Shorten a die??

[oldfart1956]

O.K. fellers, first some background. I've been loading for this 1884 Trapdoor for roughly 30 years but never got too excited about moa accuracy. It's a fun gun and I hope to kill a deer with it eventually. Usin RCBS dies, Win. and/or Rem. brass, CCI primers, and the Lee 405 h. b. boolit cast of reasonably soft lead. I've used a lot of black powder but trying some smokeless loads now...cause I'm lazy. Tonight I undertook the task of tumbling every piece of brass, trimming, sizing, cleaning primer pockets etc. etc. etc. and I'm exhausted. The real tough part is the re-sizing. Due to the generous size of the Trapdoor chamber the brass expands a good bit. Since I have no desire to buy another 45/70 and will only be loading for this particular rifle I want to go to neck sizing only. The catch is to size the neck the brass has to go all the way up the RCBS die to do it. (die nearly touching the shell holder.) I don't wanna size the lower 3/4 of the brass...just the neck. Backing the die out doesn't work..it has to go all the way in to size the neck. (from what I can tell) I know someone makes neck-sizing dies for the 45/70 but I'm cheap as well as being lazy. I'm using Imperial Sizing Wax and tried Lymans sizing lube as well. My next thought is to whack off the lower 1/2 of the sizing die....so it only sizes the neck. Will this work? Tried not re-sizing at all...doesn't work very well. The .461/.462 boolits will just about fall down the necks. Tonight I thought I'd rip the floor loose resizing this brass so looking for other options. Audie...the Oldfart...

[geargnasher]

I've whacked off a few in my chop saw, takes about a coffee can full of water to keep it from burning the blade, that RCBS metal is HARD. The fun part is putting a new chamfer on the inside edge, the steel just eats die grinder stones. You might look into the Lee sizer die, the one I have sizes pretty tight and I only screw it down about halfway to hold .459" boolits in my 45 2.4 brass. By halfway I mean I only run the case about half the length of a 2.1 case into the die and the necks are sized plenty.

Gear

[r1kk1]

Lyman and CH4D make neck sizing dies for the 45-70. Maybe you could find the Lee Loader as this will neck size also.

Take care

r1kk1

[25ring]

+1 on the Lyman neck sizing die. Lymans dies cater more to the cast bullet crowd and don't overwork the brass as much.Lately I've gone to running slipfit in my Trapdoor and then using a Taper crimp die just to keep the bullet from falling out.FWIW---Mike.

[r1kk1]

I've used pyrodex with very good results and like the Lee 500 grain mould. Trap doors and the NEF/H&R have no camming force except for your thumb. I've never loaded smokeless in Trapdoors. Tons of data out there. I used smokeless trapdoor loads in Contenders and it worked very well. I know some guys who just decap and don't size at all. The Lyman 310 tool I think would work, but at around 20.00, the Lyman short neck sizer is about the cheapest and if you don't want a die that screws in the press, the Lee Loader.

Take care

r1kk1

[Jim]

SAAMI drawings show the mouth of the .45-70 cartridge to be .480. The inside of a Lee .45 ACP seat die is .481.

I set the Lee .45 ACP seat die very shallow and run the case into the mouth of the die the depth I want to seat the boolit. The case then goes into the belling die for a slight bell, gets charged and the boolit is seated. Final step is putting a slight roll crimp on the case.

Weird way of doin' it? Yup. It works for me, though.

[r1kk1]

SAAMI drawings show the mouth of the .45-70 cartridge to be .480. The inside of a Lee .45 ACP seat die is .481.

I set the Lee .45 ACP seat die very shallow and run the case into the mouth of the die the depth I want to seat the boolit. The case then goes into the belling die for a slight bell, gets charged and the boolit is seated. Final step is putting a slight roll crimp on the case.

Weird way of doin' it? Yup. It works for me, though.

Jim, what a way to think out of the box!

r1kk1

[oldfart1956]

SAAMI drawings show the mouth of the .45-70 cartridge to be .480. The inside of a Lee .45 ACP seat die is .481.

I set the Lee .45 ACP seat die very shallow and run the case into the mouth of the die the depth I want to seat the boolit. The case then goes into the belling die for a slight bell, gets charged and the boolit is seated. Final step is putting a slight roll crimp on the case.

Weird way of doin' it? Yup. It works for me, though. OMG! I've got a 45 acp die set.....and I don't even load for the acp! Crikey! I actually did use the 45 acp crimp die when I was trying some 45 acp cast boolits in the .45 colt. Which failed horribly I might add. Jim....I'm goin back to the bench and I owe ya big time. I'll post how it works. Gone! Audie...the frugal Oldfart...

[bob208]

i have used .45 colt die to neck size the .45-70.

[dragonrider]

Jim, an escellent idea I will try it out next outing with my 45-70.

[1hole]

All sizer dies are case hardened, not just RCBS'.

[geargnasher]

All sizer dies are case hardened, not just RCBS'.

Not knocking Lee, but whack a Lee sizer in two, and then do it to an RCBS, you'll see the difference in hardness throughout the metal. Lees are much easier to hone out, too.

Gear

[oldfart1956]

Just an update here. GAAAAH! Since I've already resized and flared the mouth of all my 45/70 brass it won't fit in the 45 acp die. BUT! Come first light I've got a few rounds left loaded and I'll hang out the livingroom window and empty a few and try this set-up. I love living in the country. :) Audie...the Oldfart..

[uscra112]

I'll hang out the livingroom window and empty a few and try this set-up. I love living in the country. :) Audie...the Oldfart..

That was one key parameter to selecting my bug-out pad when I retired. Had to be able to fire a full box of .30-06 off the porch and nobody would say nothin'. :bigsmyl2: