I have been playing with my 45-70 a lot lately, and I had the idea to load some short range plinking/small game loads. The 1-18 twist barrel is about the same as a muzzleloading pistol, so I figured a roundball would work well.
I used large pistol primers, 5 gr of Red Dot and a .457 round ball lubed with Lee Alox. The powder is held in place with a disc of newspaper pushed down over the paper, and then the neck is slightly crimped to hold the ball on place. Velocity is probably around 1100 fps.
With about 1400 shots per pound of powder, casting your own balls and a large pistol primer, these loads end up under 20 cents or $4 a box of 20.
This is a perfect load to get someone used to a larger gun without the recoil, plinking out to 100 yds or putting some small game in the pot when you're out hunting for big game.
The target in the pics was two 5 shot groups at 25 yds. The first shot was a bit high then 4 in a group above the bull, then I lowered the sight a bit and fired 5 more. It shoots into about 1 1/2" at 50 yds. I didn't try it at 100 yds yet.
I used large pistol primers, 5 gr of Red Dot and a .457 round ball lubed with Lee Alox. The powder is held in place with a disc of newspaper pushed down over the paper, and then the neck is slightly crimped to hold the ball on place. Velocity is probably around 1100 fps.
With about 1400 shots per pound of powder, casting your own balls and a large pistol primer, these loads end up under 20 cents or $4 a box of 20.
This is a perfect load to get someone used to a larger gun without the recoil, plinking out to 100 yds or putting some small game in the pot when you're out hunting for big game.
The target in the pics was two 5 shot groups at 25 yds. The first shot was a bit high then 4 in a group above the bull, then I lowered the sight a bit and fired 5 more. It shoots into about 1 1/2" at 50 yds. I didn't try it at 100 yds yet.
