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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2016 23:56:53 GMT -5
First I must say that ALL of the following were purchased from a vendor on another site.....I have (4) Savage plugs that are pure tungsten .028 bushing plugs. Three of them were purchased complete and the fourth I machined the plug and installed the bushing myself. I secured all of them with Loctite bearing retainer (green). Three of the four are cracked into. I heard stories of the .040 bushings cracking but not the .030 AKA .028. I don't know how long they will last now that they are broken but I sure hate that I paid $50 each for them. Has anyone else had a similar issue? BTW, Food for thought: three of the guns are shooting 250 to 290 TEZ's 2800 to 2900 fps and they are the ones that cracked. The gun that is shooting bonded shockwaves at 2650 did not crack.
Jeff, are your bushings 100% tungsten or are they tungsten/carbide? And, have you had any cracking issues?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2016 0:42:18 GMT -5
How tight were the bushings when pushed into the bushing hole?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2016 1:26:37 GMT -5
How tight were the bushings when pushed into the bushing hole? Of the three that were purchased as an unassembled assembly, two of them are cracked. They come unassembled and to the best of my memory were not very tight. The one that I machined was tighter. I reamed it undersized and slowly opened it up with a 1/4" flap wheel in a dremel. It was snug but I didn't have to get rough with it while driving it in. It too is cracked.
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Post by hillbill on Jan 12, 2016 4:49:04 GMT -5
I have installed LOTS of bushings in plugs of all sizes, to my knowledge none have cracked. I think the problem is that the bushing needs to be so tight that it needs to be driven into the plug and thus has no room for expansion. I might crack one next time out? so far I have not..
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2016 5:02:49 GMT -5
The tightest one is the one that I machined and installed in a plug I already had. I am quite sure that it was plenty tight enough going in and it was lathered in bearing retainer. I think they may be too hard. I made a punch one time and water quenched it. That thing was so hard that it shattered when the hammer hit it.
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Post by lakeplainshunter on Jan 12, 2016 5:22:53 GMT -5
We are tied. I have 3 broken .030" pure tungsten bushings. I also have 1 that has survived so far.
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Post by linebaugh on Jan 12, 2016 7:20:23 GMT -5
Mine is cracked and has been for a while but I see no way for it to go anywhere at present so I just keep on shooting it. If I had a do over or when it bothers me enough to fix it I will machine my next plug so that the bushing is pressed in.
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Post by Kyle on Jan 12, 2016 7:27:38 GMT -5
I agree with Hillbill. The fit of the bushing to the plug needs to be an extremely tight fit. I have a bunch, 400 plus, shots on my Hankins Plug with .035" bushing. No signs of cracking.
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ron
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Post by ron on Jan 12, 2016 7:45:05 GMT -5
Mine is a .028 and has not cracked but only has about 30 shots on it. Not sure what it is made of but bought on other site during first batch.
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Post by bestill458 on Jan 12, 2016 7:45:59 GMT -5
Like many others i have purchased several tungsten bushings 030 and all have cracked. The ttungsten carbide bushings do not crack but burnt out at around1000 shots We have options. .375 L. x .250 diameter .030 and .040 tungsten .030 and .040 tungsten/carbide Hanks. .250 L x .250 D .030,.035,.040. Tungsten/carbide/ third component to reduce wear and cracking.
They all should be press fit and lock ring
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Post by elkman1310 on Jan 12, 2016 7:59:45 GMT -5
I have not had any .030 bushing crack so far. I reamer the hole with a .250 chucking reamer. It gives a nice tap in fit. After a few shots carbon will seal around any gaps between that tungsten plug and the reamed hole. I do not believe you are on the right track if you need to drive that pure tungsten plug into the breech plug. That buts more stress on that brittle bushing. Remember it is brittle to begin with so way add more stress.
If you think your bushing is to loose just fire some reduced loads through it and it should seal perfectly. I have tried to remove a plug after its been used for awhile its in there pretty darn tight.
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ron
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Post by ron on Jan 12, 2016 8:20:57 GMT -5
Mine is carboned in from shooting and all I have done is cleaned flash hole would probably have to be driven out with punch, which I do not plan on doing.
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Post by bestill458 on Jan 12, 2016 8:57:59 GMT -5
I have not had any .030 bushing crack so far. I reamer the hole with a .250 chucking reamer. It gives a nice tap in fit. After a few shots carbon will seal around any gaps between that tungsten plug and the reamed hole. I do not believe you are on the right track if you need to drive that pure tungsten plug into the breech plugo. That buts more stress on that brittle bushing. Remember it is brittle to begin with so way add more stress. If you think your bushing is to loose just fire some reduced loads through it and it should seal perfectly. I have tried to remove a plug after its been used for awhile its in there pretty darn tight. The early pure tungsten bushings cracked on me in the 9/16 rear seal plug with good fit. Recently installed tungsten bushing in 9/16 plug and definitely press fit has something changed i cant say.. When ive done custom plug i actually have to heat plug to install bushing and pure tungsten still cracked.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2016 9:16:35 GMT -5
I agree with the fit variable but I have debunked that by machining my own plug and hand fitting the bushing. So I don't think that is the issue here. On the bright side, I really wanted a .035 so now I am able to pin gage the cracked ones at a tight .031. No bulged primers as of yet so I must assume that the crack must not be flowing a large amount of high pressure charge.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2016 9:43:50 GMT -5
I'm told that adding a very small percentage of carbide to the tungsten may help with the "brittleness", if that's a word. I've been using a cracked bushing for quite a while in my break open with no ill affects at all. It was sleeved into the bushing with some kind of aluminum wrap if I'm not mistaken and again works well.
There has been some concern noted that if additional cracks occur and get shot down the barrel, well you're barrel has bought the farm. I think once it has cracked in half the stress has been relieved and your good to go. Maybe they need to be in halves??
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Post by bestill458 on Jan 12, 2016 9:52:49 GMT -5
I spoke with hank recently and his bushings have a 3rd component to remedy wear and breakage issues.
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Post by fishhawk on Jan 12, 2016 10:10:46 GMT -5
I can look into another material if that is the consensus.
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Post by fishhawk on Jan 12, 2016 10:13:29 GMT -5
The only reason for the pure Tungsten bushing was for the high pressure slow powder guns. For the average gun Tungsten Carbide is the choice. Test one and see how long it lasts.
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Post by linebaugh on Jan 12, 2016 10:43:49 GMT -5
I am not sure how a cracked bushing would be shot out the barrel since it is A.) Captive and B.) Pressure is pushing the the bushing backwards not forward.
Mine is a .250x.250x.040 which is probably one of the worst scenarios for cracking. I used a .250 reamer to finish cut my bushing in place. Even then my bushing was nothing more than a light push to install. Next time (if there is one) I will ream it to .249 and press in. Might crack again but it really can't move so no biggie. When I had my plug out last year it was cracked in 3 places. Even so I don't worry as it really can't move.
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Post by 12ptdroptine on Jan 12, 2016 12:01:58 GMT -5
I am not sure how a cracked bushing would be shot out the barrel since it is A.) Captive and B.) Pressure is pushing the the bushing backwards not forward. Mine is a .250x.250x.040 which is probably one of the worst scenarios for cracking. I used a .250 reamer to finish cut my bushing in place. Even then my bushing was nothing more than a light push to install. Next time (if there is one) I will ream it to .249 and press in. Might crack again but it really can't move so no biggie. When I had my plug out last year it was cracked in 3 places. Even so I don't worry as it really can't move. I am also not sure how it could be pushed out the barrel either. At the 2nd challenge I started with a cracked bushing. Was told . Hell its cracked cant hurt anything just shoot it. I did a few more times and quickly started showing presure signs on the primers. Pulled the.pluf and there was a second crack. I was shooting 70 gn of H4198 with a 275BE. Around each crack you could see the corners rounde on the face of the bushing. When I got home I pulled the lock ring to examine and the bushing fell out in 3 pieces and the lock ring is cracked. Could it come out? Would it come out? Maybe sometime when you fire a couple primers.to clear it before loading?. Who really knows for sure. But I sure aint knowingly putting a $500 barrel at that risk over a $50 bushing. I left that bushing and lock ring right on my shelf at eye level as an occasional reminder. Drop
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