45-70 Load in IAB Carbine

[Patrick Henry Brown]

I've got an EMF IAB Sharps 1866 Military Carbine in 45-70. I'm looking for a light load to shot at 75-150 yds that will be easy on the Shoulder. Plainman match type stuff. Recommendations? BP and Subs are what I'm primarily interested in. Thanks.

[J.D. Yellowhammer]

Howdy Preacher,
Since nobody's offering any comments, here's my thoughts:  Most people I know load as much bp as they can stuff in the case.  I don't know much about lightening a load.  You probably know that when you load the black stuff, you can't leave open space in the case. It can cause detonation.  So what you need is filler as a way to reduce the powder load.  You might try using wads, maybe an .060 wad or two, and don't compress the powder.  Some people use substances like grits or other stuff.  I think I've heard cream of wheat, probably the yankee replacement for grits.   
.45-70 is a fun caliber to load.  I think your best bet is to find a suitable filler and just play around with different loads and different bullets.  Have fun with it!

[Drydock]

Use the Military carbine 45-55-405 load.  55 grains 2f beneath a Lee 405 hollowbase.  Fills the case nicely under that bullet, no compression, no fillers.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Use the Military carbine 45-55-405 load.  55 grains 2f beneath a Lee 405 hollowbase.  Fills the case nicely under that bullet, no compression, no fillers.

Howdy

I am not familliar with that bullet. The original Army carbine load was 55 grains of powder behind a 405 grain bullet, but this left some empty space in the case, which was taken up by cardboard wadding. If you can get away with the Lee bullet and 55 grains of powder without filler or wadding, more power to you. Otherwise you must fill up any empty space with something.

[Drydock]

In 1886 the army deleted the wads and simply seated the bullet deeper. (pg 168, "Trapdoor Springfield"  Waite and Ernst)  This in what we now call a "Balloon" head case.  In a modern case 55 grains of uncompressed powder fills the case nicely to the base of the HB bullet, which in fact nearly duplicates the orginal Army bullet design, differing only in that it is cast, not swaged as were the originals.  (Wolfe, "Loading the Original .45-70 Springfield rifle and Carbine")

[Capt. Montgomery Little]

If you absolutely have to have a filler of some kind, go to Lowes and in the Hardware department you can buy rolls of Caulk backer, also known as round foam insulation. Get a roll in 1/2", cut to take up void plus 1/4" and load under bullet. Compresses nicely and fills the void. Shoots well also as it doesn't seem to affect accuracy.

[Fiddler Green]

.  In a modern case 55 grains of uncompressed powder fills the case nicely to the base of the HB bullet, which in fact nearly duplicates the orginal Army bullet design,

Good God, man! Be carefull what you say!  When I said I could only get 61 grains of Goex Cartridge under a 535 grain Postel, I got attacked by every "internet shooter"  on this board.

That said: Yea, I've tried as little as 50 grains under a 405 grain bullet and filled the case with fiber wads. I didn't really ever use the load as I find the recoil of a 45/70, with black powder, to be pretty easy. Now, I'm shooting a H&R 1871 so I've got allot more barrel to burn powder in so it should be ever lighter in the short barrel of the carbine.

A fun experiment would be to get out the chrony and step up the powder, 5 grains at a time to see how much of an impact it really has on the MV. Even my long barreled H&R, with a heavy bullet and a 535 grain Postel, is still burning allot of powder outside the barrel.

Bruce

[sundance44`s]

Useing fillers under the .405 gr HB bullet won`t let the hollow base do it`s thing ..Spread it`s skirt so to speak .
It may still fly well enough for the job intended ....I`ve never stuffed anything but powder under one .