Venting the drum

[exMember]

I got this the other day from a fellow backwoodsman magazine reader/writer.

Use a # 50 drill bit to put a TINY hole in the FRONT of the nipple drum,
idea being any air in it would be pushed out allowing the cap fire
better access to the main powder charge rather than compressing the air
in there. It should aid in ignition. My question is would it reduce the
power of the shot any appreciable amount?

I tried it with my .50 (self made) & notice no difference & no blast out
of the hole is bothersome. Have yet to try it on my .54, my 28 gauge &
self made .439, (made it from a 43 Spanish bbl)

I personally don't see how this would in aid in anything, but open up the powder to even more air/moisture.
Another way I've seen and ready about is drilling it in front of the breech plug to let excess air out.

Im just not seeing this as a way to improve ignition, just a way to ruin a good barrel IMO. Especially when
someone has done it and said they saw zero improve.

 

[texsam1949]

why have another hole that "fire' can come out of ? seems of the last hundred years plus no one is reporting any issues. the "logic" says it should work, but id like to see the old Shooters with the extra hole ?

 

[lighthorseman]

Jon.....my biggest concern is burning the wood on the lock mortise! :affraid:

 

[exMember]

That hole seems to be drilled at a slight angle, pointing away from the stock.

I certainly do not support this idea in one bit. IMO its old age stuff that probably popped up during the rebirth of muzzleloading in the 1960's and later.

 

[Kentucky Colonel]

You know, I heard drilling a hole in the bottom of a boat will reduce 
friction between the bottom and the water, making it faster... 
:geek:

 

[Coalforge1]

Here is an article you might find interesting:
Faster, more reliable ignition for your Sidelock Muzzle Loader

PostSubject: Re: a tip on how to make your sidelock precussion muzzleloader have faster and more reliable ignition.   October 14th 2016, 4:59 pm   
thanks for your interest, one person is enough for me to post this tip. when the cap goes off and the fire from it travels to the powder, the biggest thing it has to over come to get to the powder is air compression. the patched ball seal the powder chamber and the air amongst the powder has to be compressed when the pressure of the cap and fire starts to travel towards it.
this compressed air sometime prevents the fire from reaching the powder and the results is a non ignition. you did every thing right and it was not your falt but we blame our selves as we dont know the science of it all. in the 1840/s a unknown gun smith resloved this problem and i have run accross a few side lock from those days with his resolution on those reliable rifles. the answer is to drill a 1/32 hole into the back of the combustion chamber about 1/8 of a inch ahead of the breech plug. on the right side of the gun as you are holding it at about 2 oclock.
this is what happens when you do this. the cap goes off and the fire moves forward with out any resistance as the air amongst the powder is pushed out the 1/32 hole. the ignition is faster and never ever any push back. a very old traditional tip that still works to day.
ive done this to all my side locks and they always fire. it does not affect the accuracy at all in a bad way. infact i find the backs of the barrels or bottoms of the barrels are a lot cleaner when i wipe the bore. recently i passed this tip onto a shooter for his bear sidelock in northern n.york. he was having trouble with ignition now and then and it was driving him nuts. he did what i suggested and he tried it and shot two hours with out a missfire. e emailed me and said he has 7 other muzzleloaders and will do that to them also.

i cannot take credit for this tip as i stumbled accross it years ago on a high end 1840/s 1/2 stock sidelock. Through investigation i found out what that hole was for and have passed on this tip when i can. I have even shooters use it on their inline with faster ignition. their you are with the knowledge of a 1840/s gunsmith. strong eagle

 

[mark1945]

My CVA 50 cal Mountain rifle had way to many failures to fire when I first got it back in the 70s. I had a old gunsmith friend who told me about drilling the drum . I drilled mine and made all the difference my miss fires are almost never now the one in your picture is drilled wrong it should be about half way from where it is closer to the nipple to keep it clear of the wood. I also drilled my 58 cal CVA mountain rifle and it helped it also . Not only does it reduce misfires to almost nothing it seems to speed up ignition time also.

 

[MattRaymond]

Sweet tang site in that pic as well...

 

[Hanshi]

There's a way to keep from having to drill that hole in the drum.  You can buy, and I have one, these nipples (I think they'er called "spitfire"??) that have a tiny hole already drilled in them.  I never noticed a difference but others possibly could.

 

[mark1945]

I have tried the Spitfire nipples they made no difference had to many failure to fire , drilling the hole was the only thing that made a big difference . Only thing Ive found better is converting to use 209 primers , both my Pedersoli Kodiaks have the 209 nipples and have never had a failure to fire thru hundreds of shots from them.

 

[texsam1949]

i RECALL THEM BEING CALLED hotshot NIPPLES. they worked great for me and i can claim never a misfire/discharge.

 

[Hanshi]

They worked really fine on my rifle, too.  But I wasn't having as much trouble to start with like some have.  Still, it seemed to have made a difference.

 

[Huntin_Dawg1215]

I had read that post somewhere not long ago may have been in one of the backwood articles. My question is, Would the air not be pushed out of the nipple when you ram the patched ball down, even without that hole?

But i am no scientist.

 

[Hanshi]

I have no idea, Huntin_Dawg.  I'm probably the last person you'd want to ask about any technical issues; makes my brain hurt.  :geek:

I don't even know when or where I got it.  I've just never had ignition problems in my percussions.

 

[Huntin_Dawg1215]

The only cap gun I have trouble with is my TC, but my thoughts is I don't get it cleaned out good. But I think it is the breach.

 

[clinker]

That Drum venting citation is from the Dixie Gunworks Catalog. Presumably from Turner Kirtland himself.  I have vented several drums in family guns, and we DO NOT HAVE ignition problems, ever. No problems with water getting into the drum either. Or messing up stock wood if you put the hole in the right place.  The only downside to venting the drum is that if you "dryball" a load, you can't use a CO2 ball remover very well.

 

[Sharpsman]

Some folks sit around.....and do to much 'thinking'!

 

[strong eagle]

i posted this sometime back. what this does is allow the fire to go to the powder with out any back pressure from a sealed powder chamber. i have a friend who has ten side locks and he did this to all of them and the result is no misfires ever. also to answer the question about change in accuracy. it gets better as the combustion is more consistant and more comeplete. also no loss in power. every side lock ive ever built has this done to them. thanks for bringing this fine tuneing tip back to all of us. it is nothing new. i first saw this on a fine side lock built in the 1840/s. it is just recycled info from the old days. strong eagle

 

[strong eagle]

i want to share some info if any one of you want to build a round ball rifle that shoots holes in holes at any range. i will give you the perfect twist to have that rifle barrel cut at to get perfect accuracy for the caliber you want. 30 cal. 1/36 twist   32 cal. 1/38 twist   36 cal. 1/45 twist   40 cal. 1/ 48 twist   45 cal. 1/56 twist  50 cal. 1/60 twist  54 cal. 1/65 twist   58 cal. 1/70 twist  70 cal. 1/84 twist. these specs. will give you a barrel that is easy to sight in at any range and be consistant in accracy. you wont have to find the perfect powder charge, they will work with most charges. if any one of you have a odd cal. or want to shoot cast or paperpatch, pm me and i will give you the right twist for the bullet you want to shoot. i recently worked with a shooter from out west and he built a muzzle loader to the specs i gave him. the last time to the range he got 1 inch groups at 200 yards. its all in the math and the math never ever lies. hope i can help some one here get what they want, strong eagle