Had a request to talk about my M1873 Trapdoor 45-70 loads, hope I don’t bore you…..
My experience with the TD (I’ll refer the M1873 rifle in that generic term) started back in the late ‘60s when Tex Shively (a very colorful individual who was a main pro gun advocate in Oregon fighting the anti gunners back in the ‘60s and ‘70s.) who had a fairly extensive collection which included a couple nice TDs. Tex was also a “shooter” who mostly shot BP but occasionally didn’t mind smokeless powder loads and always wanted a few boxes of cartridges for all his cartridge guns. In conversations he decided, since I cast bullets and had a 400 gr .458 mould that I should load some up for his 45-90 (a very nice Remington Hepburn) and a M1873 TD rifle. He provided all the necessary cases and several lbs of Dupont 3f and 2F and a box (100) of Frankford Arsenal made 500 gr bullets (yes I know collectors but he had a case of them!).
My 1st attempts with the 45-70 involved the Lyman 457124s I had cast of WWs + lead (don’t remember the proportion. These were also sized with a .457 H die (only one I had) and hand lubed with Crisco. I loaded them over 70 gr of the 3F in some old UMC case Tex had provided. Compression of the powder proved necessary and I turned down a ½” dowel to a slip fit in the cases, chucked in my drill press and compressed the powder. Seemed like a lot to me at the time but Tex said the original loads were heavily compressed. First shot at 50 yards was high but on target above 6” bull and I thought I was on a roll……next 2 shots keyholed and the last 2 didn’t even hit the paper! I cleaned the bore and had streaks of leading come out. I had also loaded 5 round of the 2F under the 500 gr arsenal bullet. I shot those and had an excellent 1 ½” or so group at 12 o’clock 8” out of the bull! On cleaning the bore there was no leading at all! I was perplexed to say the least.
I was shooting at the Four Corners R&G Club in Salem, Oregon. An older gentleman (I was 21-22 at the time so most were “older”) saw the TD in the rack and asked what I was shooting in it. When I described the loads he said to mic the arsenal bullets and even try a larger bullet to .462 or so if the mould would cast that big. He also said to use beeswax and tallow for lube and use a softer alloy of 20-1 lead – tin. I went home and checked the arsenal bullets and they mic’d .459 - .460 and the alloy was indeed softer than what I used. I cast some 457124s with 20-1 and they ran .458 – 459. I mixed up some lube on the kitchen stove and the wife told me in no uncertain terms that was the last time for such on her stove! I loaded up those bullets over the same 70 gr 3F load as before. The 5 shot test string went into less than 2” at 50 yards, once again pretty high out of the black at 50 yards. Another test string of the Arsenal bullets replicated the 1st.
I went home, loaded up 20 rounds of each and went back to the range the next day. I put up a V bull “A” target at 200 yards and shot the 2 test loads cleaning the barrel between loads. The 457124s Shot right at the bull size for 15 shots but the group was centered at 12 o’clock on the bullet. The last 5 shots open the group by 5” or so. I cleaned the barrel and found no leading. The test load with the 500 gr arsenal bullets was very good holing the V bull with several Vs! I was ecstatic and Tex was very pleased and had me load an additional 100 rounds of the 400 gr bullets and the rest of the 500 gr bullets.
The Remington Hepburn rifle was an “express” rifle for the 45-90 with 300 gr patched bullets. I loaded 20 cases with 90 gr of the 3F and put the 457124s over that. Tex took them and tested them and told me they shot really well but he patched the bore between shots and shot all 10 into 2” at 100 yards. He said that was close enough and had me load up the 50 or 60 45-90 cases he had. I used a standard 3 die set of RCBS 45-70 dies to load both cartridges. I simply backed out the 45-70 dies to load the 45-90s. That ended my 1st foray into BP cartridge loading and loads for the 45-70.
A few years later I moved east of the mountains to LaGrande, Oregon. While there I built a 45-70 on a Siamese Mauser Action (still have it) and thus began my second foray into loading cast bullets for the 45-70. I initially used the 457124 bullet and had picked up a .459 H die for sizing and lubing. Even cast hard of linotype I found accuracy to get very poor very quickly over 1500 – 1600 fps. I also had my 1st Oehler chronograph (M33 with M11 Skyscreens) along about that time so the velocities are measured not guessed at. I picked up a 457 483 mould which is essentially the 457124 with a GC. I quickly found these to be very accurate up through 2300 fps which was way above TD load levels. I mention it here only to show that I had quite a bit more experience with the 45-70 before I got the next TD.
Another old gentleman, from the LaGrande Rifle & Pistol Club saw me shooting the Mauser at the range one day and said he had a nice TD he’d let me develop loads for if I wanted to. Of course I said “yes” and he brought the M1884 over to my house that evening. He also had a phone number to a guy back in Kansas (he thought) who was collecting TDs and was thought to be developing BP loads for the TD. The guys name was Spence Wolf. I talked to Spence a couple times and he freely gave me the info he had at that time. Said he was just starting to develop original government loads for the TD. He was real interested in my previous work. I replicated my original loads with the 457124 and they shot just as well in the M1884 TD. Unfortunately before I could do much the old gentleman died and I returned the TD to the estate. It would be quite a few years before I got back into TDs…….and I lost touch with Spence.
In the interim I did some load development with some 250 gr 45 Colt bullets that had been copper plated and left in the tank too long as they were .458 diameter. I also PP’d Keith .454 SWCs. I was using Unique and never really got a satisfactory load. At the time I blamed it on the bullet but time and additional knowledge proved the bullet was fine. The problem was Unique was still too slow burning and by the time I got it burning well the velocity was too much for the bullet. I had not yet learned the virtue of a faster more easily ignitable powder for such lighter weight cast bullets in larger case capacity cartridges.
Then in ’91 I began reading in gun pubs about a book soon to be published about loading cartridges for the original 45-70 TD. It was authored by none other than Spence Wolf and his wife Pat. It was published in late ’91 and I got a copy as soon as I could. Still have that copy which is pretty dog eared and a 3rd edition also. Reading Spence’s work in his book; Loading Cartridges For The Original .45-70 Springfield Rifle And Carbine proved to be a revelation. It also sparked a renewed interest in not only reduced loads for my Mauser 45-70 but also for loading for the TD also. Wasn’t too long found me acquiring a M1884 that had been restocked with a sporter/target stock, an H&R Officer’s Model and a n H&R LBH Carbine. I also recontacted Spence and had several additional interesting conversations with him. Unfortunately as the cancer progressed I lost contact and he passed away late in ’93.
I had replicated the service loads as per his instructions in his very fine and much to be recommended book. I also refined those loads for more accurate target use in the target M1884 I had. I discussed that with him and he had no problem as he and I both understood the difference of what he did and what I did. His loads also shot very, very well in both the H&Rs. Unfortunately we lost him as I was getting in smokeless load development with not only the M1873 bullet and the M1882 bullet but also with lighter weight bullets also. There was much information in his book to give me a good start. I shall explain my loads, loading technique and the equipment I use. But lets us please not forget and let us give credit to the two very fine gentlemen who really got me started; Tex Shively and Spence Wolf.
To be continued as soon as I put it down to “electron” and post it………
Larry Gibson