Original Sharps powder chambers

[Chief Beck]

On the original 1853's & 1859's that were chambered for the .36, .44, .50 and .52's was the powder chamber just slightly larger than the specified caliber or were the powder chambers all the same size?


Dennis

[loophole]

I cannot answer your question. I can tell you that the powder chamber on my mod 63 farmer MR in 45 cal is the same dia. as on a 54. farmer. I couldn't get the Hahn tubes to work but a paper cartridge can be made and 405 gr 45 bullets seem to work very well.
Steve K

[Marathonman]

Think about the question and the answer becomes pretty clear. Otherwise a large caliber ball could stick in the barrel and force all that smoke and fire into the shooters face. The reverse could be a severely undersize ball rattling down the barrel as soon as it was pointed downwards. Chambers were cut so that anything that can be stuck in them will fire down the barrel with at least some chance of being safe and accurate.

[Chief Beck]

Loophole Steve, thanks for checking. So it sounds like you cannot get the Hahn tubes to bottleneck down to .45 caliber so you have to roll your own to make it work but leaving somewhat of a sizable chamber gap around your paper cartridge?

Marathonman, That is mostly what I was getting at! So originals in .44, .50 & .52 would probably have powder chambers a caliber larger than the bores groove diameter or there abouts. But Shiloh uses one size of powder chamber for all calibers offered (.38, .45, .50, .54)? I can see that a .54 powder chamber would not much of a problem in .50 but when get down to smaller calibers it sounds like you would have somewhat of more difficult time in making your own, unless of course, you use loose powder.


Dennis

[loophole]

Hahn tube will not burn in 45 cal percussion. Fire a round with powder in the tube and the bullet seems to be pushed down the barrel normally, but a singed tube is left in the chamber.
It may be that the tube is not consumed in the 54 cal either--Could it be pushed down the barrel behind the bullet? I have not found a tube downrange with a 54, but I have not looked carefully?
I have a lot of trouble getting Charlie on the phone, so I have not had time to ask him.
Steve K

[Todd Birch]

I had a Shiloh '63 Sporter in .54. Using Hahn's tubes on the base of Xmas Tree bullets was very convenient. Never found the remains of one in the barrel. There is a lot of air space around these in the chamber.

For my .50 '63's I roll my own. The smaller chamber and bore makes them a lot more comfortable to shoot, down right pleasant compared to the .54. There is some air space around the bullet sized cartridge with an occasional remnant left in the barrel. I just give a quick puff before chambering the next round.

[snapcap14]

Hahn tube will not burn in 45 cal percussion. Fire a round with powder in the tube and the bullet seems to be pushed down the barrel normally, but a singed tube is left in the chamber.
It may be that the tube is not consumed in the 54 cal either--Could it be pushed down the barrel behind the bullet? I have not found a tube downrange with a 54, but I have not looked carefully?
I have a lot of trouble getting Charlie on the phone, so I have not had time to ask him.
Steve K

Charlies tubes are designed to go out the barrel mine go out in one piece they unroll and float to the ground about 10 yrs out