Wow, that is really cool!

 

Any plans to hunt with the it? It looks really nice.

 

I don't hunt. Just handload and shoot.

 

Nice, I have a JM LTD III, They are light. The kick from that must be something.

 

Absolutely brutal recoil. About 1000 ftlb. More energy at the muzzle than a hot levergun load. Basically 3000 ftlb versus 4000.

 

From the photo it looks like the rim on the 50 is the same size as the 45-70. Did you need to do any bolt work?

 

Extremely close, but not exact. Like one thousandth.

I did work a bit on the bolt. As the rear of the round came up the bolt face, it jammed. I removed a tiny bit of the area where it cups the rim of the round on the bottom. I radius that area with literally a few passes of the file, and the problem was gone.

It was this, or remove a bit forward of the round. The issue was just getting the round smoothly where it was aligned with the chamber. Its a big meplat

 

Sweet!

Padraig

 

Looks really good, worth the work.

 

Wow, how big a crew do you need to fire that cannon?

 

It hasn't knocked me down yet. But I'm still .5 grains short of max.

 

So, you're pushing 1,800ish fps with that 525 grain bullet? Cool.

That's a LOT of thump. Thanks for sharing.

Regards, Guy

 

So, you're pushing 1,800ish fps with that 525 grain bullet? Cool.

That's a LOT of thump. Thanks for sharing.

Regards, Guy

I'd say that's the ballpark. Never shot it over a chrony.

 

It is a nice looking rifle. I like the straight stock and that you didn't chop the barrel down, to me that doesn't look good. I love big thumpers.

 

1K of recoil? Don't you mean 100? Get a PAST recoil shield to strap to your shoulder.

 

Muzzle energy. Not recoil.

It's a little over 4000ftlb.

 

Very nice rifle. Any concerns about safety margins? I ask because the 1895 is already milled out quite a bit to accept the 45-70 cartridge and there's all kinds of warnings about not pushing it too much. I'm sure a little more steel has to be removed to accommodate the larger case of the 50, so I'm just curious if there are any issues there.

 

The work in the receiver was really not much as far as steel removed. It just took a long time.

As the round moves up on the lifter, it gets pushed towards the outside, just enough to create a jam. You have to completely disassemble, file a bit, completely clean, reassemble, and test. It took lots of these cycles.

And all of that work is between the locking block, and probably the rear half of where the round sits before it chambers. It should not affect how the receiver handles pressure.

 

Thanks for clarifying. How about chamber wall thickness? The case is fatter than a 45-70 and the chamber walls are relatively thin already. I wondered about that as well. What kind of pressure is that round running?

 

I have no idea what pressure my 50AK does. I will link a reference document below that will give you some idea though, of what one CAN do. But the strength is in the chamber ( plus surrounding receiver) and the bolt locking block (again plus the surrounding receiver). Those areas were not touched by my file. Basically the area you can see through the ejection port. About the rear 3/4 of that area. And not much steel comes out.


Link:

50 Alaskan

 

I realize you didn't, but the gunsmith reamed the chamber and re-bored it. The case is fatter than a 45-70, and therefore, has to have thinner chamber walls. That's what I was concerned about. Not arguing, or bashing in any way. Just simply asking.

 

I understand. But the mod is a proven one. The company that did the chamber and bore have done several. And its a published thing. Not like I jumped off the deep end alone.

 

Yep, I know others have done it before. I've just always wondered about it after seeing blown 1895's and reading so much about how thin the safety margin on them is. Thanks for the info.

 

Yup. I get it. I'm not too concerned.

 

If I am not mistaken Regan Nonneman also does this conversion on standard 336’s.

 

My 50 Alaskan was built by Regan. Only shot it a few times. Didn’t think recoil was that bad IIRC I was shooting 440gr. I shoot 375 H&H and 458 Win Nags so I may be biased.

 

His website kinda makes it look that way. But I'm not sure that all of the listed actions are compatible with all listed calibers. Maybe I'm wrong...

 

Wow. Velociraptor medicine as TR would say. My .45 Colt Marlin 1894 with cas loads unscrews itself, I’m thinking you have better carry a bunch of spare parts and screws. Unique build.

 

I thought ( Tomray please give your expertise) reading that the receiver was essentially the same on the 336, 1895 and 444. Unfortunately the older I get, the less I trust my memory.

 

Yes it's true, they're all 336 actions. The 444 and 1895 (45-70) just have their walls milled out on the inside to allow room for the wider cartridge to clear, as well as loading and ejection ports opened up. Hence the reason, contrary to many people's belief, the 1895 is actually the weakest action of the bunch because it has the most steel removed.

 

This will give you good reference information.

Marlin 1895: Myth versus Reality

“Why don’t you guys chamber such and such cartridge in the 1895? I mean, it’s the strongest Marlin action, isn’t it?”

rangerpointstore.com

 

That's a very good read.

 

Now I know where I got my information. Thanks Efm.

 

If the 50 Alaskan follows what I have been seeing on big bore AR's and revolvers then the pressures fall more in line with like a Magnum pistol----like 30K to 40K PSI. 50 Beowulf on my Std AR is like that and uses Lrg pistol mag primers. a small 5.56 actually has more pressure in the 60K range.

 

Yes, 35K is about max, which is what the 45-70 1895 is built to do. What the other person was pointing out is that, its 35K, even after boring it out to fit the fat cartridge. It's a valid concern for sure.

 

Great lookin' rifle! The whack I get from my 1895GS is MORE than enough after a couple 325gr Hornadys, but more power to y'a!

 

I’ve built two 1895s in 50 Alaskan now. One is stainless and the other a blue cowboy octagon barrel. I had both barrels rebored to 1:18 twist. Both feed beautifully and shoot very accurately. I have used 350gr up to 700gr. I also just finished a Winchester 1886 born in 1888. I was building it to a 50-110 aka 50 AK but ran across an original Winchester 1886 / 45-90 barrel so it’s a 45-90 now.