new to forum

[Big Zwey]

Happy to be  here. Just ordered a Uberti 1876 and have no experience with these guns. Caliber is 45-75 with 28" barrel. I will slug the barrel when it comes in and would like to use this bullet if apropriate: 45/70- Caliber 458-350gr-RNFP-NO. 903 that MidSouth sells. I would much rather by precast bullets than fool with moulds. They say that they are hard cast and the bullet has a crimp ring and 2 prelubed rings. Question is: If the bore slugs to 456, as a lot of them do (I have read), and the bullet is a swaged 458 and cast in a hard lead, could I assume these would be safe to use in this rifle? I would like to use smokless powder to start with, taking advantage of the crimp ring. I was considering ordering the Lyman 3 die set for 45-75 and Jamison brass when they start production back up in a couple of months. Any advice on powders and weights to start with would also help.

[Grizzly Adams]

I have not used that bullet, but the alloy should be fine.  Make sure you test a couple for function in the rifle, as some bullets for the 45-70, when crimped at the crimp groove, result in a round that is too long to function through the action.  The OAL should be somewhere between 2.252 and 2.287.  I find that works well for me.