1876 Centennial in 45-60

[Prairie_Wolf]

Howdy folks

Anyone got one of these rifles in this caliber?

I'm interested in getting one, just not sure if its worth the pain of finding brass.

I'm being told that some of the new rifles will take trimmed 45-70 brass without thinning the rim. If so then I've got a load of 45-70 brass I can trim to length

The other dilemma I'm faced with is do I get the rifle with a 22" or 28" barrel? It will be slung in a saddle from time to time, but wont be needed in a hurry. Thats what the double pommel holsters are for :bigsmyl2:

The last question is can this rifle make 400 yards shots accurately?

Thanks in advance




Prairie Wolf

[Baron von Trollwhack]

The brass is simply 45-70 brass correctly shortened. You can reload with 45 ACP , 45 LC dies too. I shoot the 45-60 in a highwall and use 45-70 dies correctly adjusted in a 310 tool. BvT

[Prairie_Wolf]

So the statement stands true that it was made for dangerous game at close range

Heck if thats the case, I might just get one in 50-95 with a 22" barrel. Talk about a saddle cannon:twisted:. At least that way I wont mix up my 45-70 round with it.:mrgreen:

So do you think that with the 50-95 in a 22" barrel I can get 100 yards shots on deer sized animals?


Prairie Wolf

[NickSS]

I have shot all of the 1876 callibers in the original rifles as a buddy of mine has all of them. They are all made to shoot light weight bullets for the caliber. The 50-90 was made up as an express cartridge which means that it shoots a relatively light bullet with a lot of powder to get what was for the time flatter trajectory. None of the express cartridges shoot particularly well past about 200 yards with around 100 being optimal. The 40-60 cartidge is a joy to shoot but not very powerful. The 45-60 is not a bad cartridge for around 100 yard deer and even elk hunting. The longest ranged cartridge that the 76 cam in is the 45-75 which Winchester cam out with to compete with single shots that were popular in the 45-70 cartridge. It fires a 350 gr bullet with 75 gr of Black powder and comes pretty close to a 45-70 in power. It may be your best choice for 400 yard shots but you better know your sight settings to get there as trajectory will be like a rainbow.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
I have an origonal 45-60 28" that I generally shoot some each time up. They are big & heavy to lug about all day in the woods / river bottoms unless you are prone to do a bunch of sitting and listening which I find very beneficial. I generally use a fat .462 300 grainer in mine and have no intentions of shooting past 100 yards. But then a 100 yard shot in woods would be a minor miracle anyway. Considering it was a big bore cartrige in a levergun with lots of followup shots it is still more than adequete for any critter up close as long as the shooter is willing to hold in place a fire accurately. With BP the longer barrel is an aset gaining that extra FPS. Smokeless ... a 22" is all you need as the lockup system is still a toggle and I would not be looking to hot rod it ever... no never !
So that´s what I see about the 1876. Origonals rattle terrible... move the lever through a cycle and you would think an M60A1 tank just arrived. But they will get the job done.
Mike in Peru

[John Taylor]

I did some swapping and came up with a complete 76 action. Got the barrel made, now to get the rest of the parts. Cal. is 45-60 just because I had a 45 blank in the shop that was not doing anymore than collecting dust. Had an original in at the time and cut the barrel octagon to match. The mag tube on the 76 is bigger in diameter than an 86 but just happens to be the same size as aircraft tubing is available in. Looks like the only costly thing is going to be the wood.

[KirkD]

I own an original Winchester '76 in 45-60. You can purchase properly headstamped brass from here http://www.marstar.ca/ammo-etc/new-brass.shtm They ship to the USA. Here's a photo of the old classic ...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/3855Win/Desktop%20Photos/76-E.jpg