Touch-hole liners; faster ignition or time bomb?
In response to customer questions mentioning touch hole liners on
other websites, we would like to offer a few points of interest. With the
exception of English guns which had un-removable plugs, liners are not
historically correct. These modern removable touch hole liners have the added
risk of being un-seated from their threads and becoming a deadly flying
object. Not to mention looking horribly out of place! How do you
perfectly clean the inverted cone of a touch hole liner in field
conditions? You don't. The reason most builders don't use the outside cone
method is because the barrels they use are made of leaded steel, which will
erode fairly easily. We use modern high carbon steel, which is not only
far safer from a pressure standpoint, but won't erode. If you've heard of
barrels bursting at the breech area, you're probably hearing about a barrel in
which a touch hole liner was installed. We use the outside cone method for
three reasons; 1. It's safe. 2. It's historically correct. 3. It works.
We've heard the supposed claims of faster ignition by using touch
hole liners. If fast ignition, not historical correctness is your absolute
goal, please contact Remington or Winchester for a complete catalog of
high power centerfires. Those are fast! If you want great performance that's
reliable, safe, trouble-free (as much as an 18th century firearm can be)
and historically correct, use the outside coned touch hole. We shoot clay
birds with our flintlocks, not to mention all manner of still targets. We
compete with them and hunt in all kinds of weather using only flintlocks. If
we do our part to keep the breech clean and the touch hole clear, the ignition
is almost instantaneous. We are shooting and recreating the era of 18th
century guns after all.
One of the selling websites recommended that
you put a touch hole liner in one of our guns to speed up ignition. The
installation of a liner will void all warranties and we cannot work on a
barrel that has a liner in it. The inverted cone of the liner will be
halfway into the breech plug. This will expose the threads of the plug to
rusting and make the liner very difficult to clean. We do not recommend
putting a liner in our barrels.
I would like to offer a thought about the
opinions of those experts who don't build guns: If you wanted to find out
about the performance of a particular automobile, would you ask some guy on
the street who'd seen one drive by, or would you go talk to a mechanic who
actually works on them?