.45/110 Light Loads

[GregLaROCHE]

If you had a .45/110 rifle and wanted to save on BP and shoulder sometimes, could you shoot a reduced charge of BP. For example as little as sixty grains and fill up the rest of the space with semolina? Any reason that wouldn’t work?

[rbt5050]

has long as all the space is taken up i don't see their being a problem.

[GregLaROCHE]

I just read in ‘Cartridges of the World’ p220, that a .45/70 case can be used in a .45/90 and .45/110. Do others agree?

[Don McDowell]

The problem with a 110 is you really can't "down load" the thing with black powder. Best bet is to use 1f and seat your bullets deep.
Shooting shorter cases can be done, accuracy will suck big time, real possibility of gas cutting your chamber, and leading will be a huge problem. A 45-70 case is 3/4 of an inch shorter than the 110 case,, that's an awful lot of freebore, at a diameter somewhere around .02 larger than the bullet... before it gets to the throat.

[rfd]

you can "down load" bp in any size cartridge case, it's all done with wads, lots 'n' lotsa filler wads as the case gets larger than a 2.1 ... thick felt dressed with soaked up lube, or lube cookies, along with card or LDPE solid wads. a lotta work and a gamble for consistent accuracy as the wad count increases. a .45-110 just don't make no sense for "light loads".

a .45-70 PPB wadded down a bit, it turned out to be purty accurate @ 200yds ...

270563

[Lead pot]

The proper way to down load a .45-110 to a .45-70 is buying a .45-70 :D

[rfd]

The proper way to down load a .45-110 to a .45-70 is buying a .45-70 :D

270564 270564

... or reline for a new chamber. :)

[Don McDowell]

If you had a .45/110 rifle and wanted to save on BP and shoulder sometimes, could you shoot a reduced charge of BP. For example as little as sixty grains and fill up the rest of the space with semolina? Any reason that wouldn’t work?

Keep in mind the case length of the 2 7/8, to get a load down to around 60 grains, you're going to have somewhere from 1/2 to 3/4 inch of wads under the bullet.
If you own a 110, the lowest charge you can probably get away with is around 85 or 90 grs of 1f, but neither of my 110's show much for accuracy until the charge starts getting somewhere north of 95 grs.
If you don't own a 110 yet I would strongly suggest you find a supply of cases first, or if buying a used one get it for a low enough price you won't have a ton of money invested in rebarreling the thing to a shorter case.