SpudFiles

My 3/4" AG works fine as a muzzle loader.

I'm thinking break barrel instead of bolt action breech as the next step.

If the 3/4" copper barrel slipped into and out of a 3/4" fitting, would the seal be sufficient?

I am thinking along these lines of a 1" slide forward for the barrel and a hinge to make loading a nail dart simple.


Slide barrel forward to open, bend it down, load, bend it straight, slide it back, and lock it.

BTW Muzzle loading a conical tailed dart is not simple or effective.

Breech loading would be easier and it would enable a tighter fitting tail.

2 good reasons for a break barrel design.

BTB Could probably design what I am wondering about in 30 minutes or less.

The devil is in the details.

Ideas?


BoyntonStu

That should work...I have a VERY loose-fitting breech on my 2" cannon, and it seems to work just fine. Pipe fittings won't leak much if the dart is sized properly for your barrel, and doesn't create too much resistance. You may want to consider some sort of a latch to keep the barrel in place while firing.

I've made a couple, yes..
It's my favourite breech loading system.

The trick is you need a really strong hinge.If you would mount the thing in wood, it could not only be wobble-proof, but also look and feel good.

No need to make it look like a break barrel shotgun either.

You will need an outer tube, into wich the barrel slides.
You could drill the outer tube and put flathead bolts through to attach a block to the bottom , from wich you construct the hinge.
Big hole on top, smaller countersunk holes in the bottom of the tube.

a 100% seal is not neccesary, but it would be better ofcourse.
The trouble is the barrel might/will be blown out of a fitting.
It would be best to attach a ring of the " outer tube" to the barrel as a spring support.
Spring would now go between the outer sleeve and the spring support to push the barrel into the fitting.
Another one of those outer sleeve rings could go on the muzzle to keep the opened up barrel from dropping out.

If your real good you wouldn't even need to lock the barrel into a fitting.
I've had them seal 99% without the barrel sliding into a fitting..

This depends more on the stiffness of the hinge than the actual seal.
The seal is just 2 flat surfaces pushed against each other.With enough care this will seal very well, especially if the hinge applies some pressure on the seal.
A wobbly barrel will not seal that way..

Good luck!