Encore Katahdin Carbine 45-70

[Old Coot]

A friend of mine working in a gun shop in Tucson AZ sold a 45/70 Derringer to a fellow in a wheel chair. He came back in the next week wanting to trade in the derringer on another gun. He said that the derringer had only had one round fired from it. Brodie

[CamoWhamo]

A bit of an update (Frid).

Everything fell into place this week. My new mold from NOE arrived on Tuesday morning and my paperwork came later that day so i was able to pickup the rifle on Wednesday.
I cast some boolits (NOE .460-315-RF), coated them with Hi-Tek, sized them to .458 and loaded some with 14gn of Trail Boss in new Starline brass.

Then i discovered the NOE boolit won't chamber when seated to the crimp groove. They were jamming hard into the lands and i had to seat them .065 deeper to chamber freely.
This makes me think that the mold might have been designed for use with the shorter Hornady FTX brass.

It's not really an issue as the crimp groove is not necessary in a single shot. I used a Lee FCD to lightly remove the flare and called it good.

I will look into other mould options after i have fired the rifle for the first time. Hopefully in the next few days.

[Rick R]

Those are some good looking boolits!

FWIW My Katahdin seems to have a short leade too. NOE’s 460-350 will barely chamber when crimped in the groove, they are fine in my Marlins. But they shoot so well I just keep using them.

[CamoWhamo]

Those are some good looking boolits!

FWIW My Katahdin seems to have a short leade too. NOE’s 460-350 will barely chamber when crimped in the groove, they are fine in my Marlins. But they shoot so well I just keep using them.

That's interesting. The 315gn that i'm using and the .460-350 you are using both have identical noses. I can chamber them when crimped in the groove but there are marks from being jammed into the rifling. I hope mine shoot as well.

[Rick R]

Mine get marked too. My H&R Buffalo Classic was worse. I may get someone to lengthen the leade eventually but hate to “fix” a gun that shoots great groups.

[Neverhome]

I had the same experience as some on here. Fine with light loads but if you go anywhere past middle of the road the gun is just too light and will tear you up. Especially the overtravel screw in the back of the trigger guard. That will take a chunk out of you. I had a heck of a time keeping the scope from shifting in the rings also. Recoil is rough. Loaded light it's a fun gun to tote. Light and easy to put on target.

[Arisaka99]

Now I found those problems with the 500S&W the first time I shot it with the 720gr cast! 45-70 with the Gould or my 420 Lee group buy from years ago, at about 1200-1400 fps is a nice shooter. If you don't have one get the Lyman 457122 Gould and have fun.

My wife has a love affair with Wayne's 45/70. She's a little thing at 5'2" and shoots full bore 45/70 loads better than myself at 6'5".

Now I have to get her one of her own..

[Whelen]

That's interesting. The 315gn that i'm using and the .460-350 you are using both have identical noses. I can chamber them when crimped in the groove but there are marks from being jammed into the rifling. I hope mine shoot as well.

With the NOE 460-350 in my Marlin and Ruger in need to trim my cases to 2.070" to utilize the crimp groove. Ticked me off at first but, once I got a few hundred cases trimmed it really didn't matter.

[Wayne Smith]

My wife has a love affair with Wayne's 45/70. She's a little thing at 5'2" and shoots full bore 45/70 loads better than myself at 6'5".

Now I have to get her one of her own..

Yeah, you do, now especially that I have my 25 Krag AI barrel on it!

[robg]

Well, I got a Marlin 1895 and she wears a Nikon 2-7x33 and I really like the scope on her. No problems holding zero.

my slb wears that scope to suits it well with the 75 yard parallax

[FergusonTO35]

A friend of mine working in a gun shop in Tucson AZ sold a 45/70 Derringer to a fellow in a wheel chair. He came back in the next week wanting to trade in the derringer on another gun. He said that the derringer had only had one round fired from it. Brodie

Should have told the guy he could load blanks in it and propel himself like a rocket!

[Rick R]

Well I wonder if Camo Whamo survived shooting the Katahdin?

[CamoWhamo]

Well I wonder if Camo Whamo survived shooting the Katahdin?

Yep, sure did.

The loads i made with the 315gn NOE mold and 14gn Trail Boss were a lot of fun. They were getting 1180fps and there was some recoil but it's not unpleasant at all. I fired 50 rounds in a couple of hours and did not have any soreness or issues afterwards.

The Trail Boss loads were shooting way too high though. At least 12" high at 50m.
So i went home and found a Skinner Bear Buster front sight in my parts bin which matches the barrel contour just fine. I had to drill it out to accept the 8-40 screw and turn the screw down a little to fit but it looks great and works well.

I got an RCBS 45-325 FN mould which drops at 433gn and chambers just fine in the short throat. I loaded some up with 30gn of AR2207 (H4198 in the USA).
These loads were 1250fps and the recoil was more noticeable but manageable.
They were nowhere near as fun though and after 30 shots i was done so i let a few other range users let off the remaining 20 rounds.

The taller front sight brought the POI down to exactly where i wanted it.

[Rick R]

Nice!

Welcome to the .45/70 rabbit hole.

[kidmma]

i've got to add about that short lead, even if the barrel locks closed be sure you can cock the hammer..... ask me how i know.....

[kidmma]

Oh ya, Mild to Wild indeed.

That wild is over-rated!!

[DW475]

I ordered the Katahdin in 45-70 as well and received it before the holidays hit. Test fired some black powder cartridge loads the other day and found the recoil was easy to manage but wasn't impressed with the accuracy. The rear peep is adjusted to the lowest possible setting and it was shooting close to 24" high at 25 yards. It was consistent with all the cast boolits I tested in the 350-450gr. I'm thinking I may need to change out the front sight as I haven't determined if I want to scope this one or not.

[CamoWhamo]

DW475, it's a phenomenon i've seen with several 45-70 rifles and light loads. They always seem to shoot way high.

The skinner Bear Buster front sight (Single screw model) works great on mine and brought the POI down. You will also need a larger 8-40 screw which Skinner can also supply.

[JFE]

I think your chambering issue might be due to applying HiTek. While you sized the bullet down to 458 before applying the Hitek, the nose would now be a larger diameter.

You might want to try a bullet for fit without sizing or HiTek added. If it fits you could try to size the nose down in a separate operation before adding the HiTek coating. Those HiTek coated bullets look really good.

[CamoWhamo]

I think your chambering issue might be due to applying HiTek. While you sized the bullet down to 458 before applying the Hitek, the nose would now be a larger diameter.

You might want to try a bullet for fit without sizing or HiTek added. If it fits you could try to size the nose down in a separate operation before adding the HiTek coating. Those HiTek coated bullets look really good.

JFE, I size after coating. My most recent batch of test loads are not coated and using normal lube. No difference with the seating depth. I hand seated a bullet way out in an unsized fired case and chambered the round, then measured the OAL to find the seating depth.