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Author Topic: Questions about big bores 2 and 4 bores  (Read 970 times)

Offline woodman

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Questions about big bores 2 and 4 bores
« on: April 18, 2010, 12:04:59 PM »
Was a wondering what the bore diameters are and loads ? How many grains for shooting?
   Having a discussion with the forest service concerning our rendezvous and cannons. Mostly small bore 1" to 1 7/8" . Shooting around 600 grains just for the noise mainly.
   They are tryng to say the cannons fall under being pyrotechnics even though they load the same as our black powder rifles using black powder and wadding.
    There reasoning is that the cannons load heavier than a rifle. But it seems like I have read here somewhere about for a 2 bore 700 grains is a general load.
  Woodman
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Online Bigsmoke

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« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2010, 04:21:59 PM »
I dunno, Woodman, that 700 grains just sounds suicidal to me.  Of course, in my old age I tend to be getting more and more conservative.  Actually, I really don't have much experience with 2 bores, as I just have never felt the desire to shoot one.  I did shoot a 3 bore once, and that pretty much cured me of any desire to go any bigger.  A 2 bore is, I believe, 1 5/16" bore size, or 1.33 caliber.
Now, 4 bores are an altogether different thing.  I have shot many of those and don't really feel that they are that totally awful.  I generally figured 400 grains of Fg as a service load and have fired 450 on occassion.  I think once with two mercury 1 pound recoil absorbers in the stock and a Pachmeyer recoil pad on one, I did fire 500 grains of powder.  But, with a steel butt plate, 400 is as much as I really care to load in one.
Hope Colin weighs in on this, as he seems to like them big ol' 2 bores.
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Offline woodman

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« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2010, 04:32:57 PM »
Was hoping he or wyoming smith would weigh in.
 Bigsmoke
  I appreciate the info on your experience. I am just trying to show them there are rifles and loads that come kind of close to what we are shooting.
   Woodman
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Offline CowboyCS

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« Reply #3 on: April 19, 2010, 11:22:42 AM »
The reference I made to the 700gr load for a 2 Bore was said tongue in cheek, I am currently building a Cartridge 2 Bore in a Jones Underlever for a customer. The company that makes the brass for it(S&H Precision) has there cases set up to take a 700gr FFg max load under a 3500gr brass solid. A true 2 Bore is 1.326" diameter. I do have a little experience shooting them, not because I particularly enjoy it, but because it is how I make my living and the 2 Bores seem to be popular right now. The experience I have with 2 Bores has taught me that in a 24 pound shoulder mounted rifle that is well balanced and fits well 500gr FFg is the max load that I can handle for felt recoil. And I'm no small boy either, I'm 6'-5" and about 250-260. Wyosmith(Steve) and I have had this discussion several times, that you can't scale up proportionally in big bore rifles because the recoil rapidly becomes more than a normal person can handle. For instance, the "average" charge for most 8 Bore's is around 300 grains with a 835gr ball, so scaling that up you would have 600gr with a 1750gr ball for a 4 Bore, but in reality most people draw the line at 450 for a 4 bore because while the charge and ball weight can be doubled, the weight of the rifle only increases 5 or 6 pounds(usually), so the amount of recoil generated is substantially more even with a smaller than double ratio. Now applying this same scaling approach to 2 Bore the charge would be 900 grains(if you went off of the 4 bore normal charge) and the ball would weigh 3500gr but the rifle would weigh around 24pounds, as compared to a 18-20 pound 4 bore, so while you have doubled the charge and ball weight you only added 4-6 pounds to the weight of the rifle and I can tell you from experience that 900grs would be injurious at the least and possibly fatal. 2 or 3 shots at 500grs and I can feel the stress's taking place in my lower back and waist area from the rifle trying to twist me around and fold me over all at the same time.

If things where truly scaled up with full magnum charges based on the original writings of some of the African hunters of the 1870-1890 the magnum charge for a 2 Bore would be approx. 1600grs, and I can assure you that the recoil produced in a 24 pound rifle would cavitate your chest cavity and kill you. Think of it like putting your shoulder at the back of a field cannon and taking all the recoil into your body without the benefit of the weight of the carriage the cannon it sitting on.

I don't know if this really answers your question for the forest service, but that has been my experience with 2 Bores and many hours of discussion with Steve on this subject. If you want historical references, look for writings by Sir Samuel Baker about is experience with "Baby" and for the references by Selous on his 4 Bores(google books online previews), they are about the most descriptive as far as loading data.

If you want to see video of me shooting the last muzzleloading 2 Bore I built, there is a thread on this forum that has pictures of the rifle and links to videos, there is a youtube video of a 450 grain shot that is in slow motion that really shows how much the recoil pushes me around. The current 2 Bore is a cartridge gun, so not appropriate for this forum, you'll have to go to my website if you want to see the build documentation for it.

Colin
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Offline mike rumping

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« Reply #4 on: April 19, 2010, 05:45:16 PM »
Wow!!  At 500 gr. of FFG a pound wouldn't go too far, lol.   I couldn't afford to shoot a gun that big for a long time.
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Offline CowboyCS

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« Reply #5 on: April 19, 2010, 05:51:07 PM »
Actually for most people they are very cheap to shoot, if you muster up enough courage to pull the trigger once, you really don't feel like doing it ever again and the rest of the powder can be used in something else. :)

Colin
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Offline mike rumping

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« Reply #6 on: April 19, 2010, 06:02:12 PM »
Colin,
I reckon...  Neat stuff though.   I'd love to try one as I'm big too, at 6'6" and 380lbs.
Mike
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Online Bigsmoke

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« Reply #7 on: April 20, 2010, 12:20:41 PM »
Quote from: "mike rumping"
Wow!!  At 500 gr. of FFG a pound wouldn't go too far, lol.   I couldn't afford to shoot a gun that big for a long time.

Mike,
That actually works out to be a total of 14 shots - which equates to a lifetime or more of shooting that charge.  Kind of like the ad in the sporting magazine - .600 Nitro Featherweight rifle - only shot once.

Colin,
Good job explaining the relationship between the varioius bore size guns.  8 bore with 300 grains is a good load.  Strangely enough, a 4 bore with 300 grains is also a good load.  A 4 bore with 400 grains is not a bad load but any more starts to be punishing.
Good fun.
John
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Offline Sir Michael

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« Reply #8 on: April 20, 2010, 03:17:59 PM »
You might want to read this thread about a 4 Bore that Pete Sheeran, one of our members from Spokane, WA built.

http://www.traditionalmuzzleloadingassociation.org/forum/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=2312&highlight=

To amplify something that Pete mentions, the actual diameter of the bore for these guns were .010 to .020 inches larger than the size of the ball they shot.  They were defined as were all guns before cartridges by the size of the ball they shot which were measured not by diameter but by the number of equal weight balls per pound of lead.  The barrel diameters were made to accommodate the desired ball.  Barrel diameters also varied depending on whether it was to be a High Bore or a Low Bore.  High Bores were made from exact ball diameter to .010 inches larger and Low Bores were made greater than .020 inches so the ball would roll freely down the barrel to the breach.
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Offline woodman

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« Reply #9 on: April 21, 2010, 02:24:16 PM »
Thanks to every one that has replied.
  Will find out this weekend for defininitve if the Forest Service is going to let us continue firing our cannons or wether they are opening the slippery slope of banning them ,because of one noise complaint (one person complaining) but being very vocal.
   I was trying to show the forest service there are rifles with close to same bore diamiaters and loads , as our scale downed cannons.
   As it stands now we are going to do a test this weekend and see if at this persons residence the noise from the cannon what it will measure on a decibel meter.Hopefully it doesn't exceed 86 decibels (maximum allowed in the forst on a motorcycle operating in the forest.
  Woodman
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Offline Mitch

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« Reply #10 on: April 21, 2010, 04:54:23 PM »
this REALLY sucks!! Cannons are a part of our history( both the USA and HappyCanyonRendezvous)....more guvmint interference in life in general....dang city folk move to the "wilderness" and expect everything to go their way-regardless of the past or the norm.....Woodman-I'm considering a non-violent protest to this at the entrance of the complainers driveway(public access,etc)......Mitch
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Offline sse

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« Reply #11 on: April 21, 2010, 08:56:01 PM »
Great comments.  Another expert on this topic is wyosmith.  Maybe he'll chime in.
Regards, sse

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