We had a discussion not long ago suggesting a smokeless muzzle loader with a powder chamber. I was foremost in denying the need for such a thing. As fate would have within a month of the debate I?m now in the process of designing and building a smokeless rifle with a chamber.
I have something like the following image in mind.
I figured I?d have to face the question: what made you change your mind? Well I didn?t change my mind but as it is I don?t get to decide all these issues. It seems a customer (and good friend ) has decided he wants to stretch the limits of the smokeless muzzle loader and I?ll be compelled to try and make a 38 caliber rifle shooting a 35 caliber bullet work with smokeless.
When figuring what type of load to shoot in this rifle it occurred to me that the primary bullets to be shoot would be either the 200 or 225 grain in weight. Those are rather heavy compared to what been shot before if you take into the account the caliber and sectional density of a normal muzzle loader. In order for the speed to be achieved that is desired the rifle will have to either shoot enough powder or higher pressure. I?m not prepared to raise pressure greatly so that only leaves the possibility of shooting enough powder for the task at a moderate pressure.
When you decide you have to shoot more powder than from a case (but not a lot more) then you have to answer the question: where do you put it? I don?t think it?s in the best technical interest to plan for a powder column to be longer than 3 inches so I?m stuck with having to make it wider. Exactly how wide and long I haven?t decided yet but it seems certain to me the chamber should hold about 45 to 50 grains of most powders. The reason I choose that amount is because I can be sure the chamber will always be full. No one in his right mind would shoot less than 45 grains of power in this caliber rifle.
Still if you look at CHM in the image you will see that there still has to be room for a positive stop at the barrel, breech plug junction. So the chamber can?t be too wide. For this reason I?m leaning toward 7/16" as the best place. That about 43 caliber if you switch it to gun dimensions and the breech plug will be the same as I use for the 40 and 45 caliber rifles.
I didn?t (and still don?t) think this is the best method for a rifle caliber that accommodates a straight case sized bore. However I will have to divert from normal because this is an unusually different rifle.
I have something like the following image in mind.
I figured I?d have to face the question: what made you change your mind? Well I didn?t change my mind but as it is I don?t get to decide all these issues. It seems a customer (and good friend ) has decided he wants to stretch the limits of the smokeless muzzle loader and I?ll be compelled to try and make a 38 caliber rifle shooting a 35 caliber bullet work with smokeless.
When figuring what type of load to shoot in this rifle it occurred to me that the primary bullets to be shoot would be either the 200 or 225 grain in weight. Those are rather heavy compared to what been shot before if you take into the account the caliber and sectional density of a normal muzzle loader. In order for the speed to be achieved that is desired the rifle will have to either shoot enough powder or higher pressure. I?m not prepared to raise pressure greatly so that only leaves the possibility of shooting enough powder for the task at a moderate pressure.
When you decide you have to shoot more powder than from a case (but not a lot more) then you have to answer the question: where do you put it? I don?t think it?s in the best technical interest to plan for a powder column to be longer than 3 inches so I?m stuck with having to make it wider. Exactly how wide and long I haven?t decided yet but it seems certain to me the chamber should hold about 45 to 50 grains of most powders. The reason I choose that amount is because I can be sure the chamber will always be full. No one in his right mind would shoot less than 45 grains of power in this caliber rifle.
Still if you look at CHM in the image you will see that there still has to be room for a positive stop at the barrel, breech plug junction. So the chamber can?t be too wide. For this reason I?m leaning toward 7/16" as the best place. That about 43 caliber if you switch it to gun dimensions and the breech plug will be the same as I use for the 40 and 45 caliber rifles.
I didn?t (and still don?t) think this is the best method for a rifle caliber that accommodates a straight case sized bore. However I will have to divert from normal because this is an unusually different rifle.