Loading for the modern 1885 Hi-wall .45-70

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freedomintheskies

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I always had an interest in shooting the .45-70 cartridge from a "Quigley-esque" rendering of the big bore, long barreled rifles that were the precision rifle of the latter part of the 19th century. I suppose that since brass, bullets and more importantly rifles are still being manufactured in this black powder inspired chambering it offers testament to it's legacy as an accurate and hard hitting cartridge.

In an effort to satisfy this new found passion, I recently purchased a Uberti made copy of the 1885 High wall with a 32" octagonal barrel that brings one back about a hundred and fifty years, to a time when buffalo capes were the Gore-Tex of the day. This particular rifle is also equipped with a tang mounted vernier sight, which should make it a good shooter out past 600 yards (at least in theory).

So, as I get ready to fill my basket at my favorite online reloading store, I have to ask all you folks reading this as to what you can recommend for loads. Cast, plated, jacketed bullets? Roll crimp, minimal crimp, or none? Powder selection- Is it based on bullet weight?
Please educate me.
1885-high-wall-white.jpg

Cheerz!
 
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Strictly cast bullets in mine, no crimp. AA5744 for low power loads and H322 for full power hunting loads.
Bullet weights from 400- 440 grains
 
I'm a fan of black powder myself. You can make them shoot quite well once you have a bullet that fits the rifle well.

I rarely shoot smokeless powder these days. When I do it's with a 450gr Bullet Barn bullet, a charge of H-4198 enough to get up to 1300-1350 fps with a magnum primer and no crimp.

Chris.
 
I shoot a Browning 1885 BPCR in .45/70. I like a duplex load of 6gr H322 under 45gr Goex or Swiss FFG, Federal LR primer, card wad cut from an OJ carton. Top this with a 500gr 457125 Lyman cast bullet sized .459 with my home made lube.

This load will shoot into 1 1/4" at 100m if I do my part.

I do not shoot smokeless powder in this rifle.
 
I shoot a Uberti Hi wall using 405 gr cast that are from a Lee mould. I use both Red-Dot & Trail boss powders which are not much for recoil or velocity, but great for the fun factor!:cool: My gun has the 30" barrel.

Being a single shot & using a fast powder, no need to crimp. I just straighten the flare so the cartridge will chamber.....

I shoot on a 100 yrd range & these loads put holes in the paper, but if I had to shoot long distance like 500 I would want to go to a rifle powder of some sort.

Happy shooting & enjoy that Uberti.:)
 
Soft lead, paper patched, black powder.

I've read of the buffalo hunters recasting recovered bullets and reloading with no crimp.
 
BigUglyMan said:
I use IMR 3031 and Lyman 457193 cast bullets for my Browning 1885. But there's no good reason not to use straight black powder.
Click to expand...

Straight black powder will work but it does cause a lot of fouling. I like the duplex charge because it eliminates most of the fouling & I can shoot up to 30 rounds without having to patch the bore or use a blow tube.
 
Fast forward a couple weeks (we had some wicked snow storms and my order was delayed a bit)...

I picked up some Starline brass and some 300gr. .459" Missouri Bullet Co. lead bullets and a set of "cheapie" Lee dies.

Since I had a fairly decent selection of powder kicking around, I chose to load 20 cartridges with 14.5 gr. of Trail Boss to start out and a further 20 cartridges with 50 gr. H4895 (Hodgdon says the limit for this bullet weight is 45-51gr. )

A quick trip down the field to my backstop to dig out the gong and put up a target on the frame next to it and I was in business.
I started at 50 yds so I could verify the zero on the vernier sight and after 4 or 5 rounds, it was shaping up nicely. The load with the Trail Boss had a fairly mild report and the recoil was something like a light 12 ga field load to a .308 load, so it was very manageable. The bullet "sizzled" downrange quite loudly too. Something you don't normally hear when shooting high pressure .308 loads. Using my ATV for a rest, I was able to manage a nice 3 round cloverleaf on the target. Then I moved out to 100 yds. It printed about 2" lower than point of aim so a quick adjustment of the vernier sight brought it back to bull. -Having said that, the thing is marked like a micrometer, so I was just "spitballing" when I adjusted it. I'll have to mark the data in my reloading log for this one.
It was somewhat satisfying to open the action after firing a shot, and have a bunch of smoke roll out the barrel in long wisps. (it makes me want to go buy a horse and saddle and ride through the badlands of Montana ;)

I only fired one round of the H4895 load. I believe it was not burning very well, as there were a lot of powder kernels still in the barrel when I looked through it. There was a fairly strong "nitro" smell too. Not too sure if I'll keep this load or not. Maybe if I go up to the minimum standard load, it will burn more completely. The recoil on the H4895 was a fair bit more noticeable too, but totally manageable.

I have some 405 gr coated bullets on order from the Missouri Bullet Co. through X-Reload and I'm looking forward to trying them out.
 
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