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#Post#: 27--------------------------------------------------
.45-70 black powder loads
DIR By: HighCountry
Date: January 12, 2013, 8:59 pm
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Reloading smokless powder rifle and pistol is something I have
done for many years. Black powder is a whole new critter for
me. Some of my first loads hit the paper side-ways. Sure
sounds funny. Glad I was alone that day.
My rifle is an original 1873 Springfield Arsenal "trapdoor",
manufactured in 1880.
I made myself a three foot copper drop tube and that seems to
dump and pack BP pretty good.
My bullets are Lee 405 grain hollow base and are cast with
telephone cable lead sheathing material. This lead should be
pretty much pure lead or am I wrong. Comments?
My current bullet lube is home made:
- 50% beeswax (the real thing)
40% lard
10% olive oil
-
My latest round of shooting shows promise. My target is only
50m and groups are about two inches or more. The hollow base is
opening to grap the two-groove rifling...I think. More work is
needed.
Spacers are needed between bullet and BP to prevent dangerous
air voids. MidwayUSA recently sent me some .410 shotgun wads.
They seem very firm. I also use .45 caliber cardboard discs to
keep BP away from greasy bullet bases.
Anyone out there have any ideas or comments?
#Post#: 28--------------------------------------------------
Re: .45-70 black powder loads
DIR By: kwslater
Date: January 12, 2013, 9:29 pm
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Dave Welcome,
I have in the past found pure lead to be a tad soft to grab the
rifling properly. I have made up two different lead/wheel weight
mixes. 1 part wheel-weight vs. 4 parts lead for my muzzle
loaders. 2 parts wheel-weight vs. 3 parts lead for my handgun
casts. If you have ingot molds then you can do it by pounds. I
do like the lead harder seem to get better groups.
I also have used cardboard as a patch between the bullet and
powder. It also increased the velocity on a flat base bullet.
The con-caved hollow based bullets will do that on their own.
There's a few guys that still paper patch a bullet but I have
never tried that.
#Post#: 29--------------------------------------------------
Re: .45-70 black powder loads
DIR By: HighCountry
Date: January 13, 2013, 9:22 pm
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Whoa! I am getting great .45-70 bullet information!
The rifling in my original 1873 trapdoor is very shallow.
Harder bullets may be the answer. How about using linotype
metal? Too hard?
#Post#: 67--------------------------------------------------
Re: .45-70 black powder loads
DIR By: HighCountry
Date: February 4, 2013, 11:31 pm
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Have any RKPs out there used paper patched bullets with black
powder .45-70 Government? If so, please comment on what worked
for you. What kind of paper did you use? At this point, any
help will be appreciated!
Last time I shot, my groups were something like 4-6" at 50
meters. My rifle is an original Springfield Arsenal M1873
"trapdoor" rifle (not carbine) manufactured in 1880.
#Post#: 154--------------------------------------------------
Re: .45-70 black powder loads
DIR By: kojak
Date: March 12, 2013, 6:15 pm
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Hi,
I have not paper patched bullets for a .45-70, but I am curious
about your loads.
Have you chronographed them? if so, how many feet per second are
you getting? You want to be getting just short of 1300fps to
make that hollow base obturate correctly and grip that rifling.
How many grains of black powder by volume are you loading, and
what is your compression?
#Post#: 155--------------------------------------------------
Re: .45-70 black powder loads
DIR By: HighCountry
Date: March 12, 2013, 10:23 pm
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kojak,
No, I have not used my chono yet. That will come soon.
Grains of BP - I am currently using 55g of FFg GOEX
Compression - I use a 3' copper drop tube, then use a "Track Of
The Wolf" compression die.
Here is my procedure today:
- Drop BP
Place a thin cardboard wad on top of the powder
Place a 1/2" fiber wad on top of the wad
Compress the fiber wad down to the first driving band or very
close to it (paper patch covers the driving bands)
Give it a light yet visable crimp
-
Now, I have not shot any of my paper patch loads yet. Too cold
or too busy to go to Rio Grande Sportsman Club range. Hope to
do so this week or weekend.
#Post#: 156--------------------------------------------------
Re: .45-70 black powder loads
DIR By: kojak
Date: March 13, 2013, 5:01 pm
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You may want to increase your charge on those loads. The 405
grain bullet with a 55 grain charge was what was used for the
carbine. That trapdoor has a lot of barrel to get that bullet
through. My load is 65 grains of FFg with a card on the top and
compressed to the first driving band.
Increasing the charge may eliminate the extra step of paper
patching the bullets if there is enough force to open up that
hollow base.
#Post#: 157--------------------------------------------------
Re: .45-70 black powder loads
DIR By: HighCountry
Date: March 14, 2013, 7:05 pm
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The reason I selected 55g FFg was simply to keep the loads light
and consistant. I am really just looking at how the bullets
will group. Got to be better than 6" groups at 50m which I had
in the past.
I will keep your advice of the 65g FFg in mind as I start
working toward a bullet/powder that shows promise.
#Post#: 158--------------------------------------------------
Re: .45-70 black powder loads
DIR By: kojak
Date: March 15, 2013, 3:24 pm
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I settled on 65 grains based on this eBook
HTML http://www.wahsatchdesperadoes.com/Intro_to_BPCR_Loading.pdf
It's pretty handy, and gives a starting load for the Trapdoor on
pg 38.
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