Rechamber a Muzzleloading Barrel Blank?

Bad Idea

That barrel would be suitable for black powder charges up to about 100 Gr. by volume ! It would be totally unsuitable for any type of smokeless powder application ! You don't want to win a Darwin award do you ?
 
Threaded into a receiver I would think it would be ok up to that. A 45-70 is 28 CUP. I know you said ignore the twist rate but that is a round ball only twist.
 
I can't be sure, but I suspect those barrels are made from good steel, but not hardened very much if at all. I doubt they would "blow up" at even 50k, but the rifling might not last long if high speed and/or jacketed bullets were pushed through it.

Jim
 
I go with JamesK. I would think it is 4140 and probably at the same hardness of a high power barrel. With all the lawsuits now days I doubt any one would order scrap barrels to build muzzle loaders.
 
At the risk of being redundant, 1 1/8" OD and .45" ID chambered for 45/70 would be hard to blow up.
I could do a thin wall formula for stress, and maybe a Lame's formula for thick wall, but to do it right you would need one of Roark's open end tube formulas.

So at the cave man level, I have tried to blow up many guns.
That one would be a ~~.250" thick chamber wall.
I don't care if the gun is 150 years old or new, unless it is a Ruger 454 made of specialty steel, this is my guideline:
.100" thick, I can't blow it up.
.050" thick, blowing up is easy.
 
1:56?????

That sucker is dern near a smooth bore. I have no idea what it would be good for.

There are a lot of cheap barrels out there that would be more practical. Excluding using this one as a pry bar or cheater, I have no idea.

1:56: Maybe a .410 shot gun barrel, but a then you could probably find a single shot 410 for less money.

Oh second thought, one could chamber it for 50 Cal, put an end cap on it and make a black powder ONLY water cannon for some EOD unit. But there are cheaper ways to go about that also.
 
I believe many muzzle loader barrels are made of softer steel like 1157.

They are designed for Black powder only and I believe that is what the barrelmaker would tell you.

The groove depth is .010.That is for a cloth patch.Typical groove depth for unpatched bullet rifling might be .003 or .004.

As Hawg and others have mentioned,1 in 56 will work great for a patched round ball but it will not stabilize an elongated bullet.

Whatever you are planning,you will still invest all the work and other parts,like stock wood.

Look in Brownells,at Green Mountain,and E R Shaw if you want a moderate priced octagon barrel.You also might check with Buffalo Arms.
 
If you add the groove depth to the .445 bore diameter, you get a groove diameter of .465".
Way too big for good results with .458 bulllets even if the rifling twist stabilized the bullet.
1 in 56" is for round balls and maybe some hollow base Minié bullets.

If a Minié bullet has a deep enough hollow base, it will actually be stable if shot from a smoothbore. Air rifle pellets are a good example of such bullets. If you have a BB gun, try loading some .177 pellets from the muzzle and shooting them, they always hit head first because of their forward center of mass.
 
"suspect"; "think"; "might"
Lot of real solid information there. :(
Not knowing what kind of steel the barrel is made from, don't experiment.
It is a black powder muzzle loading barrel. And a good one.
If you want a modern, smokeless barrel, buy one made for that purpose.
Remember, these things go "bang". Don't become stupid, blind and crippled.
 
1:56?????

That sucker is dern near a smooth bore.
Click to expand...

kraigky, that is a pretty common muzzle loader twist, primarily to be used with a patched round ball. Common twists in ml rifles range from 1:48 to 1:72. Not so common twists go from faster to slower.
 
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