missionary5155
10-17-2013, 09:23 AM
Good morning
Well here is my post # 4590 so I decided to say what I feel about this fine cartridge. Came to be about 1877 by the Sharps Rifle builders. As I understand to be a hunting and target round. Probably plopped it's share of "woollies" towards the end of the slaughter.
Officially I do not have a rifle that was chambered for this cartridge. I do have a 45-70Roller ( Navy Arms) that I rebarreled (Bausca) caliber .45. While chambering it had the barrel very long throated so I could get all available use of the 45-70 case. That throating left me with a rifle that will receive a 475 RN grainer with 83-84 grains 3F (one cereal box wad). The cartrdge when chambered does firmly seat the boolet into the rifling. This is still the most accurate caliber 45 rifle I own. I have shot 3 inch groups at 200 yards (20 years ago) off cross sticks with a well made venier sight and a nice hooded post front sight.
With a 400 grainer I can get 89-90 grains 3F into the case. Again the boolit is seated into the rifling. Accuracy is not as good as that 475 but there is no corn cruncher out there that would know the difference.
Does that extra powder make any difference ? Not at 100 yards or less. A 400 grainer is going to shoot through most any huntable creature we know. A huge old "woolly" I would exclude along with some of the huge "fighting bulls" that are raised here in Peru. Now a 475 and up through the 525's will go though most anything still walking our globe. That extra 20 grains of 3F in my 33 inch barrel tranlates to severe pain on a shooting bench. Cross sticks is the only way I shoot those loads in a 10 pound rifle. Now I weigh a whole 151 pounds so there is not alot of extra meat where the flat steel butt ends up. I forget the exact difference in velocity but it is near 165 fps from 70 grains to 89 grains of 3F with a 400 grainer in my barrel.
I have only shot this rifle out to 512 yards. That is all the distance we had at the old NG Range at Danville, ILLinois before some new moved in "lawyer" got us shut down. Little did he realise his action would cost ILLinois near $350,000 a year . Our club maintained the range. The NG units moved in, shot locally and RTB. Now they travel several hundred miles. But at 512 yards it was no real hard task to hit a 12 inch steel gong. The turkey at 512 yards was a real challenge. Not impossible but required more wind watching and concentration. Our range is now only 300 yards and turkeys are much easier. A chicken.. that is another challenge.
My only regrets with that rifle is that I did not chamber for caliber 45-90 30 years ago. I easily make do with 45-70 brass but I must be real carefull chambering boolits. Seating boolits to caliber 45-70 OAL costs some in accuracy. But again for hunting purposes a corn cruncher would not know the difference.
So that is my thoughts on the 45-90. One of the great ones to get into. Well worth the extra 20 grains of 3F.
Mike in Peru
Well here is my post # 4590 so I decided to say what I feel about this fine cartridge. Came to be about 1877 by the Sharps Rifle builders. As I understand to be a hunting and target round. Probably plopped it's share of "woollies" towards the end of the slaughter.
Officially I do not have a rifle that was chambered for this cartridge. I do have a 45-70Roller ( Navy Arms) that I rebarreled (Bausca) caliber .45. While chambering it had the barrel very long throated so I could get all available use of the 45-70 case. That throating left me with a rifle that will receive a 475 RN grainer with 83-84 grains 3F (one cereal box wad). The cartrdge when chambered does firmly seat the boolet into the rifling. This is still the most accurate caliber 45 rifle I own. I have shot 3 inch groups at 200 yards (20 years ago) off cross sticks with a well made venier sight and a nice hooded post front sight.
With a 400 grainer I can get 89-90 grains 3F into the case. Again the boolit is seated into the rifling. Accuracy is not as good as that 475 but there is no corn cruncher out there that would know the difference.
Does that extra powder make any difference ? Not at 100 yards or less. A 400 grainer is going to shoot through most any huntable creature we know. A huge old "woolly" I would exclude along with some of the huge "fighting bulls" that are raised here in Peru. Now a 475 and up through the 525's will go though most anything still walking our globe. That extra 20 grains of 3F in my 33 inch barrel tranlates to severe pain on a shooting bench. Cross sticks is the only way I shoot those loads in a 10 pound rifle. Now I weigh a whole 151 pounds so there is not alot of extra meat where the flat steel butt ends up. I forget the exact difference in velocity but it is near 165 fps from 70 grains to 89 grains of 3F with a 400 grainer in my barrel.
I have only shot this rifle out to 512 yards. That is all the distance we had at the old NG Range at Danville, ILLinois before some new moved in "lawyer" got us shut down. Little did he realise his action would cost ILLinois near $350,000 a year . Our club maintained the range. The NG units moved in, shot locally and RTB. Now they travel several hundred miles. But at 512 yards it was no real hard task to hit a 12 inch steel gong. The turkey at 512 yards was a real challenge. Not impossible but required more wind watching and concentration. Our range is now only 300 yards and turkeys are much easier. A chicken.. that is another challenge.
My only regrets with that rifle is that I did not chamber for caliber 45-90 30 years ago. I easily make do with 45-70 brass but I must be real carefull chambering boolits. Seating boolits to caliber 45-70 OAL costs some in accuracy. But again for hunting purposes a corn cruncher would not know the difference.
So that is my thoughts on the 45-90. One of the great ones to get into. Well worth the extra 20 grains of 3F.
Mike in Peru