Winchester 45/60 chamber and fired rounds

[Black River Smith]

The 45/60 is listed as a slight bottle-neck case when sized.  The Lee 45/60 die does put a slight shoulder wave in the brass.

But when fired from an original Winchester chamber does that slight shoulder remain or does it come out tapered like a 45/70?  Does using smokeless powder or full blackpowder rounds make a difference?

Also curious what the brass is like from a Chappy 45/60 chamber.

Thanks for comments.

[dusty texian]

Black River Smith , all of the original 45/60 chambered rifles that I have shot once fired with a case full of bp. have a slight shoulder not much of one but it is there. That is one reason I like to dedicate brass to each rifle after being fired in it . I have only fired bp. in my 1876 rifles , cant say about the smokless loads . ,,,,DT

[Grapeshot]

I have also noticed a slight bottle neck from fire forming and sizing with my Lee sizing die.

[doketx]

Hi,

     I haven't shot my 45-60 in a long time as I am waiting for a new barrel which I ordered from Taylor's in January, and was told that it would take as long as two months.  Ha!  My question for you guys is:  if the 45-60 cartridge has a slight bottleneck, how can cut down 45-70 brass be used?

                    Dave

[dusty texian]

45/70 Goverment  case can be cut down and used in the 45/60 wcf chamber . Two things will not be correct. The rim of the 45/70 Goverment is thicker than the original 45/60 wcf  rim . If your rifle head space is the correct spec. this will be a problem and would require thinning the rim thicknes. The cut down 45/70 Goverment case will have a slight taper before fire forming in the 45/60 wcf chamber. Also the case neck of the 45/70 Goverment that has been cut down may need to be neck- reamed , this has not been a problem in my rifle chambers. After fire forming in the original Winchester 45/60 wcf chamber ,the formed case will or should have a slight shoulder . All of my 45/60 wcf rifles are original and do form a slight shoulder after fireing . Hope this helps out. And hope you have good luck with your new barrel. ,,,,DT

[Thomas (Tom) Horn aka James Hicks]

Black River-

My 45-60's are reproductions, one by Uberti and one by Chaparral.  I do not have any problems using cut down 45-70 brass in either rifle. When I shoot my '86 Wincester (Chiappa) which is 45-70, when that brass starts to split at the end from numerous shots, I cut it down for the 45-60's. I have some Jamison brass headstamped 45-60... but I am not really excited by it and the 45-60 rifles could care less if the head stamp is 45-60 or 45-70.  I have shot both smokeless and the HB and both have worked well in the cutdown 45-70 brass.

DOKEZTX... I see you are still waiting on a barrel!!! I told you it would be a long wait, but this is getting ridicoulous... I was lucky I suppose... I got my replacement barrel in less than a month and I thought that was a long wait...laugh.

[Grapeshot]

doketx;  Have you tried contacting Green River or Douglas to see how much their barrels for your '76 would cost?  I had a .45 Colt Barrel made for my 1873 Navy Arms Winchester and it did not cost more than $125.00.  I'm sure if you gave them the specifications, I,e., thread pitch, diameter, caliber/groove to groove, and rifling twist rate, and length, you would have one quicker than waiting for one from Taylor's.

IMHO.