45-90 Ammo - Absolute Rookie Questions

There are some people having success at distance using smokeless in these rifles. In that case I'd seriously think about the .45-70 as generally you will be looking at loads that don't come close to filling the case. If I wanted to learn how to use smokeless accurately in these rifles I'd get in touch with a few of the guys that have placed in the top 10 in the annual Quigley shoot in Montana. For real accuracy at distance you'll likely still want to cast your own bullets. Mostly so that you can find the best design to fit your rifle's chamber.

You are lucky to have Connaught within driving distance. There are some super talented guys that shoot black powder there. Many of them travel from pretty far to do it. I'd like to shoot there some day, but it's closer for me to shoot in America. If you ever shoot black powder at Connaught and attend the Canadioan Championships, go look for Dave Gullo. He's arguably the most talented BP long range shooter in the world today and he's super nice to talk with.

Chris.
 
Agreed on Dave Gullo! I used to own an original Winchester High Wall. I mentioned it to him one time and he wanted to buy it from me really bad. I decided to sell it to a Canadian instead. We still had a lot of good conversations and he coached me as a newbie several times.

The Quigley match does allows smokeless and even duplex loads - but ....there have been a few blow ups with duplex load users. They refuse to disallow them.

That's what is good about the BPCR Silhouette game - 100% BP, lead bullets and no gas checks. The gamers hate it and stay away.
 
Would there be any books you all would recommend on loading, shooting etc with black powder cartridge rifles? Loading and shooting black powder cartridges in general?

This is an interesting shooting style.
 
Devlin said:
Hey There,

I am in Ontario unfortunately, I do have access to a 300 yard range as my regular shooting location close to home. We have Mons range and Connaught range that are within a reasonable driving distance and some googling and a prior thread I have going it looks like there are black powder shooters that use these ranges. My interest is not solely in the black powder area of this style of shooting, I suspect I will shoot smokeless more often than not just for the ease of cleaning and my existing familiarity with it.
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We (the ORA) shoot at Camp Borden almost every week end. You could shoot with the TR/FClass guys at 300 to 1000 yards.

I run a Sport Rifle Shoot 3 or 4 times a year. 100 to 300. 100 is shot standing. Deliberate, SNAP and Mover at each distance. If you pm me your name and email address, I will put you on the mailing list.

We have had a BP shooter before. On the down wind side of the relay.
 
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gunlaker said:
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If you ever shoot black powder at Connaught and attend the Canadian Championships, go look for Dave Gullo. He's arguably the most talented BP long range shooter in the world today and he's super nice to talk with.

Chris.
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Unquestionably! Dave drives from Texas to shoot at Connaught. There are a couple of other Americans who make the west end of Ottawa their annual vacation destination in August.
 
leveractionjunkie said:
Would there be any books you all would recommend on loading, shooting etc with black powder cartridge rifles? Loading and shooting black powder cartridges in general?

This is an interesting shooting style.
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I am not a big fan of Mike Venturino's writing style, but he did publish some basic books that cover the many (many) cartridges of the single shot and lever action early days.

"Shooting Buffalo Rifles of the Old West" and "Shooting Lever Guns of the Old West" have details about both the guns and ammo, with an emphasis on reloading with black powder.

He even goes into detail about cleaning up after shooting for those that are still scared about that aspect of the sport.

Google 'Mike Venturino'.
 
Hey Folks,

Thought I would update this thread, for my initial entrance into these sort of guns I went in a slightly different direction, mainly because I went to a gun store fondled something and fell in love. I still expect I will go down the Sharps path eventually but am letting my wallet recover a bit first.

I ended up picking up a used Turnbull 1886 in 45-70. I am interested in reloading for it and grabbed a set of dies today but am interested in what folks here would recommend from the Bullet Barn to use as components/bullets to reload with. I plan to reload with smokeless at first till I learn more about blackpowder. Would welcome your recommendations.

Here are some pics also posted in the Lever gun #### thread.

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Nice 1886! Did you get it from Epps? I'm pretty sure I saw that one on their web site. I ended up buying a Browning 1886 SRC instead.

The Bullet Barn bullets work pretty well for store bought bullets. I used to shoot a lot of the 450gr .459" ones with a magnum primer and 30gr of H-4198. ( see Hodgdon's trapdoor loads ) and they shot quite well.

Chris.
 
Devlin said:
Hey Folks,

Thought I would update this thread, for my initial entrance into these sort of guns I went in a slightly different direction, mainly because I went to a gun store fondled something and fell in love. I still expect I will go down the Sharps path eventually but am letting my wallet recover a bit first.

I ended up picking up a used Turnbull 1886 in 45-70. I am interested in reloading for it and grabbed a set of dies today but am interested in what folks here would recommend from the Bullet Barn to use as components/bullets to reload with. I plan to reload with smokeless at first till I learn more about blackpowder. Would welcome your recommendations.
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That is a nice looking rifle - well done for your first lever rifle!

I have used the Bullet Barn 390 grain gas checked bullet with great success in the recent past.

I fill the cases up with Blackhorn 209 and use a regular large rifle primer. The cases were prepped with a Lyman 'M' die to slightly flare the mouth to allow easy bullet insertion. The BH209 data sheet is on their site: http://www.blackhorn209.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/b209blackpowdercartridgedata.pdf

Remember that BH209 cleans up like smokeless powder with oil based solvent (my favourite is Ed's Red bore cleaner).

Good luck and happy shooting.
 
gunlaker said:
Nice 1886! Did you get it from Epps? I'm pretty sure I saw that one on their web site. I ended up buying a Browning 1886 SRC instead.

The Bullet Barn bullets work pretty well for store bought bullets. I used to shoot a lot of the 450gr .459" ones with a magnum primer and 30gr of H-4198. ( see Hodgdon's trapdoor loads ) and they shot quite well.

Chris.
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Yes this was from Epps, interested to see how she runs, have a variety of factory ammo to try while I get myself setup to stuff my own 45-70 rounds.
 
Wow Devlin that’s a bucket list rifle for me, congrats on a great purchase. You’re gonna love that thing. What an absolute beauty!!

You’ve got a couple too load suggestions already but I’d add the bullet barn 405gr TLG and 13-14gr of Unique it’s a beauty load and fun for all afternoon.

Damn I love that’86!
 
leveractionjunkie said:
Wow Devlin that’s a bucket list rifle for me, congrats on a great purchase. You’re gonna love that thing. What an absolute beauty!!

You’ve got a couple too load suggestions already but I’d add the bullet barn 405gr TLG and 13-14gr of Unique it’s a beauty load and fun for all afternoon.

Damn I love that’86!
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Thanks very much I am pretty tickled with it, I think this will be on my never sell it list.

I am looking at that 405 grain bullet as it seems to be a popular option, I see a lot of recommendations to use IMR4198 powder for 45-70 for smokeless choices. More googling and research through my reloading manuals to figure out a starting recipe.
 
leveractionjunkie said:
Would there be any books you all would recommend on loading, shooting etc with black powder cartridge rifles? Loading and shooting black powder cartridges in general?

This is an interesting shooting style.
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I have found a few books by Paul A. Matthews very informative, and written in a real easy manner, much as if you were sitting down drinking coffee together and having a nice, informative, conversation.
 
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