Hoyt barrel 1841?

[4th Tex. inf.]

New member here. I've been shooting muzzleloaders for a long time, but never got around to civil war era muskets til a few weeks ago when I cam across a deal on a Mississippi 1841 with a Hoyt barrel on it. I've shot patched roundballs and bullets and I get a lot of "spat-boom" type slowfires. With minies, if I wipe the bore that usually stops up the flash hole between the percussion chamber and the bore. This flash hole is very small. I'd guess its about .08 or thereabouts. I'm guessing this hole is that small for some reason, but it sure is easy to stop it up. What is the solution? I've thought about drilling it larger, but I don't want to do anything without knowing if it'll work or not. Thanks for the help.

[Muley Gil]

Welcome.

It sounds like someone in the past didn't clean this very well. Once you remove the nipple, you should be able to get a very small drill bit into the vent. Using your fingers only, twirl the drill bit in the vent. You should be able to get a 1/16" drill bit in there. I would also pull the breach plug and polish its face.

[4th Tex. inf.]

Thanks Gil, it was dirty when I got it. There was a plug of fouling on the face of the breechplug that went up to the vent hole. I took the breech plug out just out of curiosity and to make sure I knew how it was breached. I cleaned everything up like new but the problem is that hole between the percussion chamber and the bore is very long and very small. Its drilled at an angle and goes through part of the bolster and then through the barrel at a pretty steep downward angle making what would amount to a flintlock with a solid touch hole 1/2" long. The spat/booms are not bad hangs but they are slower firing than it should be and that little hole is so danged easy to stop up especially if I wipe the bore, I just started wondering why it was made so small. I can probably get a 3/16" drill through there without hitting the threads. If I drill it out that big, would that have some unintended consequences?

[Muley Gil]

"...I just started wondering why it was made so small."

Well, if the vent is too large, the back pressure will either blow the nipple out or blow the hammer back to half or full cock. That tends to mess up your aim.

I woud contact Mr Hoyt and see what size the vent should be.

[4th Tex. inf.]

The guy I bought it from said Hoyt installed the barrel, so I guess its supposed to be this size. I've seen lots of caplock rifles with drums having inside diameters of about 1/4" and they don't blow the hammer back. And underhammer guns' nipple is directly into the main charge and they don't blow out...........much. My guess is that it has something to do with consistent pressure burns for better accuracy? Guess being the key word. Last night I took a 7/32 ball end mill bit and drilled straight down into that little hole for about half the length of it so now the length of the small part is about 1/8". It was about 1/4" to start with. Inside the bolster now the hole looks like the inside of a white lightning touch hole liner. Then I took a carbide 1/8" burring ball in the dreaded dremel tool and started at the center where the fire from the cap hits the bottom and radiused a sort of trough over to the round bottom hole sloping down as it goes and polished it up best I could. I shot 24 shots this morning and only had one misfire and a couple of spat/booms. This is a vast improvement. I wiped the bore several times during the time I was shooting and had good ignition most of the time. I think I will deepen my round bottom hole some more. The spat/booms I'm talking about might be something that some people don't notice or care about but a consistent lock time and ignition makes some difference in accuracy, mainly because the gun is moving in recoil before the minie gets out of the barrel.

[RaiderANV]

Enlarging the fire channel will get a chit load more blow back, burn out nipples way faster and best part is ya get to look like a cartoon after a few shots with all the powder burns and whatnot all over yer face and right arm.

[gemmer]

New member here. I've been shooting muzzleloaders for a long time, but never got around to civil war era muskets til a few weeks ago when I cam across a deal on a Mississippi 1841 with a Hoyt barrel on it. I've shot patched roundballs and bullets and I get a lot of "spat-boom" type slowfires. With minies, if I wipe the bore that usually stops up the flash hole between the percussion chamber and the bore. This flash hole is very small. I'd guess its about .08 or thereabouts. I'm guessing this hole is that small for some reason, but it sure is easy to stop it up. What is the solution? I've thought about drilling it larger, but I don't want to do anything without knowing if it'll work or not. Thanks for the help.

Are you sure it's a Hoyt made barrel and not a reline?

[Michael Bodner]

We're forgetting the original issue: Hang-fires...

Perhaps the caps are at fault... What type are they? German 4-wing or CCI Re-enactor caps?

Also, have you tried to clean the flash hole with an eyeliner brush? Just water and the brush through the bolster (and/or clean-out hole). It can easily be coked up and some water and brushing will restore it to its original diameter...

-Mike

[Charlie Hahn]

The touch hole size described is correct. The issue might be that the transition from the bottom of the hole where the nipple is may have a drill point rather than a flat bottom hole, or a crater. If it has a drill point and is below the touch hole you will need to do a little work in the base to ease the transition into the barrel so the spark does not need to climb up and in. This is a typical issue with musket either a new barrel or erosion from being used. Both these features can slow the fire transition into the the barrel and give a flintlock feel.

Regards

Charlie Hahn
410-208-4736

[Bruce Cobb 1723V]

Did you fire a couple of caps before loading to get the oil / water out just before shooting? As a newbe to muskets, I've noted other muzzleloading groups don't do this. The other is what condition is the head of the nipple / cone? They get mushed down and then the cap can't seat fully down. My 2 cents.