleaning the bore to insure the moisture is gone.,, grease it and screw it in.

 

[Screwbolts]

OP, welcome to the board.

@MrTom, Please re read your original post here on this thread. I believe you have a typo that no one else picked up and just gave you a good advice thingy. Are you really telling all the world that the Wolf Magnum,

Right behind the pocket where the primer fits in the plug is the flash channel....about +/- 1/64".

A 1/64" , a .015625" hole. thats just over 15 thousands, grant you, you did use a +/-. If I remember my very old origonal Wolf had a 5/32 channel leading to a .03+ vent hole. That was back in 03, I do know that I have put savage style vent liners in several older Wolf plugs for friends. along with other plug mods .

OP. IMHO anything over 80gr. Volume of either BH209 or T7 is a waste of hard earned money. Yes yur rifle is theoretically rated for magnum loads, but unless you just want to experience lots of recoil why burn up, waste expensive propellant.

RonLaughlin a member on this Forum might be able to fix you plug or make you a new one if needed.

Ken

 

[MrTom]

No typo, I just didn't know the exact factory hole when I wrote it. I was only trying to show that the hole was smaller than the flash channel and that it is a used gun so nobody other than the one actually trying to determine that hole size will know how much erosion has opened the hole. Ron uses a #39 bit for his liners which is close, I believe, to a factory plug's size that has not been fired.

And while I may agree somewhat that lighter charges can deliver decent accuracy I will also argue that with different bullets and/or different velocities are needed to assure proper bullet expansion at different distances. There is no such thing as one charge for all bullets. There is no such thing as one charge for universally optimum accuracy. My .45 Kodiak reaches its best in both areas at 63 weighed grains of BH209 using two different bullets. Three of my .50s do so at 77 weighed grains with totally different bullet weights. All three of these weapons are set up for 100 yard or less shooting, each with its own specific charge and bullet and sabot components that have been proven thru use. So in my opinion, one has to shoot and try different components thoroughly before settling in on a specific load for a specific gun. A one size fits all mentality, or lighter is better, in my opinion again, can deliver some unhappy results. My load suggestions were based entirely on my experience with similar guns using the same exact plug and was simply looking in front of the immediate question/issue and offering a starting point since he indicated that he had zero experience with muzzleloaders.

 

[ronlaughlin]

The flame channel of the old CVA plugs is 3mm. The flash hole is about 0.029".

A 5/32" drill is used to enlarge the flame channel so it can be tapped to receive a vent liner. A #69 drill was used to make vent liners from Holo-Krome screws recently, but #70, and #68 drills have been used before, and also work.

 

[Screwbolts]

@ MrTom, As you clearly say " No Typo" and I Quote "Ron uses a #39 bit for his liners which is close, I believe, to a factory plug's size that has not been fired. " Well, drill size #39 is, .0995" , That is just shy of .10" 1/10th of an inch, or in simple terms bigger than 3/32" but smaller than 7/64"

#39

0.0995

I now know you don't make Typos. I do know I am very capable of Typos and have to re read much I type. I do firmly believe Ron uses a #69 Drill, .0292" as he stated recently in a post, and that is one size smaller than what I use.

I personally use 1/32" cobalt drills .0325-.0330 for vent liners.

Your mileage may very, but your typos are consistent. Some things are so very self evident.

I do believe that new people to the wonderful sport of Smoke poles do need factual, safe info!

With that being said the accuracy/context of information of/in posts of new people must/should be accurate, I do believe to that be very important. This a wonderful journey/experiance, The Smoke pole, so start slow/low, learn to walk before you run.

Ken

 

[gman57]

Welcome from NC, get a new plug and enjoy your Wolf.

 

[MrTom]

I now know you don't make Typos.

Ken

I'll just say that nowhere did I say this. I said my comment was not a typo, I understood exactly what you inferred.

And thank you Ron for setting my "typo" straight. I knew it was a "9" of some sort. I tried the drilling of vent liners but decided that ordering them from Badger Ridge was cheaper than all the broken tiny drill bits to make one liner. I don't have a drill press with the sort of feed control needed for the small bits in hard metal.

I'll stand by my remaining commentary.

Screwbolts, you remind me of someone else.

 

[Screwbolts]

@ DocBernard , there have been several load recommendations suggested. In my first post I referred to Volumetric measurement of the powder you choose, not actual scale measured/weighed grain weight! True Black powder was originally loaded by Volume and many subs are meant to be measured in the same Volumetric type of measure.

 

[Nit Wit]

Keep it simple pyrodex pellets, 100 gr worth, I use 290 gr Barnes sabots. Welcome!

Nit Wit

 

[Bad Karma]

Like Mr Tom said, there's no stupid question about gun safety.

Paging @jcnull2305 to the courtesy phone!

 

[jcnull2305]

Paging @jcnull2305 to the courtesy phone!

Nope. No. Nuh uh. I'm out!

 

[jcnull2305]

I will say this: @DocBernard there's sooooooo much knowledge on this forum. Folk that have been into this discipline for a long time - shooting, casting, experimenting, plotting - I mean, @sdporter is, as I type this, in his laboratory under a mountain in a secret location, figuring out how to use those little red plastic cap gun caps as primers! @michiganmuzzy is creating a whole new genre of modernistical, mystical traditional muzzleloader called the Rene'corn... It's stirred up controversy...and admiration. @Idaholewis has cast and shot literally millions of bullets in his cornucopia of black powder Franken-rifles at ridiculous distances - and films it all while providing a running commentary a là Marlin Perkins.

My point is, so much occurs to these guys when presented an issue, that it can be dizzying to guys like you and me, who are still in the nascent phase of muzzleloader learning.

While you soak up all this knowledge and consider the various avenues of muzzleloading adventure...

...get a new plug and enjoy your Wolf.

Do that...what he said!

- Jim

*Ladies and Gentlemen, this, his 200th post to the MM Forum, was brought to you by the lovely and talented Mr. J C Null - MM Forum funnyman and clown*