LETMGROW Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 I mean really stuck! My friend from across the road came over and asked if I could help him remove the breech plug from his TC Prohunter. He couldn't hold the gun and use the wrench at the same time. We clamped the gun in my Varmiter rest and tried to turn the plug. All we managed to do was bend the flimsy wrench TC sends with the gun to do this job. He had already let the gun soak with WD-40 sprayed down the barrel for a few days. We used a long narrow punch which just caught one of the slots enough so we could tap on the punch to try turning the plug. No luck. With the scope mounted we couldn't use pliers, channel locks or vice grips. I finally suggested we warm the barrel and pour hot water into it. We warmed the barrel for a few minutes with a hair dryer. Actually hot to the touch. Then we poured hot water down the barrel, we repeated this a couple times then clamped the gun in the vice again. After tapping the plug several times with the punch the plug finally started to turn. The more it turned the looser it got until we finally could use the little wrench to turn the plug all the way out. This MZ had been shot three times without any cleaning between shots. When my friend got home from hunting he shot the gun one more time to unload it. He shoots loose powder and sometimes it is easier to fire the gun than disassemble it to remove the charge. Loose powder can be messy. Shortly after he shot the gun he got a call from the Army base. He had to report immediately for a problem which needed his attention. ( he is a high ranking officer there) He had to go out of town for a few days and the gun just sat in a corner until he just returned. I never ask where he goes. The breech plug was still in the gun. I told him if this ever happened again, please call me and I'll take care of the gun for him. He knows I am a fanatic about cleaning black powder guns. Moral to the story: If at all possible, never leave a plug in the gun after shooting it. Remove the plug and clean the whole gun ASAP. Lynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
535hunter Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 Had the same problem with my buddies. Couldn't figure it out at all buy might try your method. Glad it worked for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 I have an old CVA standing in the corner with a seized breech plug. Still sits with the round and charge in the barrel. A few years ago I tried to remove it with no luck. I know the gun is "shot" at this point, so I just wanted to get the load out and have the gun on display. (ol' Hawken style) Long story short, after trying every solvent I owned, and soaking the charge in warm water.., there was only one thing left to do! Two 14 inch pipe wrenches,lol. One on the barrel and the other on the breach plug! That thing is STILL stuck in there to this day, and a little uglier than I care for a display piece where the wrenches left teeth marks and have begun to rust. Guess I'll just leave it standing in the corner for a few more years. Maybe one day I'll saw the stock off and have a nice chunk of fire wood for the stove,lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 All we managed to do was bend the flimsy wrench TC sends with the gun to do this job. Those wrenches are junk. Broke the breech plug wrench that came with my TC black diamond and started using a 1/4 drive socket with an extension, works perfectly. Moral to the story: If at all possible, never leave a plug in the gun after shooting it. Remove the plug and clean the whole gun ASAP. Lynn I have left a load in a gun from our early season to the late season with nothing more than cleaning the barrel with the plug left in the gun. Our seasons used to be two one week seasons about 3 weeks apart. Never had issues with stuck plugs, use a little breech plug grease on the threads and it seems to work. Good advice though, always try to clean asap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted December 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 Those wrenches are junk. Broke the breech plug wrench that came with my TC black diamond and started using a 1/4 drive socket with an extension, works perfectly. I have left a load in a gun from our early season to the late season with nothing more than cleaning the barrel with the plug left in the gun. Our seasons used to be two one week seasons about 3 weeks apart. Never had issues with stuck plugs, use a little breech plug grease on the threads and it seems to work. Good advice though, always try to clean asap. In Jeff's case he had reloaded after firing the gun twice the day he went hunting. The damage was already done. He just didn't have time to do the proper cleaning. He is on call for whatever he does 24/7 with no questions asked. On a plane and gone who knows where. He just smiles and says, " It's all good". Lynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted December 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 I have an old CVA standing in the corner with a seized breech plug. Still sits with the round and charge in the barrel. A few years ago I tried to remove it with no luck. I know the gun is "shot" at this point, so I just wanted to get the load out and have the gun on display. (ol' Hawken style) Long story short, after trying every solvent I owned, and soaking the charge in warm water.., there was only one thing left to do! Two 14 inch pipe wrenches,lol. One on the barrel and the other on the breach plug! That thing is STILL stuck in there to this day, and a little uglier than I care for a display piece where the wrenches left teeth marks and have begun to rust. Guess I'll just leave it standing in the corner for a few more years. Maybe one day I'll saw the stock off and have a nice chunk of fire wood for the stove,lol. They make a bullet remover. This looks like a cleaning jag with a screw attached to it. Put it on the ram rod and slide it down the barrel and screw the rod into the bullet to pull it out. This works ok with lead balls but I never tried one with a jacketed bullet. When we had just gotten into blackpowder guns up here back in the 80's we were only allowed to use lead balls. We were required to carry one of the ball extractors. If you were stopped by a DEC officer he might ask you to remove the bullet so he could inspect it. I have a funny story about this. I was hunting with two friends and when we came out of the woods and up to our truck there was a DEC officer standing there waiting for us. He checked our licenses to be sure we had the proper MZ privilage tag which we all did. He asked one of my friends what he was using for bullets. Clint said, "A lead ball". The DEC officer said, " let me see it". Clint turned around, pulled the hammer back and fired a shot up into the trees while saying,"Take a look". I am here to tell you the officer wasn't even a little bit humored over this. I broke into tears myself and that didn't help matters either. To this day I don't know why we weren't run in for something. I think our lecture was about 10 minutes long about respect for a badge and other things. Lucky for us the law got changed the next year so we could use modern bullets. Lynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 went with a guy out to OK on a ML hunt. his plug was seized. we had to use WD-40, take the barrel off, and put the block under the barrel in a bench vise. we then used a socket while one of us kept the barrel from shifting in the vise and the other turned the ratchet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 (edited) Think I'll pull mine and check..but I alway lub it up with bore butter before I put it in..dont think it has given me a problem Edited January 1, 2013 by Mathews XT Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted December 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 I always store my MZ with the breech plug removed. I have to pull it anyway when I clean the barrel so why bother putting it in just to remove it. It saves cleaning the bore butter out of the flash hole to boot. Slather the Gorrilla Grease to the plug any time you screw it back in. Lynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkeygirl Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 The few times I took the TC Omega Z5 out, when I got home I took the breech out and removed the pellets and slug, wiped down the bow, put some gorilla grease on the breech and screwed it back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 put some gorilla grease on the breech and screwed it back in. Just my opinion and I could be wrong, but I always store my ml'ers with the plug not in the gun. Seems like it would be less likely to hold any potential moisture with both ends of the barrel open. Also easier to inspect from time to time with it open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted January 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2013 Just my opinion and I could be wrong, but I always store my ml'ers with the plug not in the gun. Seems like it would be less likely to hold any potential moisture with both ends of the barrel open. Also easier to inspect from time to time with it open. I agree. Check my post #9 Lynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msman825 Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 I shoot mine everytime i come out of the woods in my yard using my head hights and lay ur across the hood. it makes sure my scope is on, and i use IMR white hots and dont like leaving 3 in the barrel, and i'm a clean freak so i clean the barrel every 2-3 shots. when i'm not using it i take and put i little never seize on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointing_dogs_rule Posted January 19, 2013 Report Share Posted January 19, 2013 Think I'll pull mine and check..but I alway lub it up with bore butter before I put it in..dont think it has given me a problem Same here, except I use a dab of vasaline. good luck to all the dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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