rintinglen
08-10-2015, 07:12 PM
About ten years ago I was pretty heavy into Lever Action Silhouette Shooting and got tired of Rams shrugging off my hottest 30-30 rounds, so I bought a Marlin Cowboy 45-70. It helped with the rams, but 40-60 rounds hurt the rest of me when using 400 grain boolits. I started looking for lighter weight boolits that would work for chickens and pigs without beating me up so darned much. So, amongst others, I bought a 456-401 off of E-Bay and went to work trying to find a load that would work. I didn't. The mold went into my project box and there it languished.
Until...I bought a Howell conversion cylinder for a .44 Pietta 1860 Army replica. The cylinder dropped right in and functioned perfectly, so the only thing to do was load some ammo. Here I ran into a stumbling block. The bore is about .455 in the grooves. Most of my 45 molds are geared for smaller holes than that. I have only three molds that might work, I have a 454-424 that casts about 456, a 452-389 that casts about .455, and the aforementioned 456-401. The 454-424 is too heavy--I wanted a light boolit to minimize stress on the gun. The 452-389 proved to be elusive,(now where did I put that)? So I dug out some 456-401"s, ordered some Schofield brass from Mr. Potter and company and am now set to load up and let 'er rip. So far, I've only loaded up 6 rounds with a light charge of ww-231. They are loaded to COAL of 1.355 and effortlessly chamber, despite my misgivings at the visible bulge amidships. I hope to get out to try them tomorrow night.
146363146364
Until...I bought a Howell conversion cylinder for a .44 Pietta 1860 Army replica. The cylinder dropped right in and functioned perfectly, so the only thing to do was load some ammo. Here I ran into a stumbling block. The bore is about .455 in the grooves. Most of my 45 molds are geared for smaller holes than that. I have only three molds that might work, I have a 454-424 that casts about 456, a 452-389 that casts about .455, and the aforementioned 456-401. The 454-424 is too heavy--I wanted a light boolit to minimize stress on the gun. The 452-389 proved to be elusive,(now where did I put that)? So I dug out some 456-401"s, ordered some Schofield brass from Mr. Potter and company and am now set to load up and let 'er rip. So far, I've only loaded up 6 rounds with a light charge of ww-231. They are loaded to COAL of 1.355 and effortlessly chamber, despite my misgivings at the visible bulge amidships. I hope to get out to try them tomorrow night.
146363146364