Effective range of 45-70 GVT?

With the trajectory of the .45-70, you just had to get the boolit halfway there and gravity does the rest. At the time the military was testing the round, warfare fought with guns was still relatively new. Shooting an individual soldier wasn’t always the goal. Volley Fire was still considered useful. With one hundred soldiers shooting repeatedly in the same direction, they figured they would eventually do damage to the enemy. Elevation for good distance calculations was more important than windage.

Read Doug McChristians Army of Marksman for all the info on group sizes and range of the 45-70 up to the Sandy Hook trials in 1880's. With Buffington sights IIRR targets at 1000 yards were 3x4 foot black. A good shot was expected to keep his group in that area.

Many 1000 yard matches have been won using the .45-70. You don't need 2200 fps velocity to get the job done. A black powder load of1200 to 1300 using a 500-530 gr is more than sufficient to keep 10 shots on the black spot at the 1K line.
I pulled a target during a Creedmoor match for a shooter that kept 9 shots in the 2MOA 10 ring with ons shot just outside by 1/2" using a .40-65. And when all was done that group was under 2 MOA total is size.

Kurt

Could a boolit traveling subsonic have an advantage over one that is supersonic and has to pass through the sound barrier to subsonic in long ranges ?

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Originally Posted by GregLaROCHE

Could a boolit traveling subsonic have an advantage over one that is supersonic and has to pass through the sound barrier to subsonic in long ranges ?

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YUP/Ed