Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders bore capacity question

I would agree with Dan . Its not the barrel that�s the issue but if the breech will hold the pressure .
Built properly it should .
The other question is will your stock design be able to withstand the recoil

I would also agree that most of the powder will be burnt . With that charge you probably will get some that wont but I would bet that something around 80-90 % will

Now to the issue of recoil .
How much felt recoil your going to get will also depend on the stock , its weight and its lines . A very light stock can often feel heavier in recoil then one with a heavy stock
While IMO a 500 grain projectile isn�t that heavy for a 58 , if that bullet and amount of charge is used on a stock with a slim wrist and a lot of drop ,then your asking for trouble .
But if you have the stock made for the purpose of that type of charge and the grain is ran through the wrist correctly , with a good quality wood ,and rather shallow in the drop , not only will the stock withstand that charge but even greater charges

the guy doing the work says the breechplug is ok.
you described some heavy bullets for that caliber! im going to use 750 grain solids with 2F or 3F 250 grains. my gun will probly weigh 10 lbs when finished,but ill roll with it.

thanks for the interesting info.

I'll ask again. What are you hunting?

Yes you will.

What is the configuration of your ignition system?

Roll with it?

Si.

What is being contemplated is roughly a 24 bore with a 9 bore projectile weight and 9+ drams of powder. Total charge mass is 1,000 grains. Rock and roll...

I wasnt talking about hunting in this thread,it was more a gun performance question. But with a .58 caliber 650 grain bullet and a gun that will take blk powder or smokeless loads,i would hunt anything in America.

Yes,.58 cal is 24 bore rifled, and its capable of 9 drams,even though it may be pointless to put that much blk powder in there.I will experiment,and see what it can do with bp.I know its capabilities with nitro powders. But i want to keep it black powder. It could be i need to go up in diameter to make use of a 9 dram load efficiently.i will see.

It will recoil but im not a little guy and can handle larger caliber weapons and have found that with the really heavy recoiling ones its better to let your body go with the recoil and let it flow than to try and fight it with your strength.

custom threaded breechplug,custom steel bbl,inline musket,percussion,or 209.

an 8 bore ball is around 835 or 875 grains,and an 8 bore conical can be 2000 grsains. im talking about a .58 caliber projectile weighing 650 -750 grains, and i can use .577 nitro express solids for projectiles in it.

I just want to use as much bp or whitehot pellets i can to get it going as fast as possible.

Thank you for your input,i appreciate it. It will be a quality barrel and threaded breechplug to withsatand nitro or blk powder loads,but ill be keeping it to bp or pellets.
Its a composite stock and will be bedded in a steel plate.
I will use 650-750 grain safari solids or lead minies with my blk powder loads.Maybe even prb's sometimes.

thanks for looking.

You would build a rifle around a powder charge? I know lots of guys select the bullet they want to shoot, and build a rifle around it. Or they put together the rifle they want to shoot, and then develop a load.

I'd like to see a photo of that bad boy when it's finished.

Are you hunting, or just burning powder?

Me? Neither, just flapping my gums LOL.

If its a custom barrel, only that maker can tell you what the safe charge is. Just because its modern steel, doesnt mean you can load up an enormous charge and think its ok, theres many grades of steel out on the market.

if the intent is to use a modern center fire barrel , then IMO the barrel will hold the charge .
again the key is the breech . which should hold fine for that charge in a 58 as the bore pressure is still going to be less then the same charge with like or heavier bullets in a smaller bore like a 41 or 45 cal .

Now does that mean it would hold up to smokeless powder . My take on it is that would depend on the powder and the ignition design . Even if you used a 209 primer but used a traditional styled lock , the lock itself would have to be able to withstand the blow back pressure of the powder . So what powder one could use would then also be dependant on the lock not just the breech .

Building a gun to withstand progressive powders has more to consider then if you just built the gun for use with black powder or and substitute. I sure wouldn�t slap a plug in it and say ; there you go .
Just because the barrel may hold or be designed to hold a smokeless charge , doesn�t mean the rest of the gun will

Since its a custom job ill have it done custom.But what youll see is a muzzleloader with its .50 barrel swapped for a .58 cal modern steel nitro designed barrel ,and with somebody shooting black powder out of it. The thread was about me trying to figure out if all that powder would burn and add velocity.
ill post photos when its done, thanks.

im not building it a gun expert is,and it appears that this locking mechanism is tough enough for moderate to high smokeless loads which in this case is pretty powerful. but im using bp anyway.thanks for input.

i hunt yes but thats not where i was going with this thread.Until i go hunting i will be burning powder.

Ok, i'm just wondering what goal you're trying to achieve for hunting? What animal, distance etc.?

yes that data comes with the work.but since i like to use bp,i was just trying to figure out if 250 grains is wasteful in a .58 caliber. Some say it is,some say it isnt.without a chronograph,its hard to tell.so ill probably load it up and lay a white sheet or 2 out in front and see if any unburnt blk powder ends up on it.

I'll bet you can't find any hunting load that won't show some unburned powder. I never could. It doesn't mean I couldn't add more powder for some gains.

What was important to me was, how much powder could I add before I lost accuracy.

[quote=Mauser_Hunter]I'll bet you can't find any hunting load that won't show some unburned powder. I never could. It doesn't mean I couldn't add more powder for some gains.

What was important to me was, how much powder could I add before I lost accuracy. [/quote

thats cool,i hadnt heard that before,about unburned powder in every load.i believe it.
ive been blk powder hunting 20 years but only in the past couple years,REALLY got into it. ive heard ppl say 250 grains is too much and its a waste,but i personally have a hard time believing 250 grains wont push a ball/bullet faster than 80 grains regardless. Its a really good deal on custom work,and it can always use smokeless in a bind.