Hello, I am considering acquiring one of these magnificent rifles. However, I am leery of shooting it with an old barrel on it, I am considering substituting smokeless for Black powder loads, I realize this poses several problems. Unlike a straight walled bpcr rifle like the .45/70/90 and the like, the .577/450 is bottleneck, I have heard people who are shooting smokeless black powder equivalant loads are using tissue wads over the powder. Here's my (I agree it's somewhat impractical and definitely would cost me a bundle) plan. Get the thing fitted with a modern barrel, same profile and dimensions as the original bbl. Would this offer an added safety margin, would it be advisable to keep it in the original chambering, It appeals to me, that's a big, bad, and ugly round!!! Also appeals to me because the MH is not controlled in Canada if you keep the bore above about .34 caliber. Is the action strong enough to handle smokeless loads with a strong modern barrel?, or would I be advised to rechamber to a modern cartrige if I am going to rebarrel it. After all, the .577/450 was not designed for smokeless to begin with. Any advice from the Martini - Henry gods would be appreciated. :lol:
