h&r 500 to 50-140 black powder

[harley berry]

can a h&r 500 be reamed out to 50-140 black powder cartridge

[quickdtoo]

The .500S&W uses .500" bullets, the 50-140 uses .512" bullets.

Tim

[sbhg]

I think the .500 S&W has a bore dia. of .500-.501, the old .50 cal. blackpowder rounds are .512+/-.
If you just want to shoot blackpowder, just find some lead bullets to fit w/ the correct alloy and load away. You can load that case w/ b-powder

http://www.montanabulletworks.com/wst_page6.html

If you do, talk to these guys about an alloy of 20-1 or 30-1, a light bullet would be good for a deer hunting load.  Good Luck.
If you decide to load some B-P, try to find one of these "BP Reloading Primers"
http://www.blackpowderspg.com/mlvbooks.html
This book has all the info. you will ever need to load any B-P cartridge, it doesn't show every combination, but also shows how to figure out loading any bullet and powder combination.
I think its a required book for B-P shooting.

[eskimo36]

I have some .501 bullets cast soft and BP lubed but I have never had a chance to shoot them...maybe this winter.

[sbhg]

I have some .501 bullets cast soft and BP lubed but I have never had a chance to shoot them...maybe this winter.

Are you going to shoot them w/ black powder?
If you do I would like to know of your results, and some pics.

[quickdtoo]

Black powder in the 500S&W Handi has been discussed before, the search function is your friend, see Forum Support for tips on how to use it. 

Tim

http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php/topic,127414.msg1098458775.html#msg1098458775

[JerryKo]

A 22" barreled 50-140???  Would the tip of the bullet protrude from the muzzle?   LOL  Just not sure if you'll get a full powder burn in 22".  BUT...im just guessing.  My 54 cal muzzle loader with 32" barrel gets a full burn with 120gr (vol) goex fffg.  I shot it over a snowy field to comfirm.  I didnt see any unburt granules laying around.  Maybe they burnt out the end of barrel.  Hard to tell with all the smoke and fire to begin with....  I shot some 500sw with black powder sub and 50cal LEE REAL bullet with liquid alox lube.  Very neat stuff.  Terribly mild recoil but buried those bullets deep in the berm.  I didnt shoot for accuracy just fun.  I sold the barrel later.  Just too many others to fool with.

Jerry

[knight0334]

I'm with JerryKo...   A 3.25" 50cal casing holding black powder in a 22" barrel wouldn't come close to burning all the powder.  A 50-90 would probably create the same velocity with BP, and would have 1/2" or so more effective barrel.

Even if you use smokeless, that short of a barrel with that much powder potential wouldn't gain you much if anything.

[quickdtoo]

You could always rebore and rechamber a 45-70 BC barrel to 50-140, but that will only be half the financial battle, an RCBS die set is $283, brass is about $2.50 each!! 

Tim

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=115456

http://www.grafs.com/product/261608