500 S&W Short in a rolling block #1 !

[Fishoot]

Some of you read and contributed wisdom to my earlier post on: ".30 caliber rimmed cartridge for #1 rolling block" so I thought I would ask another question. Keep in mind that I am retired, in my 7th decade of life and have a lot of time on my hands. I recently stubbed one of my rolling block take-off barrels from a former 12.7x44 rimmed into a similarly salvaged rolling block stub. The receiver was from a Swedish Stockholm made action with V-threads . Another take-off barrel on hand had maybe a 7 rating on a scale of 1 to 10 in condition and I couldn't relegate it to the scrap pile just yet. I cut threads on the exterior of the barrel in 3/4-16 and screwed that into the inside threaded stub. I am a little squeamish about touching it off in 50-70 with black powder loads so I am considering something even further "out there". I found out that some creative types had previously shortened the 500 S&W into a "500 S&W Special". To prevent accidental screw-ups down the road for some unsuspecting twit, I am thinking of making a 500 S&W Short by trimming another few thousandths off the "Special" version. This should help to prevent chambering an overlong case. I would probably cut the chamber with a 50-70 reamer and just run the reamer to the "Short" length (whatever that might become) and cut the rim as a separate operation. The intent is to load BP or BP pressure only in this creation. I also considered trying to recreate the old .50 caliber pistol round, but data on the chambering is lost tot he ages. Does the "500 S&W Short" idea cause any alarm bells to go off in your mind?

[MOA]

Seems like a lot of work to have a fifty caliber black powder cartridge rifle roller to shoot. I got two 12.7 x 44Rmm. A Remington out of Sweden and a Husquvarna. The brass is hard to find, but using 50 Alaskan trimmed to 42mm and loaded with 50 cal cast boolits and about 55 or so of black over a waxed juice carton wad with a Crisco and Olive Oil lube one can spend more time shooting and less time tinkering with barrels and such. I'm using a Lyman Plains mold and a MP mold that was designed for the 500 S&W with a gas check. I think the S&W brass is almost the same as the 50 Alaskan, only you may not have as much brass to trim off to get to the "special" length you are looking for. I'm thinking about getting a roller of modern steel and having it chamber for 50 Alaskan and using the brass at its full length, but with black. Barrel rifling will need to be of such design to deal with the fouling that will occur and being it will only shoot lead I will want a good wide and deep Ballard type cut and a twist that will work with 300 to 500 grain boolits.
I don't see anything alarming in what you are doing pressure wise, but you could just load 40 grains or so of black in your brass and take up the extra space with some wad fillers under the boolit and be shooting you S&W special a lot quicker. Good luck and let us know what you do, and some pictures too.

[Jedman]

Fishoot, Some pictures would help a lot. I don't see anything wrong with a shortened cartridge made from the 500 S&W and would not be afraid to shoot it with smokeless powder. I just can't quite picture what you said that you stubbed a old barrel into another stub ? I know the action has V threads for a barrel shank larger than 3/4-16 so is this other stub acting just as a bushing to adapt the 3/4-16 shank up to the action thread ?
So if that's the case a proper chamber would be about .535 dia. and the root of your 3/4-16 barrel shank somewhere about .700 so you would have approx. .082 chamber thickness.
Don't use a 50-70 reamer as they are tapered and would be to large anyway as it uses a larger diameter bullet than the 500 S&W.
I think that would be a thick enough chamber for a lightly loaded cartridge like what you are talking about.
Out of curiosity, have you slugged the 12.77 mm barrel to see what size bore and groove you have ?
Jedman

[John Taylor]

The shortened 500 S&W is called a 500 JRH. Factory loads would be way to hot for a black powder roller. A 50-70 chamber reamer has to much taper to cut a chamber for the short 500 case, I use a 500 S&W chamber reamer and cut the rim cut separate.

[Fishoot]

Seems like a lot of work to have a fifty caliber black powder cartridge rifle roller to shoot. I got two 12.7 x 44Rmm. A Remington out of Sweden and a Husquvarna. The brass is hard to find, but using 50 Alaskan trimmed to 42mm and loaded with 50 cal cast boolits and about 55 or so of black over a waxed juice carton wad with a Crisco and Olive Oil lube one can spend more time shooting and less time tinkering with barrels and such. I'm using a Lyman Plains mold and a MP mold that was designed for the 500 S&W with a gas check. I think the S&W brass is almost the same as the 50 Alaskan, only you may not have as much brass to trim off to get to the "special" length you are looking for. I'm thinking about getting a roller of modern steel and having it chamber for 50 Alaskan and using the brass at its full length, but with black. Barrel rifling will need to be of such design to deal with the fouling that will occur and being it will only shoot lead I will want a good wide and deep Ballard type cut and a twist that will work with 300 to 500 grain boolits.
I don't see anything alarming in what you are doing pressure wise, but you could just load 40 grains or so of black in your brass and take up the extra space with some wad fillers under the boolit and be shooting you S&W special a lot quicker. Good luck and let us know what you do, and some pictures too.

Here are the pictures you requested. The barrel is from a Swedish rolling block in 12.7mm. The stub is from an unknown rolling block (possibly Spanish) with V form threads.