I initially came to this forum from another one that mentioned something about casting boolits for the M1A. After reading a whole bunch, I became interested in BPCR shooting. My first instinct was to go buy a $3500 rifle, which would likely be sold later for a loss. Now, I must be getting a little smarter because I bought a $350 rifle instead, the H&R 1871 Buffalo Classic in 45-70. The bore slugged out to .458. I then used my Stony Point gizmo to measure the OAL. I casted up some 500 grain boolits from 20:1 using a 457125, then sized them to .429 and lubed them with White Label. I primed the R-P cases with a CCI LR primer, poured in 55 grains of SWISS 1.5 FG, then topped it with a veggie wad and two .030 LDPE wads. Then I seated the boolit about .020 from the lands, which almost kept the last groove in the case. Range time!
I was able to get one ragged hole at 50 yards. I used a blow tube every other shot and swabbed out the barrel every 10 shots. I was able to get off 30 rounds before I started flinching. Cleanup was surprisingly easy. I don't like the rear sight. One of the screws interferes with the movement of the aperture for windage adjustment. I am looking forward to getting the micrometer rear sight that I have ordered from Midway and trying it at 100 yards. Thanks to everyone who has shared their knowledge on this forum. I couldn't have done it without you.
ETA: I meant .459 of course.