Question about barrel thickness

[LKM]

Thanks for reading. I am looking to build a smoothbore .35 caliber 10 inch barrel black powder firearm using 316 or 304 stainless steel. What would be the appropriate barrel thickness?

 

[Flintandsteel]

Not sure what you mean by appropriate.
First of all, stainless is not appropriate for anything in period, so why worry about barrel design? Build what you want.

 

[longcruise]

Not sure what you mean by appropriate.
First of all, stainless is not appropriate for anything in period, so why worry about barrel design? Build what you want.

I Think thickness comparable to the thickness of similar caliber barrels would be fine. A 35 is so small that any more or less standardized barrel diameter would provide plenty of wall thickness. But just to put a number to it I'd say 5/8" would be the smallest that I would go.

This reminds me of the story about the Wells Fargo manager who was interviewing potential drivers. One of his questions was "If you were on a mountain road, how close could you get to the edge without going over?" The guy who got the job answered "If I were on that road I'd be seeing how far away from the edge I could stay"!

 

[Flintandsteel]

Still don’t get what you’re building. A commercial BP barrel in .36 cal would be ¾” AF. (Octagonal)