45-70 IAB Sharps.
- Thread starter L.Parratt
- Start date
bandanaman
CGN Regular
- Location
- New Westminster
Another factor in my accuracy issue might just be a bad boresight. This is across my kitchen at 10m. It's far worse at 50m. Got the sights aligned now. Just need some more GOEX for a range trip
Curious to know what you had to do to align things? I haven't much faith in most" bore sighters ".In fact I can't recall anyone I happen to know who paid the extra bucks to bore sight a rifle who even came what I would call close to target. Lucky to be on paper at 25 yards most times. not saying they don't work ,just that in my experience they left much to be desired. Lever and closed actions aside I find sand bagging the rifle and sighting a target through the barrel at 25 yards to have worked the best for me and scoped rifles. I have lucked out with most of my iron sight rifles at close range where I could just drift the sights a bit as required. Right now I am struggling on what to do with my 1860 Henry shooting 5 inches high at 50 yards. Groups well though.[not looking to side rail your post]
As an avid 45/70 shooter I have learned that there are no short cuts in the quest for distance shooting.
Drop tubes, cleaning between shots, bullet butter, powder volume measure not weight measure, a drink of steamy tea or coffee before blowing down the tube to loosen the fowling, 1235 yards is what I have hit repeatedly with all this testing. Mind you it was shooting at the below target(full sized buffalo).
Hope you enjoy the challenge as much as I did at the time.
Drop tubes, cleaning between shots, bullet butter, powder volume measure not weight measure, a drink of steamy tea or coffee before blowing down the tube to loosen the fowling, 1235 yards is what I have hit repeatedly with all this testing. Mind you it was shooting at the below target(full sized buffalo).
Hope you enjoy the challenge as much as I did at the time.
I had to move the front sight a good chunk to the left. Makes me think the rear sight isn't perfect in the center of the receiver. But if that is the case I'll end up just re centering the front sight and then using the windage to line up the rear again and call that good enough.
As an avid 45/70 shooter I have learned that there are no short cuts in the quest for distance shooting.
Drop tubes, cleaning between shots, bullet butter, powder volume measure not weight measure, a drink of steamy tea or coffee before blowing down the tube to loosen the fowling, 1235 yards is what I have hit repeatedly with all this testing. Mind you it was shooting at the below target(full sized buffalo).
Hope you enjoy the challenge as much as I did at the time.
The goal is to ultimately do the long range shooting onto these targets. My range only has 6" gongs sadly.
With the sight you want to get a little level on the sight and make sure it is plumb forward and side to side. When I put my new sight on, I had to use a few layers of aluminum foil under the left side of the base shim it to where it was perfect. You should be able to loosen the screw on the sight spring to adjust it forward and backwards, then lock it down with the screw. Loctite can't hurt. Get some big poster board or cardboard to get on paper up close, then go out to longer range from there. Swiss powder will always give you better accuracy than Goex. It's what the best shooters use.
What kind of bullets/molds do you have available?
What kind of bullets/molds do you have available?
I'm at the mercy of what I can find on ####### after jet bullets closed.
I'm also resorting to using Pyrodex as I can't find any Black powder or 777 anywhere currently.
bandanaman
CGN Regular
- Location
- New Westminster
The next rabbit hole to go down will be bullet casting.....I started out with buying my bullets from Rustywood Trading Co. which at the time were made by The Bullet Barn. They have since sold and are in Alberta by the looks of the website .Rusty wood are making their own now but haven't as many options yet. [Should check them out for possibilities] . I cast my own now at 11 BHN hardness. When I bought the 405 gr/450gr/ and 525 gr Postell back then when they where made by The Bullet Barn and were 25 BHN [too hard for my liking] and the lube I think was more for smokeless loads as I had leading issues.....I eventually dissolved their lube out and pan lubed them with SPG and my leading issues decreased dramatically [there are home made lubes which can work quite well] Using a quality lube like SPG or DGL would be advisable before going down another rabbit hole .Now with a softer alloy I don't have a real lead problem[touch wood, conditions change constantly] I have had good results using the 520 gr Government bullet Lyman #457125.My cast weight is closer to 519 gr. When I say good results I am a "B" class shooter[the lowest on the totem pole].I don't worry about it as I am my only competition ,as it is all for fun.....
bandanaman
CGN Regular
- Location
- New Westminster
I thought I would add that I am not saying to jump into bullet casting right away if you don't already do it.[I got started making round balls for my muzzleloaders] Just that I personally found some commercial lubes falling short of what black powder shooting required. I found re lubing helped a lot. I dissolved the lube by soaking in an automotive wax and grease remover but I have heard of guys using a heat gun as well.
I had good results with some 325gr GC I had used recently. Right now I'm loading 405gr 2LG with a Oxo yoke. Will do a range report tomorrow. I hope to get good accuracy out of the rifle.
I do plan to cast my own bullets eventually. Especially for my 50-140 Project in the works
I do plan to cast my own bullets eventually. Especially for my 50-140 Project in the works
As far as casting, I want to try some BACO molds, but by the time you get the molds, handles, shipping and taxes you're looking at like $300.
I have found good results with the Lee 500-3R bullet mold at 200M (I haven't tried it further yet)
You can get these molds for $56 here
https://budgetshootersupply.ca/product/lee-mould-459-500-3r-double-cavity/
I was loading with Goex Olde Eynsford, but with some testing I'm sure you could get other powders to shoot well.
The load was 62.5 gr Olde Eynsford 1.5 fg, .02 card, .068 fiber wad, Winchester LR primer, Lee 459-500-3R bullet cast from 50/50 pure lead/wheelweights and lubed with 50/50 beeswax/Shea butter.
The powder is compressed so the OAL has the bullet about .01 from the rifling.
I have found good results with the Lee 500-3R bullet mold at 200M (I haven't tried it further yet)
You can get these molds for $56 here
https://budgetshootersupply.ca/product/lee-mould-459-500-3r-double-cavity/
I was loading with Goex Olde Eynsford, but with some testing I'm sure you could get other powders to shoot well.
The load was 62.5 gr Olde Eynsford 1.5 fg, .02 card, .068 fiber wad, Winchester LR primer, Lee 459-500-3R bullet cast from 50/50 pure lead/wheelweights and lubed with 50/50 beeswax/Shea butter.
The powder is compressed so the OAL has the bullet about .01 from the rifling.
bandanaman
CGN Regular
- Location
- New Westminster
Well this cowboy can't shoot like that. Wish I could....Guys talk about testing different components and loading techniques to see how they group differently. I on the other hand am glad if they are all there !!! try as I may I possibly have too many bad habits. My groups are likely well
over double yours. I might get 10 inside 3 inches at 100 yds. on a good day never mind 200 M.I also have been using1 1/2 F Olde Eynsford .I have upped my loads from 60.0 gr at 2.835 OAL[my OAL for hunting] to 65.0 gr at 2.916 OAL [this year silhouette] just off the lands as well. So you see Logan[I'm guessing from your video] there are infinite combinations to try. Experiment and see what you can do with what you have access to. I think even if a load may not prove out to be the most accurate for a rifle , if you feel comfortable with it you will shoot better as there is one less thing to think about.
Michael
over double yours. I might get 10 inside 3 inches at 100 yds. on a good day never mind 200 M.I also have been using1 1/2 F Olde Eynsford .I have upped my loads from 60.0 gr at 2.835 OAL[my OAL for hunting] to 65.0 gr at 2.916 OAL [this year silhouette] just off the lands as well. So you see Logan[I'm guessing from your video] there are infinite combinations to try. Experiment and see what you can do with what you have access to. I think even if a load may not prove out to be the most accurate for a rifle , if you feel comfortable with it you will shoot better as there is one less thing to think about.Michael
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bandanaman
CGN Regular
- Location
- New Westminster
Just thinking Logan if you haven't tripped over this site before check out http://texas-mac.com .He has compiled what I think is a wealth of information for black powder cartridge shooter. A lot of information and his articles are aimed specifically to the subject in question .A good source IMHO.
As far as casting, I want to try some BACO molds, but by the time you get the molds, handles, shipping and taxes you're looking at like $300.
I have found good results with the Lee 500-3R bullet mold at 200M (I haven't tried it further yet)
You can get these molds for $56 here
https://budgetshootersupply.ca/product/lee-mould-459-500-3r-double-cavity/
I was loading with Goex Olde Eynsford, but with some testing I'm sure you could get other powders to shoot well.
The load was 62.5 gr Olde Eynsford 1.5 fg, .02 card, .068 fiber wad, Winchester LR primer, Lee 459-500-3R bullet cast from 50/50 pure lead/wheelweights and lubed with 50/50 beeswax/Shea butter.
The powder is compressed so the OAL has the bullet about .01 from the rifling.
I really want to try some of those bullets out
Currently just molded my lee seating stem to be flat instead of a come. Hoped that would fix my inconsistent seating issues but it didn't. So the last to variables are my Ox-yokes or powder volume.
I'm going to go back to a 4.3cc scoop and see if that helps.
One thing I forgot to mention is that I don't size my brass at all. I just knock out the primers with a universal deprimer, then clean and prime. This only works with brass fireformed to your particular rifle. It won't chamber in another. I just push the bullets into the case by hand.
This^^^^^^
A lot of early reproductions were made with 1-20 twist and would only shoot bullets weighing, at the upper limit, 405 grs or so. If your rifle has a faster twist, 1/18" or faster, then you should do well with heavier ( 500 to 535 and maybe 550 grs)
YMMV!
So, I did more testing today at 200M with that Lee bullet I mentioned before. I can't get the Olde Eynsford I was using anymore, so I tried out the more easily available Schuetzen 2f powder.
I was actually surprised with the good results I got.
The best grouping was with 4 CC of the powder ( about 60.7gr) compressed and a .02 card, .062 fiber wad.
It shot just over 1 MOA from the bench sticks, and the recoil was quite mild.
I think it would be worth a shot. This will be my 200M chicken load for silhouette matches this year.
I was actually surprised with the good results I got.
The best grouping was with 4 CC of the powder ( about 60.7gr) compressed and a .02 card, .062 fiber wad.
It shot just over 1 MOA from the bench sticks, and the recoil was quite mild.
I think it would be worth a shot. This will be my 200M chicken load for silhouette matches this year.
Another IAB Sharps range report.
4.3CC Pyrodex. Ox-yoke wad and a 405gr pill seated to 2.500 (my dies refuse to seat at anything else with these bullets, I'd much rather be at 2.600)
Best group was a 4rnd 3MOA at 100 meters. Ringing the Gong at 100 and 200m was the main part of my day.
The trigger and loads I think are my biggest issue. I'd like to fix both overtime.
Also picking a not pure black target so I can have a better point of aim.
4.3CC Pyrodex. Ox-yoke wad and a 405gr pill seated to 2.500 (my dies refuse to seat at anything else with these bullets, I'd much rather be at 2.600)
Best group was a 4rnd 3MOA at 100 meters. Ringing the Gong at 100 and 200m was the main part of my day.
The trigger and loads I think are my biggest issue. I'd like to fix both overtime.
Also picking a not pure black target so I can have a better point of aim.
