Looking for BPCR mentorship in Calgary or Lethbridge

Finger Toes

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I'm in one or the other, every other week. Just got a rifle and want to get started reloading and shooting. I understand it's not easy to work up a good load. I've reloaded blasphemous smokeless for years.

Chris
 
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What are you shooting and loading for? Shooting competition or just for giggles?

There is lots of good reading nowadays. Mike Venturino’s books and articles are a great start. The Black Powder Cartridge News is kinda expensive but has some good info now and then. Be warned: BPCRS are very addictive.
 
I want to start shooting competitively. It's been a dream of mine for the last 20 years to shoot BPCR. I'm prepared to struggle to find accurate loads, I would love to leap frog some of the pitfalls by learning from someone. I'm trying to track down Venturino's book, I used to read his stuff in rifle mags.
 
Ok cool , thank you, I'll look for those as well. It's an 1885 creedmore with 30 inch badger barrel in the old 45/70

Sounds like a beautiful rifle. Should be capable of great things. Does it have the long tang and tang sight?

Another important consideration is finding bullets. If you don't cast Jetbullets is the best option I'm aware of.
 
I should have asked earlier. What kind of loading gear do you have? Loading black powder is a total abdication of loading smokeless. You need a drop tube, compression die, and wads or a wad cutter on top of the usual tools for smokeless.

With a little research, I’ve never found it that hard to get any of mine to shoot well.

1. Size and prime case (some friends of mine don’t size once fire formed, and that’s fine too)
2. Bell case mouth(only if you size the case).
3. Weigh/throw powder charge.
4. Trickle power though drop tube at a steady pace for uniform compaction and column height.
5. Insert over powder wad (can be made from almost anything I prefer veggie fibre .030” thick)
6. Compress powder to the depth of full seated bullet.
7. Seat pre-lubed bullet and removed bell from case mouth.
8. Chamber round, hold centre and send it.
9. De-prime brass, soak in hot soapy water, then wet tumble in ceramic media.
10. Let dry.
11. Ask yourself why you didn’t do this sooner in life, then purchase another BPCR.
12. Wonder why your bank account is drained.
13. Start back at step 1.
 
Ok cool , thank you, I'll look for those as well. It's an 1885 creedmore with 30 inch badger barrel in the old 45/70

Is it one of the Japanese built 1885's? The ones they built for Winchester/Browning? If so, and assuming that no one has messed with the chamber on it, you won't have too much difficulty getting it to shoot well.

If you know how to cast a really good bullet, and start with the correct mold, and use good powder like Swiss 1.5 or Old Eynsford 1.5 you should be able to come up with a load quite quickly.

Chris.
 
Thanks, I'm not sure it has a long tang but it came with soule tang and spirit level tunnel. I did check out Jet bullets, super happy they are in Alberta. I bought a buffalo arms 525 grain postell style mold and tongs. I feel like I'm about 1/10 of the way there for black powder cartridge reloading gear.
 
I just checked out Jet Bullet’s site. They mention only smokeless lube. That would leave an unholy mess. Recommend DGL or SPG lube, or even Lyman Black Magic. Also, when it comes to fouling control, a blow tube is a great start. Either make one or Montana Vintage Arms sells them cheap.
 
The Buffalo Arms molds are very good. I mostly shoot black powder target rifle matches in the states ( mid and long range ) and Buffalo Arms molds are used by most of the top finishers these days.

I don't have my load data for my Winchester 1885 BPCR anymore as I sold the rifle to focus on my Shiloh's, but I remember that mine liked the 535 Buffalo Arms "money" bullets in .459" diameter, cast in 16:1. I also got great results with a Steve Brooks Creedmoor bullet which was 0.460" in diameter and had two reduced driving bands allowing the bullets to be seated out a bit for greater powder capacity.

Have you done any casting before this? If not that'll be one of the bigger learning experiences. Just make sure that you use an appropriate alloy. 20:1 would be a great place to start with the Postell bullet. Don't try making your own bullet lube. When I got started years ago I went down that road and it's just one more thing that'll slow you down while you are trying to get this stuff figured out. SPG lube is good, but I like DGL better as I often shoot in hot weather. Alberta Schuetzen Lube also works very well.

Another thing to think about, at least when comparing this type of reloading to smokeless, is that you want only a very little bit of neck tension, or even none at all. I sometimes use zero ( i.e. the bullets are a snug fit in the case, but you can seat them with just finger pressure, but most of the time I use annealed brass and about 0.001" of neck tension. You can buy custom expanders that fit your reloading dies from Buffalo Arms for this. They are pretty cheap. If you use too much neck tension you'll likely distort your bullets as you seat them. The expander plugs in a standard set of RCBS dies will give you too much in my opinion.

I'm sure you'll have a pile of fun. One other thing I'd say is don't wait too long to start shooting matches. Once you have even a half way decent load then get right into it. You will learn more at your first match than in an entire year fooling around at the range.

Chris.
 
I should have asked earlier. What kind of loading gear do you have? Loading black powder is a total abdication of loading smokeless. You need a drop tube, compression die, and wads or a wad cutter on top of the usual tools for smokeless.

With a little research, I’ve never found it that hard to get any of mine to shoot well.

1. Size and prime case (some friends of mine don’t size once fire formed, and that’s fine too)
2. Bell case mouth(only if you size the case).
3. Weigh/throw powder charge.
4. Trickle power though drop tube at a steady pace for uniform compaction and column height.
5. Insert over powder wad (can be made from almost anything I prefer veggie fibre .030” thick)
6. Compress powder to the depth of full seated bullet.
7. Seat pre-lubed bullet and removed bell from case mouth.
8. Chamber round, hold centre and send it.
9. De-prime brass, soak in hot soapy water, then wet tumble in ceramic media.
10. Let dry.
11. Ask yourself why you didn’t do this sooner in life, then purchase another BPCR.
12. Wonder why your bank account is drained.
13. Start back at step 1.

Haha agreed. One thing I'm looking for is veggie wads. You have a source??
 
I bought sheets of it from Bearing & Transmission in Saskatoon years ago. I’m almost out and need more. Some shooters use milk carton, Walters Wads are sold through a few vendors, and a few use LDPE sheets (but that’s not my thing). I use press mounted wad punches to make mine. Made by Fred Cornell.
 
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