Just wondering what the feasability of rebarreling a bolt rifle (or AR-15) in one of the wssm or wsm calibers to 500 S&W. Their sizes are seem pretty close, maybe just the barrel and some bolt face work? I have a revolver in this and want a companion rifle that shoots the same ammo. I am not a single-shot fan and Wild West isn't producing their leverguns yet, so I am down to having one made.

Thanks for the help!
Eli

Welcome to the forum elijuve. Rules are simple, be nice and join in.

You might check with DPMS or some of the other folks making uppers for the AR-15 platform. There's lots of different options for doing things like your talking about.

One thing to consider is Bolt Head Thrust. A 500 S & W puts a very large impulse on the bolt head and barrel. It's a factor of bullet weight, powder charge weight and how it burns, plus a few things I'm sure I am forgeting to mention. You can't violate Newton's Laws without consequences. Thay make the 50 Beowolf so it is a possibility.

I'd think it possible that there might be feed issues due to the .500 being a rimmed cartridge. Everything else I'm aware of in the AR platform is either "rimless" or has a rebated rim.

300wsm is rebated and if fireformed or cutoff at the shoulder measures .510 to .512.
myself i was thinking of rebarrelling mine to 50Ak.already have the brassjust would need a new barrel

I too was looking into a conversion with this caliber and was thinking a Mosin Nagant action and bolt. The rim wouldn't be a problem and since it a straight line feed from the magazine, it should feed well. The pressures involved and the cost of a barrel stopped me. A newer Mauser action would be fine, or a pattern 14 Enfield would work really well if the feed problems could be worked out.

the wsm proofed around 62,000 the 50ak is proofed around 40,000 so the pressures wouldnt be to much of an issue just the cost of the barrel and time to do the job
i do not wish to be misleading so correct me if i am

Please don't compare the .500S&W to the .50Beowulf.(especially in ANY simi-auto) They are completely different animals.

If your talking of seting up a AR to shoot .50S&W ....... I say.....no way. -----pruhdlr

the wsm proofed around 62,000 the 50ak is proofed around 40,000 so the pressures wouldnt be to much of an issue just the cost of the barrel and time to do the job
i do not wish to be misleading so correct me if i am



Those are maximum averages pressure that you listed, not proof pressure which is higher

First of all, thanks for the replies. I am not really all that interested in having it in an AR platform. It was kind of an afterthought, I really just want a lightweight short action bolt, pump or semiauto for a companion rifle for my revolver. The SM series of cartridges seemed like a pretty good bet for a platform because of the case sizes. Does the fact that it is a rimmed case make it less feasable? Also, I have had a hard time finding barrels. The only one I found looks like it weighs 10 pounds (their estimation not mine).

>Does the fact that it is a rimmed case make it less feasable?

If the action you're trying to use it in was designed for rimless cases, it may make it impossible. Several decades back, a popular custom conversion was ro make a .45-70 out of a Mauser action. The catch -- it had to be a Siamese Mauser action, which was originally designed for a big-bore rimmed round. I'm not saying a particular rifle couldn't be converted, but it would involve considerably more than a barrel swap -- re-machining of the bolt face, redesign of the extractor, remodelling the magazine, etc., etc.

Those are maximum averages pressure that you listed, not proof pressure which is higher
thanks for the correction

A rimless case would make things easier...

I cut the rim off some 50 Alaskan Starline brass, which left it at .532" and cut an extractor groove with a bit Kiff ground for me.

I shortened a few of the cases to 1.625" and loaded a 325g Barnes at 2.600, and I think with a bit of work to the ramp and follower, it will run out of a WSSM action.

I formed up some of those same shortened cartridges to a 458 SOCOM(ish), by just running them through the SOCOM sizing die - they seem to want to run through the WSSM action as well.