New to the Forum!

[oneMOA]

Howdy to all the forum members and a small introduction so you know a bit about me. First, I'm retired and 71 yrs old and have been shooting most of my life. Hunting with my Dad when I was big enough to carry a gun, and starting reloading when in my twenties. I've shot Bullseye piston, Hi Power, benchrest, and rimfire benchrest, USPSA, SASS, plenty of varmint shooting, when I lived in Calif. not to mention most of the clay targets games. My rifle reloading has been with bottle-neck cases, with accuracy as the main goal. Smokeless powder and jacketed bullets. In fact, rifles that won't shoot one MOA or better, don't last long in my gun safe. BP has not caught an interest with me over the years, and I have never owned a BP firearm...........until now.

Recently I had the opertunity to purchase and very fine Browning Hi-Wall BPCR rifle in 45-70, and I must admit this gun has me more excited than a kid in a candy store. I have been browsing around the web in an effort to educate myself on this rifle and found this forum. I'm hoping to glean mounds of information from the experts here. The shooter I purchased it from has it set up for Silhouette shooting and it has a Baldwin Globe type front site with spirit level and the original Browning Soule type tang sight with Baldwin adjustable aperature. Trigger job done by the fellow who uses a set screw under the stockbolt, can't recall his name. I will most likely send the trigger group to Lee Shaver for his magic.

In the short term, I plan to shoot smokeless, most likely AA-5744 at BP velocities, until I get a "Feel" for the rifle. One thing at a time, you know. Later I will most likely move to BP which would allow me to compete in NRA Silhouette matches.

I will most likely ask plenty of questions of you forum experts and spend lots of time browsing through the many threads here.

oneMOA

[BruceB]

Nice intro!

From another 71-year-old rifleman, WELCOME. Glad you found us.

With a wide range of interests such as you've laid out, you will find plenty of simpatico members here, and I suspect we will soon have you following paths that you never even dreamed of a short while back.

Enjoy the trip; this is a wonderful bunch here from all over the world. New members of the clan are very welcome indeed.

[quilbilly]

Welcome to our addiction. Pretty soon you will have a dozen molds in half a dozen calibers and wandering street corners looking for wheel weights while muttering to yourself about #$%#$ zinc. Hope to see you one day at the Winnemucca shoot.

[smoked turkey]

oneMOA welcome to the most fun place for shooting you are likely to find. From your intro sounds like you have "been there, done that" on a lot of the shooting/reloading experience. It also sounds like your new Browning High Wall in 45-70 is a dandy. You didn't mention you have done much "boolit" casting as of yet. Not to worry we will help you take care of that if that is the case. I am also dabbling around with BPCR myself as something fairly new to me. It is a LOT of fun and the smell and the smoke just add to the enjoyment. I can tell you the sooner you get to shooting BPCR the better you will like it. Read the "stickies" about it and purchase a few books on the subject and you will start to get the idea. See you around on the board here.

[Rifle 57]

Great first post and welcome to the forum, you are at the best forum there is.

[marlinman93]

Welcome to the forum, and the wonderful world of single shot rifles! Once I purchased my first single shot rifle, I quickly got rid of almost all my other rifles, and devoted my shooting and collecting to them! I'm just a youngster at 64, but have also spent most of my life shooting either for fun, in competition (bullseye match pistol, silhouette, trap, and adult small bore) plus plinking and hunting of all sorts.

[AlaskanGuy]

Welcome to the BOOLIT family.... Sounds like you will fit right in...

Dont talk or take advice from ANYBODY that mentions "j words".

AlaskanGuy

[WallyM3]

I don't think you'll like that rifle at all.

You must send it to me so I can ream it to .45-90.

(You'll love it whether BP or smokeless equivalent.)

[ghh3rd]

Welcome to the forum - there is certainly a wealth of knowledge here, and lots of friendly folks who like to share their experience.

Randy

[oneMOA]

Thanks for the welcome!!!

Since I don't cast my own bullets (yet), I've been spending time reading and learning from the many, many posts about bullets and accurate bullets. I have ordered some sample packs of 50 bullets from three online vendors, and I plan to test them all, hopefully soon. One thing I have discovered is quality is all over the place when it comes to bullet makers. An example is the large difference between bullet weights. I have weighed and sorted lead bullets before but it has been years and I don't recall the spread being more than .2 grains when weighing 200 gr SWC .45ACP bullets from Penn Bullets. My scale is a Ohause 10/10 which I have had for many years but is not efficient for bullet sorting. I have a digital scale ordered and it should be here the first of next week. At this point in time I don't want to comment on the variance in weight, until I have some data to present for your review and comment.

On another subject. It seems the throat in my Browning BPCR is very short, at least in my experience. I have not "cast" the chamber yet so I don't have a precise measurement, but when using a RNFP 405gr bullet when seated to the crimp groove, will be engraved by the rifling to within about .125 of the case mouth. In other words any bullet in this rifle will, for all practible purposes, have in the neighborhood of .250 of the bullet shoulder engraved by the rifling when chambered. The 45-70 caliber is new to me as is this rifle, so I ask is this normal for this gun?

[Chill Wills]

On another subject. It seems the throat in my Browning BPCR is very short, at least in my experience. I have not "cast" the chamber yet so I don't have a precise measurement, but when using a RNFP 405gr bullet when seated to the crimp groove, will be engraved by the rifling to within about .125 of the case mouth. In other words any bullet in this rifle will, for all practible purposes, have in the neighborhood of .250 of the bullet shoulder engraved by the rifling when chambered. The 45-70 caliber is new to me as is this rifle, so I ask is this normal for this gun?

1MOA, The throat is correct and when fed the proper cast bullets and black powder it will shoot, well..... MOA if you can. And it will be match competitive to well beyond 500 meters. That chamber will take long brass though - must be an extra 0.030" over a regular 2.100" chamber. Brass running as long as 2.130" will chamber and produce accuracy with out pinching the bullet. Short brass can sometimes leave a lead or lube ring on the fired case when extracted. The length of that ring is the extra length your case could be... Michael Rix PS-don't let anyone try to talk you into re-cutting the throat. The one you have is the match winner. -knowledge is power-

[Tatume]

Welcome aboard!

[Ramar]

oneMOA,
Welcome to the time of your life! More info and friendly shooters than anywhere else.

Be real careful with black powder; once you shoot it you won't shoot anything else!

Keep you lead soft if you have a choice when purchasing.
Ramar

[Teddo]

What you need is a bore riding bullet, there are many to pick from....Teddo

[Hooker53]

Welcome OneMOA to the best gun site on the web forgive the pun. Ha. You will never look back as the folks here love to talk guns and Boolits. I'm watching the BP threads myself in thinking about venturing out a little farther then the average muzzle loader. My prob is finding BP in my area right now. Anyways. Hang on. Your in for wild ride.

Roy
Hooker53.