ilcylic
Member
I have a question about firearm mechanics that, admittedly, is unlikely to have much practical bearing.
I am aware of the fact that it is extraordinarily dangerous to shoot smokeless powder rounds out of a pistol or rifle that was designed for black powder rounds.
My question is whether it is safe (and has even the possibility of being effective) to fire cartridges loaded with black powder out of a rifle designed to work with smokeless powder rounds. I know that black powder takes up a lot more volume than smokeless powder for a given level of ... gas production, for lack of a better term. So I don't know if any modern cartridges have enough extra space in the casing for a sufficient amount of black powder to work properly. But would loading, say, a .308 with black powder instead of smokeless, and firing it out of a bolt action rifle cause a ka-boom, presuming I didn't squib the round and get a ka-boom by firing a second bullet into plugged barrel?
Thanks in advance for considering my strange ruminations.
I am aware of the fact that it is extraordinarily dangerous to shoot smokeless powder rounds out of a pistol or rifle that was designed for black powder rounds.
My question is whether it is safe (and has even the possibility of being effective) to fire cartridges loaded with black powder out of a rifle designed to work with smokeless powder rounds. I know that black powder takes up a lot more volume than smokeless powder for a given level of ... gas production, for lack of a better term. So I don't know if any modern cartridges have enough extra space in the casing for a sufficient amount of black powder to work properly. But would loading, say, a .308 with black powder instead of smokeless, and firing it out of a bolt action rifle cause a ka-boom, presuming I didn't squib the round and get a ka-boom by firing a second bullet into plugged barrel?
Thanks in advance for considering my strange ruminations.