Patent Breech Plug Maintenance The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

With most production guns that "try" to replicate the resemblance of anything historical, I always have removed the breech and re machined the barrel and would make a new plug. Obviously not a task everyone can take upon but worth having someone who can do the job if issues arise.

As an amateur builder I personally have nothing for the modern patent breech design in terms of period authenticity. Believe the historical breech came into existence in 1787 ish by Henry Nock in England for use in shotguns.

Still, a traditional breech reamins the easiest to maintain for reliability.

Nock’s patent breech

Henry Nock’s “patent breech” of 1787 which it may be said without exaggeration revolutionised firearms ballistics.Nock’s great advance combined a chamber in the breech plug and an ante-chamber drilled cross-wise from the barrel touch hole and closed on the other side with a screw plug. Though it might seem a rather trivial development, Nock’s breech was, in fact, an invention of the greatest importance. Powder was now confined loosely in the ante chamber. When the priming ignited, there was an explosion rather than mere burning as before. Ignition and combustion of the main charge were much improved; less powder was needed. Wingshooting became easier (because of the reduction in delay between pulling the trigger and the gun firing) and barrels could be chopped down without loss of performance. The double-barrelled fowling piece began to be a practical proposition. And, as a result of these developments, a new style of sporting gun appeared towards the end of the Eighteenth century, typically half-stocked, with one or two barrels of about 30”

Whit the above information highlighting that Mr. Nocks advancement was an improvement over the traditional breech, how much so for the terms of discussion? It obviously didn't replace the simplicity of the traditional breech which goes back to the beginning of matchlocks and in some regards to the handgonne.