Finally Shot PPBP in Marlin Lever Gunuu

A while back I was asking a lot of questions about load PPBP cartridges. I got a lot of help and learned a lot of things I never would have thought about from the good folks here. Thanks a lot !

I finally got everything needed, as well as time, to build a cartridge to shoot. I used a NOE expander .460 on the case and sized a 405gn pure lead boolit to .450 and wrapped it with paper from Buffalo Arms. 50 grains of FF compressed, a card from a milk box, 1/8 inch greese cookie (beeswax, mutton tallow, lanolin and castor oil) 3/16 felt wad soaked in same lube as greese cookie and a card on top of that. With the boolit added OAL was 2.6 inches, the max an unfired cartridge will eject.

The boolit slid in nicely with just finger pressure. I taper crimped the first one, but after test chambering it, found that it got crimped even more. The rest I didn’t bother with the taper crimp. I think I need to size down more. Another order from NOE.

I made eight and fired only four out my back door, because it was getting late and the weather was bad. It was too cloudy and dark to see or recover any of the patches. No signs of leading in the barrel.

I cleaned the rifle with an Otis cleaning setup. It was the first time using one and I ended up putting patches over a .45cal brush to get it to work to my satisfaction. The barrel was dirty. It took a number of patches soaked in Ballistol until they came out clean. The good thing was the action stayed clean. When I started saying I wanted to shoot BP in a lever, all the experts (who had never done it) said not to do it. It would make a mess of the gun.

Thanks again for all the help and advice.

Greg

Next time when you clean the gun , blow a few breaths down the muzzle and up the breech, then pull a dry patch thru, follow that with one just wet with water, and another dry, then you can go to the ballistol, or other solvent. It'll go a lot quicker.

Blow in the barrel moistens the powder fouling keeping it soft. As Don said blow in the barrel 2 -3 good deep breaths. ( A quick drink of water before doing this really increases the moisture also. Then the wet patch or 2 from the breech. I use windex with vinegar mixed 50-50 with water as a wiping solution. Plain water works fine also. A couple we patches then pull the brush thru to loosen the remaining fouling. A couple dry patches then the balistol, (balistol is water soluble oil and can be cut with water) dry patch and oil.
Keep your necks annealed and soft to maintain the chamber seal. Depending on powder used experiment some with compression of the charge it does make the powder burn cleaner.