doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Hi-wall info needed

A friend has a Hi-wall action with the small[.825 ] dia barrel
shank-
Have anyone used this action for a 30-40 or 303 case
If so any problems??
Thanks Sydney

Yes it could be done but would not be wise. The small shank does not leave much metal around the chamber.
Cheers,
fallingblock

Perhaps it would be best to check what calibres were available from the factory for your style of action (thick or thin side) and barrel shank dia. Any calibre other than those chambered by the Winchester Factory should be avoided.

The original action design was made for Black Powder cartridges, and although this rifle was made well into the Nitro Powder era, it is better to err on the side of safety.

Harry

I have the same style barrel on my Highwall and have been researching this for quite sometime.

Understand that the receivers for both size shanks were the same, just the shank was different.

I've been told on more than one occasion that the biggest I could comfortably go with the small shank would the 38-55.

I have also been told, though it would be a bit more expensive, that the receiver can be opened up to accept a large shank barrel thread and then the sky's the limit. Since the external receiver dimensions were the same no matter which shank was used the amount of steel around the chamber would be the same, (as log as we're talking thinsides, the flat sided ones were a whole different animal) just that the proportion of barrel steel to receiver steel would be different. And to my way of thinking, since modern barrel steels are stronger it would actually be stronger than an original.

Then again my way of thinking is strictly from an amateurs POV, others here can tell me if I'm right or wrong.

I did all this research a few years back and may still have some names if you're interested.

You are correct in thinking that the limitation is the barrel metal around the chamber. Hi-walls are hell for strong; even deliberate attempts to blow them up with all kinds of .30-06 blue pills and blocked barrels failed back in the day when they were using them for ammo experiments a lot.

I think the worst that would happen is that you might jam the threads of your barrel into the reciever threads so that ever removing it would be very difficult, and or/bulge the chamber a bit. Neither is a good thing.

A modern rebarrel would help since it would almost certainly be tougher material than all but the last VERY few originals Winchester made in 7x57, .30-06, etc.

In you need a real cannon, why not swap for a large-thread action or get one from C. Sharps? If you don't need a cannon, try a .25-35 and handload to get the most out of it.

The only small thread Hi-wall I've got is a .38-40--not exactly a cannon....

Hi- Recoil Rob
Any info/help would be greatly appreciated
Thanks Sydney

FYI: the Martini Cadet has a thread size of 0.750", considerably smaller than the small wall size. The Cadet is a proven performer with the 44 Mag and the 223 Rem, and seems to become marginal only when cartridges exceed 45K psi and 0.420" dia. The 0.375" dia 50K psi 223 is OK in the Cadet as is the 0.457" 40K 44 Mag so I figure that either would also be fine in the small-shank high wall.

Here's another approach: Ackley figured that a steel wall thickness of 0.125" was the absolute minimum required for containment of a 50K psi '06-size cartridge, so add 0.470" + 0.125" + 0.125" for a total dia of 0.720". Now, we know that the Cadet with its 0.750" thread is unsafe with this large a case at this pressure, but we also know that the small-shank high wall is much thicker and therefore much stronger; question is, how much?

My own personal opinion based upon many years of messing about with walls is that a small-shank high wall with a modern steel bbl would handily handle a 225 Win (0.420" dia, 50K+) or a 30-40 or 303 (0.457" dia, 42K) but I wouldn't want a 308 (0.470" dia, 50K+). Please bear in mind that I'm a serious hot-rodder and I don't hesitate to push the machinery to its limits, so IMO you should probably consider my suggested limits to be the absolute maximum sanely advisable. JMOFWIW.
Good luck, Joe

Sydney, will dig up what info I can and PM it to you.

My own HW is a very early gun, 3xx, and chambered for 32-20 but the bore is a sewer pipe. I've been wondering what to do about it for a while now. Last year I posted on the ASSRA forum and got a lot of help, turns out all those guys are here now. If I could only decide what to do with mine....

I'll see if I can find those names tomorrow but JT's advice is sage. And Brent recommended that I consider the 38-72 in the small shank if I wanted a long cartridge.

Glad you guys are here.

Rob

Circa 1964 Tom Burgess (who lamentably recently left us) did the metalwork for three rimless cartridge HiWalls, I own one, a 6.5'06 stocked by Kennedy, the second was a .244 Remington and the third was a 7mm Remington Magnum where Mr. Burgess opened up the receiver ring for a larger barrel shank. This is all as per a telephone conversation with Mr. Burgess several years ago.