Range Day - 1884 Springfield 45-70 Trapdoor Rifle - Antique

Re3iever

Re3iever

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So following as closely as current circumstances allow I reloaded 50 rounds based on the information in Wolf's book ' Loading Cartridges for the Original .45-70 Springfield Rifle and Carbine. Used Winchester brass and Large Magnum Rifle Primers, loaded with 55g Goex FFg, thin (0.001) card stock wad and a 405g Buffalo Arms .459 lead bullet lubed with my home brew lube olive oil/beeswax.

Attached is my home made target which I shot at 25yd, 50yd, 75yd and 100yd - interesting note which maybe someone here can explain for me the POI (Point of Impact) rose incrementally and average of 6.5" with every 25yds added.

I remember reading somewhere that the 'battle' sights were set to 200 yards with point of aim at the belt buckle, point of impact would be chest.

Anyway I enjoyed the trip to the range and will reload a bunch more and hit another local range that has a 1000 yard bay set up in 200yd increments.

Retreever

Range Day Trapdoor_.25.jpg
 

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My 1873 trapdoor likes 65 grains of Goex FF under a Lee 405 HB bullet. I have tried 55 to 70 grains and 65 seems to be the magical number for it. Also with the HB bullet using a card accuracy was worse than not using one.
I do not drill out primer holes and use magnum primers. Powder compression is around .20 inch.
 
if the gun is sighted for 200 yards, the mid range trajectory (the top of the trajectory curve) will be somewhere around 100 to 125 yards and the point of impact will therefore rise with each increase of range until you pass the mid range point and the point of impact will start dropping until it is right on at 200 yds

cheers mooncoon
 
mooncoon said:
if the gun is sighted for 200 yards, the mid range trajectory (the top of the trajectory curve) will be somewhere around 100 to 125 yards and the point of impact will therefore rise with each increase of range until you pass the mid range point and the point of impact will start dropping until it is right on at 200 yds

cheers mooncoon
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Thanks, much appreciated.

Retreever
 
The battle sight (sight laying flat) on a Buffington sight is calibrated for 260 yards if using a 500gr bullet and 70 gr of powder. The idea was that you could aim at your enemies belt buckle and hit them somewhere between the head and the buckle up to 260 yards.

The rise in point of impact can be mitigated by installing a taller front sight. I installed a taller front sight and use the peep in the sight which I have calibrated to 50 yards. Unfortunately, 50 yards is about the limit of my eyesight these days, anything past that would best be described as "volley fire". :)

I load 65gr of FFg using a 2 foot drop tube topped with 2 sheets of baking parchment paper and a 405gr flat based bullet.
 
bamboo633 said:
The battle sight (sight laying flat) on a Buffington sight is calibrated for 260 yards if using a 500gr bullet and 70 gr of powder. The idea was that you could aim at your enemies belt buckle and hit them somewhere between the head and the buckle up to 260 yards.

The rise in point of impact can be mitigated by installing a taller front sight. I installed a taller front sight and use the peep in the sight which I have calibrated to 50 yards. Unfortunately, 50 yards is about the limit of my eyesight these days, anything past that would best be described as "volley fire". :)

I load 65gr of FFg using a 2 foot drop tube topped with 2 sheets of baking parchment paper and a 405gr flat based bullet.
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Thanks for the info, I don't want to make any changes to my rifle as it is an original complete antique. My current cartridge configuration is Winchester brass with large rifle magnum prime, 55g FFg Goex with a light (.001") card stock wad and a 405g lead bullet lubed with my home made olive oil/beeswax lube. I'm going to try a different range that has a long range bay out to 1000 yards in 200 yard increments. I'll try 200 yards to compare point of aim and point of impact.

Retreever
 
The sight change is not permanent. The front sight is held in with a pin and can be changed. I took the old sight and placed it in a bag and stored it in the tool chamber at the rear of the stock.

Good luck with the shooting at longer ranges. Lots of people say the Springfield is quite accurate for the long stuff due to the tilt built into the sight.
 
bamboo633 said:
The sight change is not permanent. The front sight is held in with a pin and can be changed. I took the old sight and placed it in a bag and stored it in the tool chamber at the rear of the stock.

Good luck with the shooting at longer ranges. Lots of people say the Springfield is quite accurate for the long stuff due to the tilt built into the sight.
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OK, thanks for the info on the front sight , will take a look next time I have the gun out.

BTW would you know if there is anywhere in Canada to get a front sight globe cover for my Springfield?

Thanks, Retreever
 
Re3iever said:
OK, thanks for the info on the front sight , will take a look next time I have the gun out.

BTW would you know if there is anywhere in Canada to get a front sight globe cover for my Springfield?

Thanks, Retreever
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Not in Canada that I know of. S&S Firearms has them in the US along with the taller sight inserts but I am not sure if they will ship to Canada.
 
Update on my Springfield Trapdoor , I went out the range on Saturday to see about increasing the range. I had (2) loads both with 405g Hollow base lead bullets (cast myself using the Lee Mold), one was 55g Goex 2fG (uncompressed) and the other was 70g Goex 2fG ( compressed using TOW compression die) topped with a cardstock wad. Primer's were Winchester LMRP. I set up a 20" x 30" white bristle board with a 10" black pie plate centered horiz. and vert.. As I think I indicated previously my rifle has the period correct Buffington sight which I used with the ladder up. In Wolfe's book he says to set the arrow for the peep sight at 265 for 200 yard target, which is where I started. I gradually lowered the setting to 215 which is where I was able to repeatedly score hits on the 10 pie plate with the 70g load at the 200 yards.

I also ordered a snap-on globe front sight cover from the US as I think that will help with the my sight picture as I continue to stretch out the distance.

Retreever
 
That is pretty nice shooting at 200 yards. How much compression did you have to add to get in 70g of FFg? Also, what was your COL if you happened to measure it?
 
bamboo633 said:
That is pretty nice shooting at 200 yards. How much compression did you have to add to get in 70g of FFg? Also, what was your COL if you happened to measure it?
Click to expand...

The powder compression was approx. .4" just enough so bullet base sits on top of the powder without any additional compression and crimp sits correctly - overall length was standard 45-70 requirement.

Retreever
 
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