Are there many folks out there who shoot this big bore? I am talking about the old original Model 1886 Winchester rifles, not the copies. Are you generally finding better groupings with Black Powder loads or Smokeless? I do have some reloading info but was wondering if anyone has any tips, tricks, or loads that work well for them that they are able to share. I am not looking for 'barn burner loads' but something around the 1000 to 1100-1150 FPS that is both gentler on the gun and on me. Thanks.
Reloading 45-90 WCF
- Thread starter Mike K.
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Bear in mind that rifles all have different personalities and they all like to eat different fodder.
BP has lower velocities than smokeless.
Leave no air space in BP
BP burns best when there is some compression.
BP is more forgiving while yet maintaining accuracy.
Get BP manuals from Lyman and Waters.
BP has lower velocities than smokeless.
Leave no air space in BP
BP burns best when there is some compression.
BP is more forgiving while yet maintaining accuracy.
Get BP manuals from Lyman and Waters.
MK.............you talking jacketed or cast bullets.........I shoot my original 86 45-90s and 45-70s with 405 gn Rem jacketed and smokeless powder, take my loads straight from CotW. I DO NOT use any black powder in my original Wins.
Black Powder or smokeless shouldn't matter. You have to work up the load anyway. The powder used doesn't make any difference. Only difference is that BP is loaded in grains by volume and smokeless by weight.
Get a copy of Lyman's BP Handbook and Reloading Manual. It's a good read and has BP load data. There's jacketed and cast data on Reloader's Nest. Mostly cast using smokeless though.
Something around the 1000 to 1100-1150 FPS for what bullet weight? 1000 to 1100-1150 FPS is kind of slow for .45-90.
Get a copy of Lyman's BP Handbook and Reloading Manual. It's a good read and has BP load data. There's jacketed and cast data on Reloader's Nest. Mostly cast using smokeless though.
Something around the 1000 to 1100-1150 FPS for what bullet weight? 1000 to 1100-1150 FPS is kind of slow for .45-90.
Thanks for the info. I will check put Reloader's Nest as well. I am not set on any particular bullet weight yet. Still feeling my way around on this calibre and trying to find out what most reloaders are having the best success with and use that info as a guide.
fingers284
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Before I decided what bullet to use ie. jacketed or cast, I would do a serial # search on the gun. If it was manuf before the turn of the century (86's were manuf up to 1922) I would consider the barrel steel to be inferior for use with Jacketed bullets. I know this will open up a can of worms, but to me, it just stands to reason that dry copper will be much more abrasive to sub-standard 1800's steel than will be lubed up lead.
