Change of plans.... Smokeless for now.

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Well, my Remington 1858s with R&D .45 Colt cylinders and my Uberti 1860 Henry HATED the Triple 7 loads I was using (as did my 65 year old arthritic hands!), so it's back to smokeless.  It may have performed better with a reduced charge (I was using 28 grains volume/23 weight), but I don't feel like messing with it for now.  They were not grouping well at all from any of the guns, and I had minute of pie-plate at 10-15 yards.

There is another problem using the Schofield brass in the Uberti rifle. Unlike the 44-40 with its thin case mouth making a seal, the .45 Schofield had a lot of blowback, and did not make 50 rounds without cycling issues.  I actually had to spit on the carrier to soften the fouling to finish 60 rounds.

I have some Unique, so I figure for now I'll use about 6.5 grains Unique with the 200 grain bullet in a Schofield case.  Its a medium load. eventually I'll pick up some Trail boss or something, but I have a pound of this to start with.

[mtmarfield]

   Greetings!

   If you're using Starline .45S&W brass, you may want to consider annealing the case mouths;
although my very limited handloading with that cartridge revolved around Unique and TrailBoss,
I recall that the cases were rather hard, as were mt Starline 56-50 brass. Since my handloads
for the latter revolve around BP, I resolved to anneal the case mouths; subsequently, I found
that BP blowby was drastically reduced. You might want to give annealing a try, before you resume
BP / 777 load development.
   By the way, I have a late 90's vintage Navy Arms Schofield, .45 Colt ctg. I've never tried BP in
it... Hmmm.

                 M.T.Marfield

[Cowtown]

I generally figger on squirting a bit of Ballistol or some other similar type of lube on my rifle and wipe off excess BP fouling as often as possible during a match just too avoid a gun problem on a stage. I usually do this as soon as I get the guns back to the gun cart from the UL table. I do not have a problem with fouling this way. But, if I inadvertently do not remember to do this, (there was a learning curve when I first started shooting BP, 777 in particular, figgering this out) I can figger on 3-4 stages before my rifle needs some TLC. And at that stage 4 point, it pretty much comes to a screeching halt needing help NOW... no grace period, just goobered over bigtime requiring daddy and a wetwipe.    A gummy 1860 Henry ain't fun on the clock.

I also do the same with my Rugers between stages. Just to be on the safe side. Keep a routine going = no issues. When I shoot my 1858 NMA I just wipe any fouling down when I have the conversion cylinder out. I have NOT used 777 in the Pietta NMA however, APP only.

I am guessing the 45 Schofield loads perhaps do allow more blowback than the 45 Colt length case. Just a guess as I have not yet tried meown 45 Schofield BP loads yet. I'll be watching for it and adjust accordingly, hopefully successfully.

[Coffinmaker]

Well, Darn and Shucks and all that.

First, there is no help for your Rem 58s with the cartridge cylinder.  They are gonna foul out with BP/Subs.  It's just the basic set up of the Remington and the reproductions there of.  They blast the gun gas directly on the base pin.  You will also have fun with the spooge on the cylinder face and breach end of the barrel.  As you have found, extra fun can be had with triple 7. (Fertilizer??)

Uberti 45Colt chambers in their rifles are ......... generous.  The farther back you get from the throat, the more generous they get.  Blow-by in 45Colt Uberti rifles, cannot be eliminated.  It can be mitigated.  There is the hard way, and the easy way.  First the hard way.  Anneal all your 45 Colt cases and neck size only.  Or you can elect to shoot real heavy loads and really heavy bullets.  That will help.  Only a little.  OR:  Start with NEW Starline 44-40 cases.  They arrive at your door without a bottleneck.  The case mouth is nice and thin.  Run em through your 45 Colt reloading dies.  Load them as 45s.  Blow-By may well completely go away.  I also suggest you investigate APP.  3f will run through a progressive press slicker-n-snot.  Easy to clean up and you don't need BP lubes.  Or any Lubes.  Shoot any bullet you want.

Advise Navy 45, We're a Lighthouse.  Your Call

Coffinmaker 

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Well,  I settled on 7.1 grains of Unique, a 200 grain Stateline bullet, WW large pistol magnum powder, and 7.1 grains of Unique.  I tied 6 grains, and it was below wimpy, 6.5 grains was better, but still lighter than I wanted. 7.1 (which is what I used in my 200 grin 45 ACP loads, seems just right.  The first two loads (6.0 and 6.5 grains) seemed way too anemic.  7.1 seems good.

When I run out of Unique, I plan on getting Trail Boss.

[Cowtown]

...
When I run out of Unique, I plan on getting Trail Boss.

Just don't give up on shooting the black yet!

Coffinmaker's suggestion about trying 44 40 brass is very interesting. Now I think I have another experimental project.

[Blair]

Cowtown,

I give my revolvers and long guns a good spry of water and Murphy's oil soap between each stage.
Revolvers get a good wipe down and the long gun get turned muzzle down with a good wipe down for the next stage. (all the garbage runes out the muzzle end, not into the action)
I have only ever use Goex BP and have never had a problem with fouling in any cartridge firearm during a match.
Yes it does take a moment of time, but it has never kept me from my other duties on the line.
My best,
Blair

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Well, I settled on 7.1 grains of Unique under the 200 grain bullet, with a Winchester Large Magnum Pistol primer.  The Remington's love it.  I took the Henry into the woods, and was bouncing pine cones at 15 to 20 yards with every shot.  dead nuts on.  I like it!

[mtmarfield]

     Greetings!

   Sure is a handsome rifle, isn't it? I'm truly a Spencer aficionado, but the Henry
is a really good looking arm...! Say:  What's the diameter and hardness of your
200gr bullet?

                  M.T.Marfield

 

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Thanks MT!  The bullets are standard 1/20 tin/lead .452s from Stateline bullets.  I probably could have gone with .454s, but historically they gave me issues in my R&D cylinders.

I was actually torn between Spencer and Henry.  If I had a Spencer it would have been 56-50.  Since I am starting from ground zero (having sold all my CAS stuff 4 years ago), that would have been TWO sets of dies, TWO lots of brass, two different bullets.  Also, The Henry was had for a good price, cheaper than any 56-50 Spencera I have seem.  Thirdly, I am slower than cold snot in Minnesota, anyway, so I don't need the Spener slowing me down to the point where they time me with a sundial.

Beside, Gus and Woodrow used Henries in Lonesome Dove,  which is my favorite western....

[mtmarfield]

   Greetings!
   Standardization has a lot going for it, no problem there. I, however,  get off on the challenges
of feeding vintage arms, and I have managed to budget in an unknown number of bullet
moulds ( probably a hundred ), and many die sets, including early Ideal Tong Tools, a few
Winchester Tools and Moulds, as well as other lesser known Mfrs. To my Dad's amusement,
I've actually purchased some vintage arms specifically for the experience of fabricating their
unique cartridges. I'm beyond redemption...
   I acquired my Spencer Infantry Rifle in 56-50 back when they were MUCH cheaper than
they are now; I actually owned a Romano 1860 56-50 Carbine, but I think that I only shot
it once before I cleaned it and relegated it to Safe Queen status... I used some of the funds
from its sale to buy the ArmiSport Spencer. Two Issues: it's "Saddle Ring", and 1-20" rifling
twist; I still need to work on my load development, but why have such a fast twist with the
relatively light bullets used in the 56-50?
   Oh, well... I'm a bullet casting freak, so as long as I have lead to melt, I can feed my
collection affordably! Working at Cabela's also means a break on powder and primers!

                         M.T.Marfield

[Tuolumne Lawman]

Took my `860 to the range to try it on paper targets.  I had fired it once in the woods to bounce pine cones, and it seemed dead on at CAS ranges.  I never adjusted sights at all.  My load is a .45 Schofield brass with a 200 grain RNFP and 7.1 grains Unique.  It should be about 1150 FPS + or - from the rifle.  Function and feeding was perfect.

Yesterday I took it to the 50 yard indoor range to really sight it in.  I shot first at 15 yards just to get a sense of where it was printing.  POI was about 1.5 inches above POA at 15 Yards. I then moved it to 25 yards.  POI was about 2-2 1/2 inches above POA.  and perfectly centered. According to my ballistics calculator, this should be about dead on POI/POA at 100 tayrd,

I did not have to adjust anything, as it came out of the box!  I was impressed.

[mtmarfield]

   Greetings!

   Can't beat that!

               M.T.Marfield