.45 Romanian Peabody (alias 11.43X49mmR): SHOOTING TEST

[John in PA]

Here we are, back at it with the .45 Romanian Peabody. http://militaryrifles.com/Romania/RomPeab.htm I had a previous thread reviewing a very informal shoot with a dozen rounds, using rough formed brass, some of which were about .150" too short, since they were formed from .50-70 Dixie brass. I picked up 20 correct length cases formed from .50-90 Starline from BACo ($$!!) and a set of dies from CH-4D. (The BACo brass came with shoulders set back maybe .050-060" too far, and so should be considered incompletely formed before this test.) I had an additional 6 cases formed by me from .50-90 Starline and trimmed to the correct 1.920", previously fireformed and shoulders sized at correct chamber length.





The load is 72 gr 1F Schuetzen BP, 1.0cc Cream of Wheat, Federal Mag primer, with the NEI 405 gr HB bullet cast 1:20 tin:Pb.



6 rounds from fully formed brass 100 yds (bench) 10 rounds from 90% formed brass 100 yds (bench)



I thought accuracy was very reasonable for full military BP loads. Next step to find a mild to moderate accuracy load with smokeless, maybe 10-12 gr Unique.

[Freightman]

very good

[John in PA]

I did some further testing with 12.0 gr Unique, tuft of Dacron fiberfill, Fed Mag primers. Same 405 gr HB bullet. 22 Rounds from the bench at 100 yards. first three rounds through one ragged hole, then things started to spread out a bit. Overall average about 4" groups, but with more left/right variation than I expected after those first few shots. This particular musket has VERY tight bands. I suspect that they hadn't ever been removed till I did it (very carefully) when I was going over the gun with a fine toothed comb before firing the first time. I wonder if the barrel warming up was subject to some bedding stresses from the fore end and bands?

My next trial, I'm going to repeat the test but remove the fore end before shooting. I may check to see if a carbine fore end fits the musket, or else retain the fore end with stout rubber bands to allow expansion without binding. (just to test the theory)

[texassako]

Pretty good group, and I sure would not want to be on the receiving end back in the day. I like those rifles. A bit off topic, but is your NEI mold current production or an older one?

[TXGunNut]

Very interesting rifle, first I've heard of it. Reminds me a bit of a Martini. Good shooting considering the sights and possible fore end issues. Is the receiver brass?

[John in PA]

TS: NEI mold is probably current, but I would NOT get a hollow base mold from the current owner of NEI as his automatic core pin arrangement is VERY poor. (Walt Melander made mine) If you want a really inexpensive way to test the 405 HB "original" trapdoor bullet, LEE makes one. It's the one that Spence Wolf designed and used to sell (author of the .45-70 book). Track of the Wolf has them for less than $30, I think. The bullet is essentially a duplicate of the NEI, but with a very slight modification of the nose shape. The Lee molds work fine if you don't beat them up, and lubricate the right spots when casting. I'd probably get Erik at Hollowpointmolds or Tom at Accurate to do one if I really wanted one to work heavily.

TxGN: Martini used the Peabody design as inspiration for his action. Entire action is forged mild steel, case-hardened. Look up the articles on militaryrifles.com for lots of info on the various models adopted by several countries and a few US states. This was the winning rifle design in the 1872 Springfield trials, but the Trapdoor was adopted because it was cheaper to produce in the govt armory.

[drinks]

John, I make .50-70 cases from 32 ga. brass cases and have to shorten it a lot, might be a less costly way than the high dollar cases you are using now.

[John in PA]

Nice tip! Head and rim dimensions identical to .50-70 and .50-90? Buff Arms says they take pistol primers. that would leave rifle primers possibly protruding(??)

[smkummer]

Those look really close to the 43 Egyptian cartridges that I am making for my rolling block. I fire formed 32 gauge brass from mag-tech as well. I settled on close to 13 grains unique without filler. Since my bore is .446-.448 and the chamber easily accepts a 385grain 45-70 lyman bullet size at .451. After loading the cartridge, I lift the muzzle of the rifle and slowly lower it. I am easily hitting a 16" plate at 200 yards and if it had better sights than the stock military, I could probably hit the 10" just as easily. 50-90 sharps would make a better rim for the extraction but these are working fine.

[John in PA]

Could you slap a mike on those 32 ga Magtech cases and measure rim diameter, rim thickness, and base diameter just ahead of the rim? Thanks loads!

[Jonnytoobad]

It would be interesting to see one of these catridges next to a .43 egyptian (11.3x49mmR) it looks extremely similiar. I am pretty sure the bore of my Egyptian rolling block is also .446-448