Trying to up my 45-70 game UPDATE

[Rook 6]

Just fer giggles, here is the little brother Lowall also worked on by Wyoming Armory.
It is very accurate with Eley Black Box and multiple versions of Lapua.

 

[XTR]

I've been eyeballing the MVA highwall actions recently. I love me some falling block actions.

 

[XTR]

... You are quite correct about the increased powder charge for long distance past 500M. That’s where paper patch will come in. I will be experimenting with slip fit seating also. ....

I dabbled in PP shooting, and I've spent a lot of hours reading what the guys who do it well have written.

Use a soft alloy and a mold that will throw a bullet that patches to bore size. Seat them in the case with finger pressure. A bore size bullet will definitely let you get the bullet up out of the case.

I never perfected the setup, but some compression under a card wad was what I recall being the way to go.

 

[Rook 6]

I dabbled in PP shooting, and I've spent a lot of hours reading what the guys who do it well have written.

Use a soft alloy and a mold that will throw a bullet that patches to bore size. Seat them in the case with finger pressure. A bore size bullet will definitely let you get the bullet up out of the case.

I never perfected the setup, but some compression under a card wad was what I recall being the way to go.

I have never tried PP. Never had a reason until I got rid of my Shiloh 45-90. The good news is that my dad blazed the trail for me. He's too old to handle casting now, but he gave me the correct mold, paper, cutting template and know how to set it up. He even gave me his patch dispenser and bore pigs for wiping. I just need to set up and dive in!

 

[XTR]

I was amazed at how much more difficult it is to get a BPCR to shoot than a smokeless setup. There are so many variables, starting with your alloy.

Alloy
Bullet size (diameter)
Compression
Wad stacks (what's a lube cookie?)
Then you get to play with seating depth and load.

 

[Rook 6]

The pictures were taken at Wyoming Armory where the rifle was built. Unfortunately, the actions aren’t mine. I will have to provide another pic with the scope mounted sometime today. Thanks for the praise though! That’s mighty high coming from a craftsman such as yourself!

45-70 with scope for testing.

 

[Bill K]

Rifle looks fantastic and the loaded cartridges look almost, I said almost, too good to touch off.

 

[ronsatspokane]

You sir have excellent taste in firearms. That is a beauty. Both of them are.

 

[LAH]

Be still my racing heart.

 

[mike mccormick]

Beautiful rifles! BPCRs are a labor of love. When you get it right, they are mighty satisfying! I'm betting that combo will shoot awesome!

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

The oil finish on that stock is awesome

 

[boltfluter]

Those bullets are a work of art! Beautiful rifle, to say the least!
Paul

 

[Rook 6]

I forgot to add that I try and cast enough in a session to get a minimum of 250 sorted bullets. Usually I cast more. Total variance range between .75 and .5 grain. Sort by .1 grain. Pretty consistent for a 540 grain bullet.

 

[Beruisis]

Rook, when I competed with the 45-70 I ended up using a Brooks mould, bullet was recommended by Mike Venturino in one of his articles. It weighs in at about 560 grs & carries plenty of grease for hot Texas weather. I won my AAA class at Tx state match one year with it. I don't compete anymore & hacv sold my Sharps rifle so that mould is available if there is any interest. I still have an 1886 lever gun to pester our hogs with.
Beruisis

 

[Rook 6]

Rook, when I competed with the 45-70 I ended up using a Brooks mould, bullet was recommended by Mike Venturino in one of his articles. It weighs in at about 560 grs & carries plenty of grease for hot Texas weather. I won my AAA class at Tx state match one year with it. I don't compete anymore & hacv sold my Sharps rifle so that mould is available if there is any interest. I still have an 1886 lever gun to pester our hogs with.
Beruisis

Appreciate the offer but I am covered. Have a couple Paul Jones, BACO and Brooks moulds to cover my needs. Brooks moulds are great. If you really want to sell, I’m sure you could on the Shiloh or ASSRA forums.

 

[C_Ackley]

Man those boolits look good. Tried telling myself I didn't want to start casting my own, but seeing how much better those look than factory makes me want to.
Any factories that get even remotely close to that quality casting?

 

[Rook 6]

Man those boolits look good. Tried telling myself I didn't want to start casting my own, but seeing how much better those look than factory makes me want to.
Any factories that get even remotely close to that quality casting?

I have always had better castings than from factory, with a nod to the factory, I attribute to a much lower throughput and therefore higher QC for my personal work!

 

[C_Ackley]

I have always had better castings than from factory, with a nod to the factory.

Look incredible, they outdo any factory bullets I've bought easily.

 

[Rook 6]

Finally got to test today. I set up my rest to place the barrel just like I would in competition with cross sticks. While not an exact duplication, it was worth a try. Wind gusting from 4 o’clock from 3 to 8 mph. I stayed at 100 yds and only had my 20 rds to play with. I shot one 3 shot group, cleaned the new barrel, then shot two more 5 shot groups, blow tubing between shots. I was averaging around three inches and while conditions weren’t ideal, I was hoping for better results. I cleaned the barrel again and while reviewing my shooting, I realized I was not pulling my scope tube back after every shot to reset my zero! I know better, but I’m still knocking the rust off the wheels…. So, I sat back down focusing on consistently resetting my scope back into battery and focusing on wind conditions and put my last 7 shots into the group in the photo. The outlier is the first shot from a clean barrel. Not really conclusive, but promising. Guess I’d better load some more and try again!

 

[epc308]

I had similar concerns. It is a competition rifle only and while I intend to take as good care of it as I can, I know it was meant to be shot, so I am going to shoot the heck out of it. Not like I need to worry about barrel wear very much! I will be installing my period correct 3/4 inch tube 8x scope with Unertl type mounts for testing. I also have a vernier tang sight to use with the front globe with spirit level.

drop dead gorgeous