The type of action we're concerned with here is presumably the actions of our break open double guns. But a good comparison and illustration of the very real effect that cartridge pressure exerts upon the action can be found in comparisons and calculations for bolt thrust in bolt action rifles. There is no question that bolt thrust and bolt lug shearing forces are greater in a cartridge with a larger rear inside surface area, assuming other things such as pressure are equal. Because of that, the bolt thrust generated by a .50 BMG is much greater than that of either a .222 Rem or a .30-06 even though the three cartridges are all scaled up or scaled down versions of the .30-06. And of course, the bolt thrust can be affected by the grip of a cartridge during firing in a dry chamber versus an oiled chamber. Here's an interesting link about the subject from Lilja Barrels:
http://riflebarrels.com/a-look-at-bolt-lug-strength/And let's not forget that it is the force generated by cartridge pressure that operates the bolt in blowback actions. A Ruger 10/22 bolt weighs about .4 lb. to correctly counteract the roughly 1000 lbs. of rearward force exerted upon the bolt by a little .22 LR cartridge. If you built a blowback action for .50 BMG, it would require a bolt weighing about 50 lbs. to operate correctly and safely.
What is even more interesting to me is the fact that Larry can still see and read my posts even though he claims to IGNORE them!
