Pedresoli 45-2/78 or 45/110

eaglesnester

eaglesnester

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Just bought a 45/110 Qugley with a Malcom 6x scope on top. The quality of the fit and finish of this firearm is absolutely top shelf. It was around 2500 cdn and way less than a Shilo shaprs Quigley. Ordered a 4500 lubrisizer from Buffalo Arms and on inspection after receiving it I found parts missing from the lubrisizer. Had to call Lyman for an adjustment. So until I get the parts I need I will not be able to reload and shoot this beautiful rifle. Have been shooting smoke poles, flinters, and capers for 10 years. This is my first adventure into BPCR loading.
Would appreciate info on reloading this cartridge. What would be the starting load and what would be the max recommend load of 2f holy black Goex with a 545 grain lubed bullet? I also understand that there can be no air spaces in the case. How much do you compress the powder when seating the bullet? I have been told that this offering can be a real problem in getting the load just right for your particular rifle, even more so than reloading smokless powder would gas checks be recommended?
 
Paul Matthews has written a few books you'll undoubtably find useful, particularily his one on loading for the black powder rifle cartridge.

Not real experienced on this myself but, you compress as a separate step before you seat the bullet. If it's a .45-110, in theory that's your max load but individual requirements might vary based on such things as how far out you can seat the bullet.

Gas checks can be a good idea but not absolutely neccessary. I would think you'd be better off to use them than not but I haven't used them in my loads. I prefer to frustrate myself by playing with paper patched and grease cookies.
 
I have a couple of .45-110's and haven't found them to be any more difficult to develop loads for than my .45-70's. In my C. Sharps rifle I use 105gr of Goex Fg and a .444" 540gr bullet paper patched to 0.450". In my Shiloh in the same chambering I use the same load, or a 535gr Buffalo Arms money bullet with 93gr of Swiss 1.5.

You can compress the powder any practical amount, from zero to as much as 0.4". Just don't use the bullet to compress the powder. Buy a compression plug for your expander die.


Chris.
 
Just a friendly word of advise, next time at the grocery store buy a bag of corn meal just so you have some case filler on hand when you load your second batch of shells. That sharp butstock on Sharps rifles + 540 gr boolits + 105 or more gr of FF powder = considerable chance of reconsidering "full loads" for the next round.
 
If you aren't an experienced BPCR shooter, you may find the 45-110 a little intimidating if loaded to capacity, especially if your rifle has a curved butt plate. Not everyone is a Matthew Quigley.
Some enjoy the recoil (or claim to), but they likely aren't shooting 40 rds+ as per a course of fire in a silhouette match. Using fillers gets old pretty quick in an already labour intensive process of loading BP rounds.

Your rifle - your choice.
 
Good points, a crescent buttplate would not be your friend with this cartridge, and it's far from the ideal silhouette cartridge.

The .45-110 is great for long range target and gong competition, as long as your rifle is heavy enough. My 32" heavy barreled C. Sharps is comfortable sitting with cross sticks, or offhand on gongs. My Shiloh is much heavier (16 lb bull barrel ) and is quite comfortable to shoot from the prone position.

I don't use fillers of any sort, but I use a Shooters Friend recoil pad.

Chris.
 
I was at the range one day, admiring a guy's nice 38-55s. He saw my Shiloh 'Business Rifle' and asked me if I'd be interested in another .45 Shiloh. Then he told me it was in 45-110 and I declined. I asked him why the 45-110. Answer - "I was much younger then and it seemed like a good idea at the time."

I referred him to someone I didn't like who bought it. He liked being in the 'mine's bigger than yours' club. He doesn't shoot it much.

When I shoot my Shiloh #1 Sporter with 30" barrel in 45-70, I wear a PAST recoil shield as it is not as comfortable shooting prone as is the 28" Business Rifle. Detached retinas and bruised shoulders are not high on my list.
 
Nice thing is; you can stoke it right up as you want or hold it down.

I've got one in .45-70 and plumb full of 2F with 405 gr bullets is not too hard on me. Same load from a Trapdoor carbine is an SOB. A 320 gr boolit from my TC Hawken over 100 gr of black raps you pretty smartly but the butt plate is not a concern. No doubt a much heavier projectile would cause considerable more recoil but you also have a lot heavier rifle.

If you have a lube that you can do pan lubing with, no need to wait for your lubrisizer to get up and running. I'd start off by determing how far out you can seat your bullet which will reflect case capacity and therefore max load you can fit in (after allowing for compression and grease cookie).

How long are your case (trimmed to 2&7/8 or shorter?) and bullet?
 
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yonderin said:
Paul Matthews has written a few books you'll undoubtably find useful, particularily his one on loading for the black powder rifle cartridge.

Not real experienced on this myself but, you compress as a separate step before you seat the bullet. If it's a .45-110, in theory that's your max load but individual requirements might vary based on such things as how far out you can seat the bullet.

Gas checks can be a good idea but not absolutely neccessary. I would think you'd be better off to use them than not but I haven't used them in my loads. I prefer to frustrate myself by playing with paper patched and grease cookies.
Click to expand...
I intend to do that as well. Have prepared myself for a big learning curve.
 
You'll probably find it pretty easy to get a decent load going with paper patched bullets and a lube cookie. My C. Sharps .45-110 shoots very well that way.

You can find my load data at the bottom of this page if it's of any use to you:

http://www.bcsingleshot.com/HeffleyCreek/HeffleyCreek2014.html

One of the best sources of information on the .45-110 would be the posts by Kenny Wasserberger on the Shiloh Sharps forum. I've been to a handful of matches with him and he's got that cartridge figured out. He uses an interesting wad stack that I think is superior to the lube cookie for target shooting when using paper patched bullets. He does a few things that are contrary to what others say to do, but no one anywhere has had more success shooting Creedmoor with that cartridge, at least in the last 120 years :)

Chris.
 
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