Hi all, it's been a while...
While I'm certainly not new to black powder, casting for it, or reloading, I'm brand new to the world of BPCR, having just purchased a nice used Pedersoli 1874 Sharps. I'm wanting to load BPCR for it, and if I know one thing, it's that the best way to get good info is to flat out admit I don't know squat about casting or loading for BPCR. While a fairly extensive search here found me a lot of really good and informative threads, probably the best thing is to explain what I have and what I'm looking for and take it from there...
The gun: Dixie Pedersoli 1874 Sharps in .45/70, 1:18 twist, vernier tang rear sight and globe front with spirit level
The use: I don't shoot match or competition, either paper or silhouette but would like to work up a load that would do either proud. Distances; would like to be able to ring a gong at 400 yards or print on paper at same. Would also not rule out hunting whitetails at up to 150 yards, but primary use will be making smoke, noise, and grinning while I'm doing it.
The cartridge: Planning on using 2F with a decent 500 grain or better bullet; I ve been told the 500 grain boolits outperform the 405's in this rifle by any number of experts (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). I'd like to experiment with a number of options before investing in a mould so will probably experiment with commercially available cast boolits prior to jumping in the deep end, as those moulds appear to be rather pricey compared to my normal black powder stuff.
There you have it...educate me as if I was a complete dummy (not too much of a stretch of the imagination, really) as to what boolits, brass, powders, lubes, primers, etc work well with this particular rifle. I am also not ruling out paper patching but I figure I should learn to crawl before getting upright.
Thanks in advance.