My load development

[myfriendis410]

I thought I'd share this. I've been working on a cast load for my Pedersoli Sharps 45/70 using a bunch of wonderful information gleaned from this forum and elsewhere. I "went to school" on bulletcasting and lube recipes and then proceeded to shoot a BUNCH of big heavy bullets at paper. I have a fading yellow bruise and a lot of saved targets and this load as a final recipe. What is interesting is that the load improved over a month of resting between loading and shooting it. I attribute that to hardening of the ww material over time. Everything was hand-weighed and selected for as much precision as I could obtain. This load was repeatable as I demonstrated to myself with three targets. This group measured 1/2" center to center for five shots, and velocity was right at 1,200 fps. I'm done! I have another load that shoots around 1 1/2" for five shots with a velocity of 1,600 fps as well. The bore is bright and clear after thirty rounds. I guess my lube recipe works.

[ph4570]

That is a great load development result and good shooting.

I have success with 29 gr H4198 for my Browning 1885 45-70 with a 420 gr boolit and a velocity of about 1275. It is a very accurate load but I do not shoot as well as you. My 10 round bench groups are about an inch+ with one or two out to a couple of inches. I am sure that the fliers are me and not the load or Brownie. My wife shoots much better than I with her 1885 in 38-55. We both need to improve off-hand. We are competing in a match tomorrow with 10 shots from the bench and 10 off-hand. We will likely be the best of the lot from the bench but will loose out due to poor off-hand shooting.