Post by highlandhunter on Jan 2, 2016 12:08:24 GMT -5
Ok, as many might recall, I've toyed with creating a "game getter" load for my 45-70. Something that I could ideally carry around during the deer hunt, that would allow me to take a rabbit or grouse - without having to resort to using deer load to do it
So historically, for my 45-70, I've taken .410 shotgun data with 7 1/2 shot and it had horrible patterning. I tried adding a bit of paraffin wax to create a 'centre mass' object in the spread. Still poor (read: useless) results. And I am completely off that track now, as even Winchester abandoned their similar "game getter" cartridges for the same reason (as far as I have been able to research) and believe me, I tried a wide variety of variations on that theme.
So along comes a new idea that my buddy tracked down. Basically, he found a guy that takes your empty 45-70 brass, fills in the primer pocket, and drills an offset hole exactly the diameter of a 22L. He then casts about a half dozen musket balls for you, along with a custom made .4585 collet ring. The premise is, you pound the musket ball through the collet to size the musket ball. Then when you are in the field, you insert a blank 22 (what they use in a nail gun - NOT a live .22 round) into the 45.70 brass, push the sized musket ball into the "slightly" flared case so it is seated, and load the round into your 45-70. Because the .22L is offset, your centerfires pin strikes the rim of the blank .22, and it fires. Velocities are around 600fps (estimated) for a 177r musket ball - depending on what power of .22 blank you use (apparently there are 4 powers, each are color coded, and each results in a different velocity). The guy makes this set-up for virtually all calibers above a .22 cal. And he has a velocity chart for each calibre (most are sub-sonic). With a bit of practice you can determine where you print at 20 yards, so when in the field you can aim accordingly, as it will likely print differently then a regularly loaded 45-70.
So that got me thinking..... and here is my question;
Trail Boss. 12gr behind a 405gr cast (off the top of my head) produces around 900-950 fps (subsonic), and I believe that is a minimum charge. Is it possible to safely load 6 gr of Trail Boss, adding Cream of Wheat (COW) as a filler to bring that 900fps velocity down to say, 600 fps? And, I'm toying with the idea of using a 45LC wadcutter (between .452 to .454), unsized (straight out of the casting die), as it fits snuggly in the uncrimped, slightly flared 45-70 brass (I actually have to "old-school" tap it in with a light hammer to seat it in the brass). That 45LC runs slightly under 200gr., which is similar to the musket ball weight. The purpose in my thinking is to not have to toy around with the 22 blanks and the musket balls. Plus I have about 200 45LC kicking around, and the prototype of the above round seems to work in terms of creating it on the bench. I've not taken it to the range as of yet.
Because... is it safe? I am concerned that I will create a low pressure situation with 6gr of Trail Boss. The COW will stop any possible flash-over. And it is possible that 6gr may not be enough and the 45LC might get plugged in the barrel (least of my worries), however at .454 it likely won't as my barrel slugs out at .4585
Thoughts?
So historically, for my 45-70, I've taken .410 shotgun data with 7 1/2 shot and it had horrible patterning. I tried adding a bit of paraffin wax to create a 'centre mass' object in the spread. Still poor (read: useless) results. And I am completely off that track now, as even Winchester abandoned their similar "game getter" cartridges for the same reason (as far as I have been able to research) and believe me, I tried a wide variety of variations on that theme.
So along comes a new idea that my buddy tracked down. Basically, he found a guy that takes your empty 45-70 brass, fills in the primer pocket, and drills an offset hole exactly the diameter of a 22L. He then casts about a half dozen musket balls for you, along with a custom made .4585 collet ring. The premise is, you pound the musket ball through the collet to size the musket ball. Then when you are in the field, you insert a blank 22 (what they use in a nail gun - NOT a live .22 round) into the 45.70 brass, push the sized musket ball into the "slightly" flared case so it is seated, and load the round into your 45-70. Because the .22L is offset, your centerfires pin strikes the rim of the blank .22, and it fires. Velocities are around 600fps (estimated) for a 177r musket ball - depending on what power of .22 blank you use (apparently there are 4 powers, each are color coded, and each results in a different velocity). The guy makes this set-up for virtually all calibers above a .22 cal. And he has a velocity chart for each calibre (most are sub-sonic). With a bit of practice you can determine where you print at 20 yards, so when in the field you can aim accordingly, as it will likely print differently then a regularly loaded 45-70.
So that got me thinking..... and here is my question;
Trail Boss. 12gr behind a 405gr cast (off the top of my head) produces around 900-950 fps (subsonic), and I believe that is a minimum charge. Is it possible to safely load 6 gr of Trail Boss, adding Cream of Wheat (COW) as a filler to bring that 900fps velocity down to say, 600 fps? And, I'm toying with the idea of using a 45LC wadcutter (between .452 to .454), unsized (straight out of the casting die), as it fits snuggly in the uncrimped, slightly flared 45-70 brass (I actually have to "old-school" tap it in with a light hammer to seat it in the brass). That 45LC runs slightly under 200gr., which is similar to the musket ball weight. The purpose in my thinking is to not have to toy around with the 22 blanks and the musket balls. Plus I have about 200 45LC kicking around, and the prototype of the above round seems to work in terms of creating it on the bench. I've not taken it to the range as of yet.
Because... is it safe? I am concerned that I will create a low pressure situation with 6gr of Trail Boss. The COW will stop any possible flash-over. And it is possible that 6gr may not be enough and the 45LC might get plugged in the barrel (least of my worries), however at .454 it likely won't as my barrel slugs out at .4585
Thoughts?