Cleaning up residue?

[Lead melter]

A friend recently gave me 7 pounds of Goex black powder in the 2f and 3f granulations. As I don't shoot it in frontstuffers, I thought maybe to give it a try in a 45/70 just for kicks.

Rifle in mind is a Handi which like 400 grainers sized at .459"

I have some SPG lube, and molds for the RCBS 45-405, Lee 405 HB, RD 425.

From your experience, does the old boomer work best at the 70 grain charge, lighter, heavier? How about alloy...hard, soft, pure lead?

Any special tricks I need to know about sizes, powder wads, compression, etc., and most important, what is going to be the "best" way to clean the barrel, action, and brass after shooting?

Understand, this is my first foray into the world of genuine black.

Thanks much.

[e15cap]

This works for me. 70gr should be fine. Top with a .30 wad from milk carton or tablet backer.
You will need a blow tube - drill and tap a 45-70 case for a 1/4" pipe plug and add a piece of plastic tubing - try 3 deep breathes between shots. Should have a lube star at muzzle, this tells you if your lube is making it all the way to the end of the barrell. Clean up - just plain water and a tight patch. Check patch for lead, a few little sparkles are normal, big chunks are bad. Patch until clean, 3-4 paches and then oil, dont forget the muzzle.
Best Roger

[August]

63 grains with .060 Walter's wad will just about get to the right height without compression die... What little bit of compression there might be can be done by bullet. This assumes you drop-tube the powder into place or find some other method for settling it.

As for the bullet, just use enough tin to allow the mould to fill-out. 30-1 works for me.

[montana_charlie]

To answer the 'brass after shooting' part of your query...
Deprime your cases at the shooting bench if you can. In any case, drop fired cases into a jug or jar of water with a dash of liquid detergent.
After cleaning you rifle at home, give the jar a swish and lots of 'residue' will billow up.
(At this point, I like to transfer the contents to a margarine tub.)
Let the hot water tap run into the jar (or tub) until nothing but clear water remains, then drain.

Clean out the insides of the cases with the method of your choice, then prep your BP brass as you would any other.
CM


***Note to BPCR shooters in general.
This being my 2000th post on the forum, and my comments being not of any earth-shattering importance, I will use this as an opportunity to plug the Kal-Max Case Stretching Jig (first mentioned in http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=29835 ) directly to members who read this BPCR forum.

The first run should be ready at the end of May. Those first ten will be sold at a 'time and materials' price of $100, plus shipping.

It is rare to find factory brass in the 45/70 family that is actually fully as long as a standard chamber, and it's not uncommon for chambers to be cut slightly long. This is CYA for manufacturers, so you can't load 'too long' brass in a 'too short' chamber...and sue them.

Considering that Starline brass can be ten thousandths short and still meet their specs...and a chamber can be ten thousandths long and be considered 'a safety bonus'...it's easy to get stuck with a 20 thousandths mismatch before you even load up.

That may not affect accuracy much; depends on the gun. But it does leave a nice gap at the case mouth for lead to bump up into...which gets shaved from the bullet as it moves on into the leade.

If you know your cases are shorter than your chamber, or if you are troubled by unexplained leading in the throat/leade, I encourage you to consider a tool that makes it possible to tailor your brass to your chamber.

CM

[Don McDowell]

70 grs of the 2f with the weight of bullets you mentioned, and 65 grs of the 3f should do fine. Just make sure the bullet /wad combination are in firm contact with the powder.(ie no airspace)
A .030 fiber wad under the bullet should work ok, .060 thickness may work better. Your rifle will let you know what it wants.
Pick you and the rifles favorite brand of large rifle primer.
Bullet hardness is another personal matter for the rifle, 16-1 is a pretty good place to start,then try softer and see what the rifle says.

Clean up should be a simple affair, barring any leading issues. Simply run a damp patch on a jag down the bore, followed by a couple more of damp ones, and then a dry one. If that last dry patch came out clean ,then dab some oil on it run it down the bore again , and the rifles should be done.
Case cleaning is just as easy, deprime, and drop into a jug of water and soap of some kind (I like Simple Green a mild solution also works well for bore wiping) when all the cases are soaked in the soapy water slosh em around a bit , run water in the jug till it comes clear, and the dry the cases , either by using a case drying rack that hangs them by the rim, or place them in the sink so the case mouths are all pointing towards the drain.
After they dry run them thru the tumbler/vibartor.