New Pro Hunter Breech Plug?

[rks1949]

When did T/C change the face of the breech plug on the Pro Hunter? It is concave on the front,what is that supposed to do? I just ordered a extra one to have on hand,but it sure has a different front end on it. Ron 

[Keith Lewis]

Ron: It seems that T/C can't make up their minds what the breechplug face should be. For the Encore and the Omega there were three configurations. One almost flat one with a small concave section and one with a huge concave section. Now it seems that they are on the same trend with the new Pro Hunter. I just got a Knight Rolling Block and the breechplug face is convex (slightly domed). Many are claiming that the configuration stops or limits blowback. Not sure as it has been so hot here that shooting is not a lot of fun so I am waiting for cooler weather. Just set three days in a row record high temperatures last week. Must be global warming from all you guys shooting muzzleloaders.

[rks1949]

Yeah,Keith. I'll have to test it at the range this week. I was wanting a extra breech plug ease of cleanup. I watched another shooter do this. He removed the dirty breech plug and put it in some Rusty Duck cleaner in a jar, then swabbed out the bore,and replaced the breech plug with a extra one,already lubed up and ready to go. He said that was way easier than taking it home and cleaning it there. He said he waited until home to clean the other breech plug in the jar,and it only took about 1-2 minutes,then he would re lube it,and put it in the shooting box,ready for the next shooting cycle. This sounded like a great idea to me! Ron     

[Busta]

rks1949,

It looks like they changed more than the face of the plug. To my eye, the new plug looks to have an o-ring up front instead of the original piston rings, and a smaller diameter flame channel. I would think that you would have to replace that front o-ring quite frequently.

[Bullseye]

From what I read (and who know if it is correct) the Encore went like this
Deep Concave Original Design - Was changed because people where crushing pellets and getting erratic velocity
Flat face, Second Design - Did not result in people crushing pellets but made the crud ring more pronounced
Concave with Small Flat Area, third design - Helped with crud ring and kept pellets from getting crushed

If that is correct, it looks liked they started with the second Encore plug design for the Pro Hunter instead of going straight to the third design.

[Keith Lewis]

Not sure my previous comment went through. It may be that the one you received as a part is actually an earlier version and the one in the rifle when you bought it is the later design. Who knows when they stock the parts bins???

[rks1949]

Busta,those are compression rings,only blued instead of stainless,like the original one! I forgot to mention that in the above post. Why they went to the "blued" rings is beyond me. Ron