# Muzzleloader barrels blowing up...!



## hunt-n-fool (Oct 10, 2006)

I think that one potential source of error comes from the rifle manufacturers......... they claim 150gr MAGNUM capabilities..........

and they are talking pyrodex, NOT T7 - some people do not pay attention to that, and T7 - per volume, has more energy than do most other BP subs and should not be used above 100gr's per the manufacturer.

so it doesnt surprise me that there are barrel bursts using the less expensive metals/barrels and MAGNUM loads. 

Another potential source of error is by the user not seating the load all the way down tight on the charge, and, then the bullet tends to act as an obstruction rather than a projectile.

Just my 2 pennies for thought.


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## TrekJeff (Sep 7, 2007)

Originally Posted by *wildcoy73*  
_I have not seen any inline that does not call for 150grain.
*
Many of the earlier CVA inlines were not rated for magnum charges, Thunderbolt was one in particular. I had to look up if my Hunterbolt was rated to 150, the answer was yes, but that a poor load for accuracy out of my gun.* *It's the POWDER manufactures that says not recommended three pellet loads, the gun maker may say feel free, the powder makers are covering thier butts.*_


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## wally-eye (Oct 27, 2004)

I've never seen a ML that "blew" up. About 20 years ago I had a friend that had an old sidelock that he literally wanted to blow up. He loaded 'half" the barrel with Pyrodex and then rammed in a sabot. Tied it to a tree and hooked the string to it. BOOM, lots of flames and sparks but no blown up gun. He then filled the entire barrel full of Pyrodex and left just enough room for the sabot. Same scenario loud BOOM, tons of flames and sparks, nice light show but nothing, no exploding barrel or breech......lots and lots of smoke though......lmao

Kids I don't recommend this and I had nothing to do with it and was only there to call the paramedics...:lol:, you'd just have to know the guy though.....:lol: Point being short of loading three or four bullets on top of each other I don't think you can blow one up with even a magnum load...........


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## TrekJeff (Sep 7, 2007)

wally-eye said:


> I've never seen a ML that "blew" up. About 20 years ago I had a friend that had an old sidelock that he literally wanted to blow up. He loaded 'half" the barrel with Pyrodex and then rammed in a sabot. Tied it to a tree and hooked the string to it. BOOM, lots of flames and sparks but no blown up gun. He then filled the entire barrel full of Pyrodex and left just enough room for the sabot. Same scenario loud BOOM, tons of flames and sparks, nice light show but nothing, no exploding barrel or breech......lots and lots of smoke though......lmao
> 
> Kids I don't recommend this and I had nothing to do with it and was only there to call the paramedics...:lol:, you'd just have to know the guy though.....:lol: Point being short of loading three or four bullets on top of each other I don't think you can blow one up with even a magnum load...........



There was no room for the powder to burn and expand other than out side the tip of the barrel and the sabot wad wasn't enought to keep the pressure in...lol OK, that's my scientific theory...did he use the red neck's famous last words "WATCH THIS!!!"

Oh, and where does this guy hunt now...lol I'll eX it off my map.


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## wally-eye (Oct 27, 2004)

TrekJeff said:


> There was no room for the powder to burn and expand other than out side the tip of the barrel and the sabot wad wasn't enought to keep the pressure in...lol OK, that's my scientific theory...did he use the red neck's famous last words "WATCH THIS!!!"
> 
> Oh, and where does this guy hunt now...lol I'll eX it off my map.



:lol: Last I heard he was in Coldwater. It was more like "LET ER BLOW"..:lol:

3 of us told him that it wouldn't do what he wanted without a bullet rammed down with the sabot but it was fun watching him waste a ton of powder. :evil:


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## Quack Addict (Aug 10, 2006)

wally-eye said:


> I've never seen a ML that "blew" up. About 20 years ago I had a friend that had an old sidelock that he literally wanted to blow up. He loaded 'half" the barrel with Pyrodex and then rammed in a sabot. Tied it to a tree and hooked the string to it. BOOM, lots of flames and sparks but no blown up gun. He then filled the entire barrel full of Pyrodex and left just enough room for the sabot. Same scenario loud BOOM, tons of flames and sparks, nice light show but nothing, no exploding barrel or breech......lots and lots of smoke though......lmao


I'm no expert on the matter of ML's but I did some 'crude experimentation' after I got my Remington 700 ML several years ago. I laid out a couple sheets of white butcher-type paper several feet in front of the muzzle and fired a few loads using 110gr Pyrodex RS. After firing a few shots over the paper, I collected the debris which landed on the paper. Some of the debris was UNBURNED powder - I verified this by collecting the debris into a pile and doing the match test. You can only burn so much powder in a barrel - once the bullet exits the muzzle, there's a radical pressure drop and combustion can stop (as witnessed by my test). I got similar results with a 100gr charge of RS, but there was less unburned powder.

Powder burn efficiency would be dictated by a lot of factors... type of ignition system, bore diameter of the rifle, twist rate, a bunch of things that would effect friction in the bore (projectile choice, surface finish of bore, depth of rifling, etc), and probably a bunch of other factors... so my results could have been very different had I been shooting a minnie vs. the saboted JHP I tested with.

In terms of a muzzleloader 'exceeding design limits', I have heard of a few guys that mistakenly (or not) put smokeless powder in their ML's. One guy even made it onto the Fred Trost show (not sure if it was MI Outdoors or Practical Sportsman then). The guy had the PIECES of the ML mounted on a wood plaque; I think his hand and face were injured in the incident - he admitted to something like using 100gr (powder measure) of IMR (4064???) as his powder charge...:coco:


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