irritated

[Hammerhead]

went out today to shoot my 50 cal traditions shenandoah its the gun i shot when i starter shooting with my grandparents then they sold it to my uncle i just got it back went out to shoot it today the idiot had overtightened the nipple so the threads got broke off and i have to find a new drum for it i hate ignorance

[Dogshirt]

Take a deeeeeeeeeeep breath Kris! Now, did the nipple break off, or are the threads stripped?
Either way, there is no need to replace the drum. An easy out will remove the broken nipple, and
stripped threads can be retapped. Remember, breath deeeeeeeeeep!

[Hammerhead]

the threads on the nipple stripped but from the looks of the drum so did the ones in it

[mongrel]

A bit of advice from an elder -- ignorance is the condition of simply not knowing something. It has nothing to do with being stupid or careless, it just means a person doesn't know any better. Unless the universe revolves around you, and you know all that there is to know in that universe, save your hatred and anger for situations where they're justified, otherwise you might find a lot of people hating YOU for mistakes you make due to not knowing any better.

You only have two options for re-tapping the nipple hole in your existing drum. The existing nipple is threaded 6x1mm. Standard-sized American nipples are threaded 1/4-28, which is slightly larger than 6mm, but not enough that you can safely re-tap the drum to 1/4". There just isn't enough metal there to provide a safe thread engagement. So, like I say, you have two choices. One is to drill and tap the existing hole for a nipple that takes #11 caps but has 5/16-24 threads. Such nipples are intended for shooters who have muskets and rifled muskets but want to use #11 caps instead of the larger musket caps. I have one or two such nipples and would be happy to send you however many I've got. If you don't know how to drill and tap, find someone who does -- a mechanic or handyman or shop teacher or someone who does this sort of thing on a regular basis.

Your other option is to tap the hole to 1/4-28, then send off to Dixie Gun Works or anyone else who stocks nipples with oversized threads. Dixie has such nipples in .255", .260", and even larger (1/4" is .250"), 28 threads to the inch. Their purpose is exactly this sort of situation. The nipples are made of hardened steel or alloys, and once you've tapped a hole 1/4-28 in the mild steel of the drum you can use the larger-sized nipples to deepen the threads till you have a safely tight fit. The only drawback to this is that unless you go several sizes over, so that a standard 1/4-28 nipple doesn't even come close to fitting, another person might mistakenly think the hole is a standard 1/4-28 and that the slightly-loose fit of a 1/4-28 nipple is normal, and this creates a safety issue.

Your only other option is, like you say, to fit a new drum. You can get the proper metric-threaded drum from Dixie and probably other outfits, but it will come with the nipple hole drilled and tapped and you'll have to index it to line up with your hammer, which can be tricky. A new drum will NOT just thread in, tighten up, and be in exactly the same location as the old one.

I have blank drums for CVA and Traditions rifles, but the threaded shank that fits into the barrel is over-length so it can be used with any diameter rifle barrel, so it would have to be shortened and fitted to your barrel and then drilled and tapped for a nipple. Since this is an area where safety is a critical concern, I'd want to do the work for you instead of just sending you a drum and hoping you got it set up right.

[flintboomer]

First, let it set for a week, cool off and think about it.

You are pretty handy with a lot of things but if this is not something you want to do yourself get help. The basic options have been covered and I won't repeat them but personally I would just retap oversize and if you ever get rid of the gun or loan it out again let them know about it.

[Hammerhead]

i had the gunsmith at my shooting club look at it today he said the drum looks ok and that i just need a new nipple

[crazell]

That's good news!!

[Dogshirt]

 

[flintboomer]

Sounds good. Go easy and feel the threads out when you put in the new one, just in case. A new nipple is definitely the cheapest option if it is all you need.