I have a home made 50 140 double rifle

it is fabricated from a hammered shotgun with rifle tube inserts

we load it with rl 15

thinking about running it back to black powder just for hoots

any one have a suggested bp load for it

the case wall on brass is quite thin my though is that it will work in black powder loads quite well

What dose of Rel 15 are you using? Knowing that, someone may be able to approximate a BP load close to the same estimated pressure level.

What bullet are you shooting? The length and weight of the bullet will go a long way toward dictating the powder and charge.

Whatever blackpowder load you decide to try...be SURE to fill the case. If the charge weight you want to use doesn't do it, add a filler. DO NOT leave open air space between the base of your bullet and the charge of blackpowder in the case.

Help us all...

Four years ago at Quigley I was squadded between my brother and his Shiloh 50-90 and a guy from SD shooting a 50-140. I still have the occasional nightmare, and I don't think my neural transmitters have ever completely stopped crossfiring.

Rich, that's percussion concussion :-)

Ditch the RL-15, get a 50 caliber powder compression die and some FFG Swiss, load 120 gr under a 650 gr bullet, lite it off with a CCI large rifle primer.

JM

it is regulated with

535 grain Woodleigh bullets

and 82.5 grains of reloader 15

fed 215 meg primer

it gets us right at 2000 fps

takes a foam sponge wad to finish the case fill

Strad, I've got to copy that down. Now that's MY kind of load :-)

I suppose I could shoot my Ruger No.1 500 A-Square with Goex FFg for a taste of that kind of smoke.

I have some cast bullets in Lyman No.2 that come out of the mold at .513"-diameter. With lube and gas check they weigh 777 grains.
NEI Handtools makes the mould, off the shelf.
They have a typo on the weight of that bullet
in their catalog.
They show it weighing 680 grains instead of 760 grains, or something like that.

With no gas check and no lube, in softer lead, it is .511"-diameter and 760 grains as I cast them.

Old NEI catalog picture:



#374 below in New NEI Catalog, page 13:

(Some other interesting "Big Fifty" bullets can be found there.)

http://www.neihandtools.com/catalog.html

RIP. lots of nice-looking bullets there....quite an assortment.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
RIP. lots of nice-looking bullets there....quite an assortment.

Yes, take your pick, good moulds from NEI, off the shelf.
In my case I got a heavier than expected bullet, but I like it!
.513 as cast in Lyman No. 2,
sized to .511" for smokeless 500 Mbogo 3" load, 777-grainer:



Might work in my 50-70 Govt., .512" grooved IIRC, with BP, if twist is fast enough, in the McNelly Carbine,
but it would probably approach perceived recoil like this BP load,
at least in my mind:

Here's the launch mechanism, compared to a 45-70. The 45-70 case fits completely inside the 50-140.

The New Sharps Cartridge Loading Manual Published in 1986 by C. Sharps Arms suggest 140 grains Fg, compressed, with a hard card wad and lubed felt wad under several different bullets, from a 500-grain paper-patched slug to an NEI 580. The load notes say the charge must be firmly compressed, and to adjust the charge to achieve said compression with the wads and bullet chosen. Of course, 1986 was the relative dark ages of BPCR loading, but the principles should be correct. You'll want to drop tube the powder before compressing.
This biggest of the .50s was introduced in 1884, three years after Sharps had ceased operation.

Bill, yes, it's really a 500 BPE, but probably capable of greater horsepower in a falling block as opposed to a break-action. Interesting caliber.