Stoneke
05-14-2017, 03:36 PM
I have been asking several questions as a new owner of my Farmingdale 45-70. Well, I had my first range session from a bench yesterday, and was I ever pleased. I started out shooting a variety of the pp loads compiled from the Montana Bullet Works pp heads. My targets had too small of a black bullseye and I had problems getting a good clear picture. Some of the .447's seemed to excel, with two touching, but also some fliers. The .457's were about as good, with a 2 1/2 group and a flier. I cleaned after each shot with these. I experimented with a variety of front globe inserts and found that a circle centered on cross hairs to be the best. I then pirated a target that was left behind and shot some BACO 500 gr grease bullets similar to a Lyman 457125. These were seated two grooves out, close to the lands. The pirated target with a 10 inch bull gave me a great sight picture. I then shot three rounds and used a blow tube between, as I was now pressed for time. My group was 1 1/4 inches. Man, was I stoked! Next time out I'm getting some 10 inch bull targets and loading more varieties of both pp & gg loads. I would favor using pp loads, but with the success of the above load (68 gr OE 2F, Fed 210, 2 wads sandwiching a felt grease patch, and set to 3.150" length) it is assuring that this rifle will shoot. I was feeling apprehensive from reading all the critiques of the Farmers on the various web forums, but not anymore!