Got directed here from Cast Boolits forum

[swampsavage]

First post here. Posted in Cast Boolits but member Jim suggested I try here as well. Done plenty of reloading with smokeless for my .44 Mag, 30-30, and .280 Rem but recently acquired an 1874 Sharps replica in 45/70. Got the press, dies, scale, and drop tube I made myself. Usual other reloading accessories. Now got a hankerin' to try cast lead and BP. Besides the pot, mold, and lube what else do I need to get started? Already have a bit of lead, primers, and brass. Nearest range is only 75 yds and no intest in hi-velocity or even extreme accuracy. Just want to get my feet wet so to speak. Will probably join a club when I find a good one in the north Georgia area to furthur my eddication.

[kodiak1]

Milk Carton to cut wads out of if you just wanting to make her smoke. Sounds like you have everything else covered.

Welcome Aboard Swampsavage.

Ken.

[powderburnerr]

Yall need a compression die and lots of powder ... it is addicting.............Dean

e mail for more directions................Dean

[EDK]

Do a little looking at shilohrifle.com/forums or goexpowder.com. Get a copy of Mike Venturino's SHOOTING BUFFALO RIFLES OF THE OLD WEST at ycsi.net/users/mlventurino/ (Mike will autograph the book on request and you'll treasure it in years to come!) Get a copy of the SPG RELOADING PRIMER from blackpowderspg.com. Buffalo arms is THE BIG SUPPLIER for ONE STOP SHOPPING for the black powder rifle shooter.
Fix a cold drink and do some reading--it's almost 100 in St. Louis today!--and let these guys save you from "having to re-invent the wheel." There's a lot of shooters willing to share info with you--just ask. Dean and the others will get you going. (I've talked to Dean at the Quigley Shoot before I knew who he was. He helped a lot on what I want for the paper patch mould for the BIG 50.)

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR 45/70 AND WELCOME ABOARD
:castmine:

[John-n-va]

Might want to pick up a little tin to alloy your lead. I use 20-1 lead tin because thats what my rifle seems to like. Pure lead my be a little soft. WW's should work fine but may not "bump-up" enough to seal the bore and you might get some leading. Probably want a blow tube also......makes chambering a heck of alot easier when your barrel is fouled with all that sweet smelling black powder sludge:-D I used to clean my muzzle loaders in the bathtub and my wife absolutely loved the smell of sulfur[smilie=1:

[montana_charlie]

This is a link to a pretty good primer for BPCR reloading. It covers the all of the basics well enough to understand the requirements.

Best of all, it's free...and immediately available.
http://www.ssbpcrc.co.uk/Resources/Introduction%20to%20BPCR%20Loading.pdf
CM

[jerrold]

I found the best advice to be as follows. Seat a big bullet 500+ gr. out to the lands fill the space from the base of the bullet to the primer with black powder and fire. Vary the amount of powder by droptube, setteling, compression, varried wads to your taste.

vita est breva

jerrold

[WBH]

Welcome to the madness. Get your hands on all you can read about the sport of BPCR. Mike's book is great as is Matthew's. As stated, softer alloys work best. Casting can be an art, especially in the BIG bullets to get uniform size and weight without wrinkles etc. Perhaps buying a few hundred well cast bullets in the beginning from Buffalo Arms or others will help you to find which bullet your rifle likes and in what alloy before you invest in moulds (another sickness). The 45-70 is a very forgiving caliber and will shoot just about any bullet 350-550 grains. READ, READ, READ and THEN load some ammo. There are hundreds upon hundreds of ideas you will get from the aforementioned 2 books alone. The Shilo sight is great also. Have fun and be safe.

[swampsavage]

Package from Mid-South arrived yesterday: Lyman Master casting kit; .458 sizer die & top punch; Lyman 457125 mold; thermometer; Alox lube; Marvelux flux, and mold release. Now I got'ta go lead hunting. Got plenty of reading material from reloading books I already have plus the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook that comes with the kit. Should be plenty of sources for lead and tin here in the Atlanta metro area. Just have to search them out. Thanks for the help so far and to the site for all the info to be mined from past postings.

John

[13Echo]

Swamper,
If you're loading the holy black lose the alox lube and gets one designed for black powder. SPG is good and there are many others and you can easily make a decent lube with beeswax and various organic substances such as olive oil, corn oil, unslated crisco, lanolin, bear fat, etc. Emmert's lube is easy to make and works well. Dale 53 modifies Emmert's by replacing half the oil with lanolin. I can testify it makes an excellent black powder lube. By the way, I prefer panlubing for the bigbore black powder rifles to using a sizer.

Jerry Liles

[Black Prince]

swampsavage

I'm located in Big Canoe Georgia north and west of you in the mountains. River Bend Gun Club is accepting new member applications now. They are located northwest of Cumming on Yellow Creek Road five miles below (South) of Big Canoe. Look them up on Google. Most other ranges in the area are full with 50 or more on the waiting list because as this area continues to grow, there are limited places to shoot. There is very little turn over in the membership because once you drop out, you can't get back in. River Bend has a 600 dollar initiation fee and a 300 dollar per year membership fee so it'll cost you 900 bucks to shoot the first year and 300 bucks thereafter. They have 1800 members and there are openings. With a budget of over a half million bucks each year, they have a nice range. Cheorkee Gun Club is located in Gainesville but I don't know about membership there. They do not have a 600 yard range like River Bend has. Pickens County Sportmans Club is full and has 53 on the waiting list. I don't think there will be any chance of getting in there during the next two years. I shoot at PCSC and RB. If you are interested, e-mail me at dwhendry@alltel.net and I'll help you find someplace to shoot BPCR. River Bend has a nice program called Buffalo Rifles. To find out more about it, call Jim Kidwell at (770)552-9145. He runs that program over there. The South Eastern Regional BPCR matches are coming up in September at RBGC. If you are interested in shooting that or just seeing it, DO NOT MISS that event. You don't have to be a member to shoot in it or come to it, so call Jim and get the skinny on coming to the match.