Hi just getting into long range black powder shooting. In 45-70. who makes the best molds for this type of shooting. I know right now it’s hard to find anything. The gun I have is a Taylor and Company 1885 high wall. I’m getting ready to order a Shiloh sharps long range express. Any info will help thanks.
GQ
- Thread starter graybeard
- Start date
L Ross
Well-Known Member
I got started about, oh 1990 or there abouts with an original Sharps conversion and a Trapdoor. In the following years I spent a lot of money that I shouldn't have by buying unnecessary stuff, and lower quality stuff that eventually got replaced with equipment I should have bought in the first place.
I traded the original to the owner of C. Sharps for a new high grade sporting rifle, and made my first mistake. I got all historical and wanted something unique so I got it in .40-70 Sharps Straight. Mistake. I should have gotten a .45-70 and I still advise that. Components are much easier to find. A .45-70 can reach 1,000 yards. It may not be ideal, but it can do it. But other than the extreme long range, a .45-70 can do it all.
Sights, here is a place where I wished I had listened to a couple of friends that shot BP competitively. They told me to buy MVA Soule sights, and I have them now, but I wish I'd bought those first.
Moulds , boy moulds. A good copy of the Postel bullet should serve you well. Buffalo Arms is an excellent resource. Buller alloy, don't mess around with range scrap and wheel weights, get or mix up some good, repeatable, 1/20, 1/30, or 1/40 tin to lead.
Powder, Swiss or Old Einsforde, 1 1/2 fg.
You do not need magnum primers, black ignites easily.
Buy a dedicated die for compressing the powder.
You will need wads between your powder and the bullet. I use Mike's laminated paper wads. Any quality wads will work, as will home made with a proper wad punch. Waxed milk carton will work well.
Lube, Bullshop's NASA lube or SPG. I wasted a lot of time making home made, don't bother.
Ian's advice get a copy of Mike Venturino's book is sound advice.
A delrin wiping rod is handy for wiping between shots.
A well fitting blow tube that completely fills the chamber for when you have to shoot dirty. A short blow tube will leave condensation in your chamber
and your fired case will tear in two leaving part of it in the chamber or up the bore. This is a fact!
This should give you plenty of food for thought , and some indigestion too.
I traded the original to the owner of C. Sharps for a new high grade sporting rifle, and made my first mistake. I got all historical and wanted something unique so I got it in .40-70 Sharps Straight. Mistake. I should have gotten a .45-70 and I still advise that. Components are much easier to find. A .45-70 can reach 1,000 yards. It may not be ideal, but it can do it. But other than the extreme long range, a .45-70 can do it all.
Sights, here is a place where I wished I had listened to a couple of friends that shot BP competitively. They told me to buy MVA Soule sights, and I have them now, but I wish I'd bought those first.
Moulds , boy moulds. A good copy of the Postel bullet should serve you well. Buffalo Arms is an excellent resource. Buller alloy, don't mess around with range scrap and wheel weights, get or mix up some good, repeatable, 1/20, 1/30, or 1/40 tin to lead.
Powder, Swiss or Old Einsforde, 1 1/2 fg.
You do not need magnum primers, black ignites easily.
Buy a dedicated die for compressing the powder.
You will need wads between your powder and the bullet. I use Mike's laminated paper wads. Any quality wads will work, as will home made with a proper wad punch. Waxed milk carton will work well.
Lube, Bullshop's NASA lube or SPG. I wasted a lot of time making home made, don't bother.
Ian's advice get a copy of Mike Venturino's book is sound advice.
A delrin wiping rod is handy for wiping between shots.
A well fitting blow tube that completely fills the chamber for when you have to shoot dirty. A short blow tube will leave condensation in your chamber
and your fired case will tear in two leaving part of it in the chamber or up the bore. This is a fact!
This should give you plenty of food for thought , and some indigestion too.
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
That is much better advice than you will ever find in any of the grocery store "gunzines". Buy the best sights and buy certified alloy, especially if you are going to shoot long range. Consistency is the name of the game.
fiver
Well-Known Member
20-1 is the most popular B/P alloy around here.
occasionally I get questioned by the guy's having a casting problem and my usual reply is you probably over shot the Tin [or the alloy temp] throw a couple of pounds of pure in and see what happens.
I don't know why they all think the LEE 20 lb pot is really 20 lbs.
occasionally I get questioned by the guy's having a casting problem and my usual reply is you probably over shot the Tin [or the alloy temp] throw a couple of pounds of pure in and see what happens.
I don't know why they all think the LEE 20 lb pot is really 20 lbs.
Ian
Notorious member
Pan lube the 30:1 Postell for BP. The lube-sizer can ruin the geometry of the bullet and may not fill the grooves completely. If necessary to size the bullets, use a Lee bullet sizer after cutting the bullets out of the lube. SPG can be had in tubs, get several of them or make Buck Emmert's lube with beeswax, Crisco, lanolin, and olive oil.
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
I had issues with the Emmet's lube with the olive oil if trying to store it over a shooting season. Desert molds loves to grow on it, but SPG, if kept in the freezer, will last forever.
I have been through about 20 lube and sizers over my 50 years of bullet casting. I have kept 4 that were straight with the ram and frame. Pan lubing is slow, but you can't hardly screw anything up.
I have been through about 20 lube and sizers over my 50 years of bullet casting. I have kept 4 that were straight with the ram and frame. Pan lubing is slow, but you can't hardly screw anything up.
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Bore doesn't mean very much, it is all in the throat, i.e. the chambering reamer.
fiver
Well-Known Member
to get throat measurements you need to do a pound slug.
however when your using soft lead and Black powder it isn't as critical as when your using smokeless.
the powder will upset the bullet and force it to fill that area.
I would also not be overly concerned with the 45-70 unless the maker specifies that they used a throating reamer to change away from the very tight saami specifications the 45-70 has traditionally had.
but to be sure of what you are working with, the pound slug is the only real way to get some hard numbers.
however when your using soft lead and Black powder it isn't as critical as when your using smokeless.
the powder will upset the bullet and force it to fill that area.
I would also not be overly concerned with the 45-70 unless the maker specifies that they used a throating reamer to change away from the very tight saami specifications the 45-70 has traditionally had.
but to be sure of what you are working with, the pound slug is the only real way to get some hard numbers.
Joshua
Taco Aficionado/Salish Sea Pirate/Part-Time Dragon
Article 2: How I Make Pound Casts
Disclaimer: The following information is the product of my own meandering experience and includes a few original ideas and concepts of my own and some that others have been kind to share with me, and is always subject to change as I learn more. It is in no way intended to be the last word, or...
www.artfulbullet.com
Ian
Notorious member
Some rifles have a SAAMI standard throat (smokeless powder, alloyed lead or copper jacketed bullets, very abrupt throat) and some were throated for paper jackets. I think some others still bay be in-between or BP and soft, lubricated lead bullets.
The bore and groove dimensions don't matter much, that part you can forget about no matter where you heard/read it. The only time either measurement matters is when paper-patching and you need to know bore size to adjust core size and paper thickness.
What, if anything, you need is an impact impression or "pound cast" of the throat area. For starters you can simply partially seat a bullet in a case and try it in the chamber, then seat the bullet deeper and deeper until the block closes with almost no resistance.
The bore and groove dimensions don't matter much, that part you can forget about no matter where you heard/read it. The only time either measurement matters is when paper-patching and you need to know bore size to adjust core size and paper thickness.
What, if anything, you need is an impact impression or "pound cast" of the throat area. For starters you can simply partially seat a bullet in a case and try it in the chamber, then seat the bullet deeper and deeper until the block closes with almost no resistance.