Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders bore capacity question

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

110�SLUG GUN RIFLE�No limit on weight or caliber.

Yeah, but can you shoot 250 grains of powder out of 'em.

Great Googly Oogly!

ya LOL , the only thing funner is watching folks shoot them .
try doing a google for ; shooting the 4 bore rifle .
you should get a "Kick" out of it

RC, I'm not here to rain on your parade, just broaching discussion on ancillary aspects of your proposal. Several folks have inquired about your intended use of the gun and from what I read in your response it appears your objective is more directed at reaching a particular charge level more than anything else. Nothing wrong with that, though it does not tickle my fancy all that much.

Capchee discussed the necessity of having a lock mechanism suitable for the endeavor and I have inquired on the same issue. It is far more significant than the quality of steel in your barrel. Cartridge guns use cartridges for convenience and also as gaskets which allow the high pressure modern smokeless guns employ. Muzzleloaders do not have that advantage, hence the implied concerns expressed. I mentioned underhammer and side hammer guns and suggest a popular reason for that geometry was to keep hot gas and debris out of the shooter's face.

Some decades back there was a legend of the bullet gun persuasion that had a gun known as Ol' Butt Burner. Reason for that was the day the gas jet from the clean out port on the right face of the gun burned a hole in the backside of a pair of jeans worn by a shooter at the adjacent lane, approximately 6' away.

Now as I understand it, you're looking at an inline configuration? If that is correct you have something there not unlike sealed ignition, which also contains venting gas after discharge, assuming it is properly designed and employed. The short version of what I'm saying is this. Don't worry so much about how much powder you can burn, many before you have burned more than you propose and with bullets bigger than you plan on using. Do concern yourself with the safety issues related to design and use, for your benefit and for those around you.

An example of "more" is found here. .56 caliber HV Perry sidehammer, cast steel barrel, built in the late 1800's. The fella that shoots it is your size, or my size for that matter. The recoil is....significant, despite it's 40+ pounds. The barrel is approximately 2.75" in diameter across the flats and about 28" long.



Another thing you need to consider is how you will load the gun. Unless the bullet is substantially undersize you will find loading problematic unless you have a bullet starter and false muzzle as pictured here with a .50 caliber bullet gun. This one is configured for cross strip patches, but you can do the same with grease groove bullets and no patches. It just isn't quite as simple as having someone build a cannon for you then shooting it.

I thought about your little project while bored in a treestand over the weekend and a few things occured to me.

First, an English Sporting Rifle, .69cal, 400grn.ball, 32" 1-in-105" or so, 1-1/8 dia, double keyed, 200grn. FFG, with a 2 leaf express and a tang sight will be far more practical and fun to hunt with. I'll bet if you start looking deeper at weight/recoil/horsepower ratios, it starts to get pretty practical in terms of the performace level your looking at.
If you bumped up to 10 bore on an 1-1/4" barrel, things would get even more interesting, though it'd be less fun to carry, and the .69 oughta lengthwise anything in Christendom.

Now, to leave practicality behind (which we've all done, admit it, and set in on your .58 project.
First, I think paper patching is your friend here. Driving a pure lead bare conical to 2,000 fps is gonna make a mess you don't wanna clean up and accuracy is gonna be non existant.
And I'm having a hard time imagining driving a .577 jacketed slug down the barrel with a sledge hammer.
Patched, you should be able to see 2,000 fps with pure lead, heat treated wheelweights, and anything inbetween without leading. There's a little bit of art to it, and admittedly, I've never fooled with it, but I think that's your best bet.
There should be some info here and there's a wealth of info over on the "Cast Boolits" websit.
Further, I don't know that you could utilize 250 grains under a 650 grain bullet in a .58 bore. But, I'd bet a cool brew that you'd see better performance thinking in terms of 200 grains under something like an 850 grainer. I think a 650 would be a bit squatty (some folks shoot 600 grainers in .45's), where a heavier bullet would build a bit more pressure, giving a more "complete" burn (as complete as your gonna get with black powder). Also, a longer bullet, at the same speed, should shoot a bit flatter.
I'd also look at paying a bit more (like, double) for Swiss Black Powder as opposed to Goex. It is, after all, supposed to be a performance machine.
I simply got to thinking about it in terms of, if the old British long range match riles could run 600 grain bullets and 120 grains of Black Powder, why couldn't you simply scale up to .58?
I dunno how much mention I'm allowed to make of other websites, so forgive me if this is considered a "foxpaw"; but take a peek at "Cast Boolits". Also, if it's still going (I've not looked in months) but the old "Nitro Express" website used to have a good bit on the subject.
Also, might take a peek at some of Doc White's and Jim Gefroh's stuff. They've turned out more than a few high performance large bore conical rifles.

Good luck and keep us posted.

I have noticed you have a fixation with heavy weighted guns.

The heaviest gun i have looked down the barrel of was a Barrett semi auto .50 BMG that weighed in at 35 pounds.Its not meant for hunting.

8 bore double

how much powder is used in that .56 caliber?