Rb light loads for BP?

[Texantothecore]

Saw an article the other day in which the writer recommended 6 grns of Bp behind a round ball (.458) for rabbits. About 450 FPS.


Would you use a filler with this load? Such as cream of rice?

[longranger]

I know nothing about what cartridge or rifle/revolver you are playing with. 1F, 2F, 3F, ? I just noticed the .458 dia. so it could be a 45-70 ? sounds like a recipe to stick a ball in the barrel.

[Texantothecore]

I know nothing about what cartridge or rifle/revolver you are playing with. 1F, 2F, 3F, ? I just noticed the .458 dia. so it could be a 45-70 ? sounds like a recipe to stick a ball in the barrel.



H&R Buffalo Classic, 32" barrel in .45-70. Sorry about that.

Sticking the ball in the barrel is a concern and that is one of the reasons I am asking the question.

Anyone have any favorite loads that would be good ones for low velocity round ball?

[Nobade]

10gr. powder, lubed felt wad, and a ball seated onto the wad works pretty well. Don't know the velocity but you can see them fly. About 600 fps I'd guess.

[bigted]

patch a r/b of .440 inch or so with a .015 or .020 inch muzzle loader cloth patch and seat it on 20 grains of goex 2f blackpowder. this done in a remington case and sparked with a cci 200 rifle primer and most rifles will do very well out to around 25 yards...my pedrosoli does 2 inch at 50 yds but my ruger #1 is best with overlapping holes at around 30 or so yards.

just make sure you seat that patched ball down on the powder deep inside the case...also a slight flair on the mouth will make the patch not tear when shoving it home on the 20 grain charge.

[Texantothecore]

Do both of you crimp the cartrtidge down low wher the rb is?

[NickSS]

I have shot many RB with 5 gr of FFFG with the ball pushed down on the powder. This was a standard gallery load used for rifle instruction in barracks in the 1880s in trapdoor springfields. It is quite accurate out to 50 to 75 feet and would make a good small game load. For a bit more range and more power I load 10 gr of the same powder. The interesting thing about the 5 gr load is that it burns clean and gives off little smoke.

[Nobade]

No crimp here. Just seat the ball with a wooden dowel.

[bigted]

neither do i crimp as the patched rb is quit tight in the case with the clothe patch.

[Yellowhouse]

.450 + 2 x .015 = .470. Wouldn't that be a little tight? Wondering if a .440 might load a mite easier.

[bigted]

yep it is...LOL my round balls are for my remington cap n ball which meassure .440 in diameter not the typo of .450...srry for that!...ill fix it now...thanks for pointing that out!

[tacklebury]

I do .45-70 RB's in my H&R Buffalo Classic a lot. Really fun shooting for ground hogs and pretty quiet. I have found with my BC that to get acceptable accuracy out to 100 yards, I need 10 to 13 gr. Unique and no filler. I try to tilt the barrel up before firing, but it seems to make only a slight difference in groups at that range. I've read about the puff of dacron, but never seemed to need it personally. To get consistent seating depth, I use my expander die to seat the balls to the same depth each time and use my Lee FCD to just kiss the brass enough to lock the ball. If you hit it too hard, it'll make it undersized and accuracy drops quickly. I think my most accurate load at 100 yards was 11 gr. It is a lot of fun and lets you shoot a lot for cheap. ;)

http://www.myhostedpics.com/images/tacklebury/4570roundball.jpg