Last spring/summer I was itching for a rifle. My FIL says: “don’t go buying a gun, take this brand new Winchester 1873 .45 Colt and have fun!” And so I am.
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There’s two things I want to do before I am done playing with this rifle, which I cannot do with satisfaction until I get the chamber to seal: 1) get my 8 yo boy excited to shoot a big lever action, and 2) return the gun with 50 rounds of perfectly hand crafted ammo.
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I’m at near max charge of AA#5 under the RCBS 45-230-CM in Starline brass. Been using CCI LPP so far, but my next outing will use Win LPP. The chamber seal is so poor that powder flies into my eyes, which isn’t good for the boy nor the FIL. I predict that the max book charge and WLP will still throw debris in my face. Also, alloy is COWW +1% Sn.
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I think these are my options for keeping powder out of people’s eyes:
1) Anneal the brass in salt. Is this safe for ammo I would give to my FIL or my son? I’ve never annealed brass.
2) Use a faster powder like 231. Is that really going to make a meaningful improvement?
3) Only resize the portion of the neck where the boolit seats. Cartridges may not fit his other .45 Colt guns, not mine.
4) Use a heavier boolit. All heavier boolits with load data are SWC, and may not feed well.
5) Load the boolits as-cast at 0.455”, as long as they still chamber. Requires a custom expander.
6) Return the gun without any ammo, and find something else to do with my son.
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I wonder what the smarter & more experienced folks have to say. Thanks in advance.