.45-70 BP - How much compression?

ckid

ckid

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Hi Guys,

I am in the final stages of trying a blackpowder load in my Uberti Highwall. The load I am contemplating consists of 65 grains of Goex Cartridge, 1 0.025" waxed cardboard wad, a 0.065" grease cookie (beeswax, bore butter and olive oil concoction) and a 405 gr LEE RNFP. I have measured the height of the powder column in a casing after it was dropped from a drop tube and it will require about 0.100" of compression with the compression die to seat the bullet at the overall length I want (bullet touching the lands). Is 0.100" of compression adviseable or should I back off on the powder charge a bit?

Cheers,

Steve
 
Steve: my experience is as follows.....no lube cookie,instead make sure bullet is properly lubed with BP lube....Drop tube compression only for Swiss and Goex Express....your .100" comp. with std goex 2f should be good.....I am using either a 555gr. Paul Jones Creedmore bullet or a 545gr. tapered Badger bullet and both have plenty oflube grooves to hold lots of lube, I also use a blow tube to keep fowling soft. After even 1 shot, the crown of your barrel should have a lube star on it to indicate enough lube.
 
Thanks Ben,

I neglected to mention that bullets are lubed with Lyman Blackpowder Gold, which I have been told is the same stuff as SPG. I will watch for the lube star.
 
The amount of powder you put in the shell is not too important, what is important is that after drop tubing and light compression, the column is up to the base of the bullet. You seem to be working on the basis that 65 gr is important instead of setting the loaded bullet length then going by trial and error to find how much powder comes up to that point.
Using a drop tube, you shouldn't have to compress the powder, although when I am loading, I generally like to put maybe 5 lbs pressure on the handle of the press. I probably compress less than .1"
I do use a card wad from a milk carton between powder and bullet and use a mixture of bear fat and bees wax for lube. Very similar to SPG and to Paul Mathews bullet lube.

cheers mooncoon
 
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