problem with gun

[weasel 21]

I have a 1885 Uberti in 45/70. The gun shoots 2 feet high at 50 yards. Ive handloaded 405,500gr bullets using 5744 and shot factory ammo as a reference and it still shoots high and erractic. The bullets have been sized at 458 and shot as cast 459. This gun wont shoot. Any ideas?

[Maven]

weasel 21, Two questions: Have you slugged the bore? And, how many grains of AA 5744 have you been using, 27 (AA's recommended starting load)? Some Uberti's reportedly had bores of .456" and thus would require a .457" diameter CB. Just some food for thought.

[The Double D]

How do you know the gun won't shoot have you fired it at longer ranges? Those bullets barely have to time to stablize at that distance.

What sigths do you have on it?

What does erratic mean?

[Jon K]

weasel 21,

Lots of varaibles here that need to be addressed. Need more details.
Most likely you need a taller front sight to shoot that close. Shoot at 100 yds and see where it shoots, but first slug the bore and settle on one load to use as a standard gauge.
I assume you are using the factory buckhorn sights, correct?

AA5744 is a good powder to use, it likes cast boolits.

Jon

[Kraschenbirn]

You probably need a taller front sight. The factory sights of my .38-55 Uberti 1885 seemed to have been regulated for BP loads and still shot about 6" high at 50 yds with the adjuster in the lowest notch using cast boolits at BP velocities.

Bill

[weasel 21]

I have shot at 100 & 200 yards with both the factory (blade & buckhorn) and a Ron Shaver front globe and a Ukrainian midrange soule and even at its lowest setting its 2 feet high at 100 and 1 foot high at 200 . I was only shooting at 50 to see where it would print on paper. Its a Dixie Gun Works and is advertised to be a 458 groove. The Cimmaron Uberti sight advertizes its groove at 456, both are basically the same gun,imported by the two distributers. Ive shot both 457,458 and 459 sized 405 & 500 gr bullets with 25 & 23 grains of 5744 with the same result. Im ready to send the gun back.

[August]

My buddy has one of those and I've watched the bullets wallow around on their way to the target through the spotting scope on more than one occasion. I cast some 30/1 500 grain Lymans and sized them to his bore. I gave him the bullets because I was weary of the sad look on his face when he shot that rifle. He was knocking pigs (300 yards) down consistently on the next trip to the range -- in spite of the fact that he seated the bullets incorrectly.

The rifle is not meant to shot at 50 yards so forget about it.

You need three things:
1. Check both front and rear sight for any play or looseness.
2. Get some black powder, over powder wads, and a compression die and use them
3. Get (make) some soft lead bullets. (no factory bullets are adequate for this job)

Your rifle is not the problem. It will shoot 1 M.O.A. or better. You just need to feed it correctly and factory ammo and factory bullets are not the diet of choice.

[Bret4207]

I think August has given the right answer. But just in case you're really steamed I could be persuaded to help you out by you sending me that gun for .............a quality check...yeah! Thats it. A Quality check. Of course that may take several months, years even to figure out whats wrong with it, but thats the kind of helpfull guy I am![smilie=1::mrgreen:

[405]

Weasel 21,
I guess a couple of things need to be clarified.
1) Is there any kind of group at 50 yds at about 2 ft high?
2) What is the group size regardless of where it is shooting?

If there is some kind of group with a load that is more or less at the velocity level you want then to get the point of impact down simply install a slightly taller front sight.

If there is a group of some kind maybe 4-5 inches at 50yds then accuracy needs to be worked on..... Gun, Shooter, or Load. If when you say erratic and imply 4-5 inch or larger groups at 50 yards then shooting at 100-200 or 300 yards won't do much good. If the bullet is slightly unstable from the muzzle to 50 yards there is a slight chance it could "settle down" between 50 and 300 yards. The way you describe the erratic nature of the group on target I would guess a problem other than gyroscopic perturbation between the muzzle and 50 yards. Regardless of the cause...... there is no way you can shoot a 5 inch group at 50 yards then expect to shoot even close to a 20 inch group at 200 yards or a 30 inch group at 300 yards.... even though there is a slight possibility the gyroscopic perturbation may "settle". Slight bullet instability at the muzzle MAY "settle down" or as some say go to sleep between the muzzle and target but that DOES NOT translate from 5 inch group at 50 yards to a 10 inch group at 200.... for example.

[weasel 21]

There is no discernsble group at all. If it was a group at any distance I think I could compensate with taller front sites and adjusting the elevation and windage. Im leaning toward some problem with the gun though I dont know what that could be.

[405]

weasel 21,
Sounds like you've covered most of the troubleshooting bases. I doubt that it's a powder problem- usually 5744 is a pretty good powder for the 45-70 in this type application. Sounding more like gun or bullet.

Just a couple more possibilities to try that are fairly easy before dumping the gun. Take a loupe or glass and inspect the crown for flaws. Then mark the crown with a felt tip and with very light pressure turn a ball like a large marble against the crown to see if it is true and even. Checking muzzle face (cut off) for plumb to center line of bore is a tad more difficult without turning the whole works in a lathe:(

You could also slug the bore to make double sure then size right at groove diameter. Another thing to try would be a gas checked bullet, if you haven't already, sized to groove diameter.... like the RCBS 45-405-FN just to see if the base is going south.

Or out of sheer frustration return the gun. I've had a few that woulda been better trotline sinkers than firearms! Good luck