Updated: 03.21.2025
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At some point in converting the Fenians rifle-muskets into Needham Conversions, the firing pin was changed. The original design of the firing pins was causing breakage. The change involved a redesign of the pin itself which necessitated a change in the location of the retaining screw.
One design puts the set screw closer to the end of the breechblock(.60″) and the other puts it closer to the middle(1.188″)
My findings so far:
I believe the center postion is the initial location for the firing pin set screw.
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And just when you thought you only had 2 breech block configurations to deal with…. along comes….. Hammer #132 and #277
Inside the hole of the breech block breech is a smaller diameter entrance being either drilled or is a tube driven into the hole to provide more metal for the threads of the firing pin retaining screw. The breech blocks with the end hole use a shorter tube and breech blocks with the center hole use a longer tube.
Here is an end-hole breech-block showing where the smaller opening is
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Center-Hole Firing Pin Screw
Smaller opening is 28.7mm. it is longer than the end hole block since the screw is in the center
instead of at the end.
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Now this is where it gets interesting. I have a 2-hole breech block in my collection. So what came first, the chicken or the egg, or in this case, which hole was there first? Looking above at the smaller opening for the end-hole block and the center -hole block, the smaller opening extends far enough in both the end and center hole to give the metal for the threads of the firing screw hole. In the two hole block the smaller opening only extends out just past the end hole and does not exist for the center hole.
This tells me, the end hole was the original hole in this block and the center hole was drilled at a later time and did not have the extra metal for the threads of the other single hole blocks.
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