45-120 bullet alloy

[mikequaintance]

So for the shooters of 45-120....what alloy are you using? I don't have time to collect wheel weights and clean them so I just buy alloy from Buffalo Arms.

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[Don McDowell]

16-1 is a good alloy for patching
Have almost went thru 50 lbs of BACOs aloof and it’s good stuff


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[mikequaintance]

16-1 is a good alloy for patching
Have almost went thru 50 lbs of BACOs aloof and it’s good stuff


Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkI am sorry, I don't paper patch, I should have said that. I use a greaser with a lube cookie under it. I love the BACO alloy.

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[MOA]

20:1 should work fine.

[Don McDowell]

16-1 works fine with grease groove bullets
Many times it’s is the best choice and especially when shooting large cartridges


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[mikequaintance]

16-1 works fine with grease groove bullets
Many times it’s is the best choice and especially when shooting large cartridges


Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkCurrently I am shooting Montana Bullet Works bullets. There mix is something special, I have it written down somewhere.

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[Don McDowell]

Last I knew they were using mostly wheel weights and sometimes #2 alloy


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[Randy Bohannon]

As Don said 16:1 in the big cartridges to reduce bullet nose slump from the additional velocity in the big cartridge. It will affect accuracy particularly with long ogive bullets, I switched over to 16:1 from 20:1 and things got better right away, I would start there and know I’ve eliminated one more variable .

[Old Caster]

Everyone in my BPCR group shot between 40 to 1 and 20 to one pure lead and tin. One person decided to try lead with Antimony in it to see if accuracy would improve because they would be harder. He had so much trouble with leading which would still be in the gun after cleaning and then finding it days later when it rusted under the leading. All of us had to clean the lead out after shooting but without Antimony it was easy to get out. Since it was a rule we all shot black or Pyrodex and not smokeless. If shooting smokeless, and some leading stays in the barrel, it likely won't cause a problem as long as it does't get to be too much. Your best chance at getting pure lead is from lead sheeting from a roof or lead pipes from an old house.

[rbt5050]

20-1 works good in my 45/110 and 45/70

[wills]

Tin is more expensive than lead. Why use more than needed for boolit fillout.

[Lead pot]

Mike,
Let me give you an example how different alloys react with black power.
Bullet #1 is what it looks like unfired.
Bullet #7 & 9 I marked no lead. That is using one roll of no lead solder to 17 lbs lead for #7 and 18 lbs for #9. One Pound roll of no lead solder is 95% tin and 5% antimony.
When you use a soft bullet the nose gets setback and more dry alloy gets pushed against the bore and this is what most of the lead build up is in the bore and this gets amplified pushing the bullet to fast.
Regardless what you read on the forums, a smokeless load will obturate a bullet.

All of those bullets were cast from the same mould just different alloys and shot with the same rifle and same black powder load.

281232

[Don McDowell]

Great example of why harder alloys work well
Nose slump gets amplified a bunch in thos long cases

[bigbore52]

Mike,

I'm a bit late to this but thought I would toss in my two bobs worth all the same. There's some great information contained in the above replies and worth taking notice of but in my experience it's not a one shot fits all load you seek and your question is quite broad.

Depends on what you are aiming at, what your are stuffing into your case ie BP, pill shape you choose and how you load it ie gas check, cookies and wads etc.

I've been using the Pedersoli Sharps Quigley 45/120 for many years now from hunting to plinking paper and ringing goings so know how mine performs, you will need to sort yours out with what you want it for and work back from that but your starting point is firstly what you intend to use it on.

These days I've settled on the Postel shape pill with a brew of 80/15/5 - Pb, Sn and Sb in that ratio by weight. The weight of the pill will depend on the brew you concoct as with the BHN so I won't quote weights but highlight the previous posts to say the more Antimony you use, certainly the harder it will be be, but much more brittle and a whole lot lighter...each component ratio affects the overall weight by density of the materials you selects...then on top of that you have different powders and loads to factor in. It's not an easy answer to say use this or use that and be guaranteed of success

For target loads (and saving my shoulder :)) I can get away with 20/1 or wheel weights etc if needed in the belief I generally know what they are comprised of.....and when using those loads I keep the powder generally 80gns FFg but no more - that will not lead to any fouling in mine but when you load it up say post 100gn with 20/1 you will can get lead fouling irrespective of gas checks.

I can use 20/1 with gas checks in my 45/70's OK but the 45/120 is a different beast entirely.

For hunting with the 45/120, I only use pure components (no wheel weights or donated supplies) as that way I can control everything....hopefully:), I don't use anything but 100gn + of FFg with an 80/15/5 gas check Postell pill (the gas check just to make them uniform, not essential) because in the past I have come unstuck when using a 20/1 brew hunting Buffs (not Bison). When you see the pill disintegrate on the hide at the shoulder with no penetration at all.......yup..sphincter pucker time indeed knowing all your ammo is the same.....:(.

So no way will I use a 20/1 brew hunting or when it really matters. Then if you only intend to punch holes in paper or ring a few gongs then the 20/1 should suffice provided you don't push it too fast and expect occasional lead fouling.

So a long winded way of saying there's no one size fits all for your pills - it's trial and error based on how you intend to use your rifle - but then that's the fun part and what it's all about owning the 45/120 isn't it?....good hunting.

[Tar Heel]

I like 20:1 in my 70 and 90.