Uberti 1885 Highwall 45-70govt ?'s

[steve in kc]

I will soon start to cast and reload for this rifle. Not mine, but a friend's.
http://www.uberti.com/firearms/images/1885_high_wall_ss_sport.jpg

Any tip's, tricks, or other rifle/caliber specific info I should know about?

I'll be loading primarily Lee's 457-405-FN.

Any load data you'd care to share?

[dunkel]

That's sexy. I'm trying to talk the wife into releasing funds from our tax return to finance a .45/70.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

My friend shoots one, smokeless and black, using the 405 RN government bullet by Lyman @ .459 as cast of WW.

He does so well its nearly sinful for a 75 year old guy at 200 yards . BvT

AA 5744, Goex ffg

[NickSS]

That lee bullet works great in a 45-70 sized to .459" with smokless powder. When I tried it with black it ran out of lube as the grease grooves are shallow and do not hold enough. If you want to shoot black powder with that bullet use a lube wad under the bullet sandwitched between a couple of card wads. A good smokeless target and deer load is that bullet with 27 gr of AA 5744. It is accurate and has enough power for deer and any target shooting out to 200 yards.

[kirb]

I shoot the same gun so far I have only shot black powder and a Steve brooks mould 530 gr and it shoots great did a little work on the trigger. Want to shoot some smokeless this summer have a lee and lyman 405 and 450 gr I want to try.

Kirb

[steve in kc]

My buddy and I got to talking guns just before christmas and he showed me a picture of the buck he took this rifle season with it. Told me he loved to shoot but how the ammo was so danged expensive (something like $35/37 for a box of 20!!!) I did some quick math in my head and asked if he'd like to shoot his gun more often and for around $5/box. His jaw dropped and we went on from there. :)

[mattbowen]

Steve in Kc;

$35/37 a box that is what 306,3006, 260 and so on are running around here I checked on some 45/70 the other day and they are going for $45/47 a box of 20, all I can say is I am glad I roll my own.

[steve in kc]

Steve in Kc;

$35/37 a box that is what 306,3006, 260 and so on are running around here I checked on some 45/70 the other day and they are going for $45/47 a box of 20, all I can say is I am glad I roll my own.

I figured he hadn't bought any in a while. Some of the boxes of his empty had a price tag on them (winchester 350 hollowpoint) that said $22.97!!!. God only knows how long ago THAT was!!

[Al_sway]

The Lee bullet is good, but as mentioned you might have to be careful about what bullet lube is used to make sure it lasts all the way. You may need to slug the bore to ensure that the Lee bullet will work well, as they often cast out at .457, while most .45-70s are .458 or so.
Then you need to decide on what level of loading you want - original factory 400 grain equivalent, mid level or stomping loads.
If the rifle has the buttplate shown, I would suggest that factory original equivalent or slightly faster might be as much as you want to go.

[454PB]

You might try the Lee 459-405-HB. That design holds plenty of lube, and casts around .460" to .462" depending on alloy.

[bigted]

lyman 457643...lubed with a good blackpowder lube...compress 70gr goex 2f powder...install a 1/8 inch felt wad ahead of the powder...prime with a cci large pistol primer...push the boolit into the case only as far as the rifling will push it and let fly. push a patch filled with wonderlube or borebutter thru to clean out the most of the fouling and repeat.

its gonna be a life changing experiment one way or the other.

[JSimpson65]

I have the same rifle, and one of my favorite loads is 45 gr. of Varget behind a 405gr flat nose. I tried up to 50 grains, but recoil seemed quite a bit stouter so I've stayed with the 45gr. From memory, I think the 45 gr. load comes in somewhere around 1500 to 1600fps, which does the job:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/JSimpson65/Firearms/100_2375.jpg

[collyer]

accurate molds have a 375 gr mold in a 460 that works awsome in my marlin 45-70. I would be willing to send you some to try. I have mine sized to a 460 gc or pb.

[Southern Son]

I have the same rifle, too. I had to get it rebarreled for long range shooting because the twist was too slow for 500-550grain boolits (it was good to 500 meters, but got a bit unpredictable after that). I have heard that they have changed the twist rate on them, do you know what the twist rate is on your mates rifle? Even if they ain't changed the twist rate, it will still kick butt with the 405 grain boolit. Load with black powder, 65-70grains, make sure you have a good BP lube, after you and your mate drop the hammer on the first round, you will be hooked, I know that I was. Next thing you know, there will be custom moulds from Accurate and Steve Brookes and NOE and ........................