Eightfingered carpenter

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Sgtshorty

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I know this is not safe but could a thompson encore 50 cal. blackpowder barrel handle a 500 s&w pistol cartridge if the breechplug was bored out or custom breechplug made. I will withdraw back into the fringes. Thanks in advance for all comments and ridicule.
 
While it could be done, it should not be done. Black powder rifles are not made of 4140 steel, they are usually low-quality steel, and would burst at the pressures used in smokeless powder firearms.
 
While it could be done, it should not be done. Black powder rifles are not made of 4140 steel, they are usually low-quality steel, and would burst at the pressures used in smokeless powder firearms.
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It is not a matter of "low quality steel", more correctly, it is a matter of using a lower strength steel. Using words like "low quality", "cheaper grade", etc., imply something is wrong with the steel. The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), classifies all steel alloys according to their make up and specifies the percentages of elements that make up that particular alloy. The reason that Black powder rifles are not made of 4140 steel is that it is not required or needed, not because the steel they use is "low-quality".
 
I wouldn't without a lot of data in front of me (or likely at all). I don't shoot muzzle loaders, but a quick search online shows a 300 gr .50 cartridge at somewhere between 4,000-15,000 PSI depending on the type and quantity of powder being used. .500 S&W Shows a max somewhere between 51,000 and 62,000 (some conflicting information). The rim diameter is also .050" larger than .500, so you're going to have more bearing surface for the pressure. That's an enormous increase.

You may want to find the thread on here of the member who blew up his T?C in .300 Win Mag with loads over max pressure. He was just using over pressure loads in the cartridge the gun was designed for and caused damage to himself and his rifle when it couldn't contain the pressure.
 
Agreed

Don't even think about doing what you suggest. A very high pressure cartridge in a firearm designed for low pressure black powder, there are more effective ways to make a bomb.

I would want to be far away holding your beer, or behind a ballistic shield of some sort.
 
"...4,000-15,000 PSI..." Um, it's way more than that for a .50 S&W. Start loads with a 325 grainer run 40,000 PSI.
Very much doubt any BP barrel would handle modern pressures. However, there's a .50 S&W barrel available for the Encore so it's kind of moot.
 
1 more for don't. The upside is low, the downside could be existential.

(Plus 1 for making a video if you do, to show what not to do, and why your new name is "fourfingers oneeye". ) :)
 
An engineer or designer will select the grade of material needed for his product to safely function in the manner intended, as a matter of safety, cost, and reliability. Your black powder weapon was made using steel that cannot handle the higher pressures of a centerfire round.

Maybe Thompson used high-grade steel for all it's barrels, but that would be counterintuitive to a profit-making concept. I would get that in writing from the factory, and not trust any other source, including anyone who says they know the 'facts'.

Bad idea until the factory says otherwise.
 
Barrel strength aside, I wonder what kind of breech would be used. Is the idea to just put a TC barrel on, say, a Mauser action, or to make up some kind of breech, or just to discuss the concept of converting a muzzle loader to a breechloader? If the latter, there were hundreds of conversion systems and millions of conversions in the mid-to-late 1800's that can be studied. Some worked well. Some worked. Some didn't.

Jim
 
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