cutting a chamber to 45-110 or 120

[craveman85]

ive got a nef buffalo classic in 45-70. i was thinking of buying another one and getting a chamber cutter to make it into a 45-110 or 120. (i know this normally isnt safe but i would be going with black powder only loads and still wouldnt come near the pressure to cause failure) anyone seen any cutters for this or have an idea of what a gunsmith would charge?

[Doc Highwall]

I think if you shoot black powder out of your NEF as a 45-70 you will soon realize that the recoil is already stiff enough. Also have you looked at the greater cost for brass,dies and powder per shot. The 45-70 with the right bullets is competitive at 1000 yards.

[ErikT]

I think that any competent smith could do it for a reasonable cost, say in the neighbourhood of $200-$300, depending on if they already have the reamer or not. I've found that quality and prices vary, so it pays to shop around. It will definitely be less expensive (and much quicker) if the gunsmith already has the reamer. As far as action strength goes, I think you would be able to push those cartridges safely out to their max black powder pressures and still be perfectly safe in that action. Don't forget that they chamber them in .500 and .460 Mag. My only concern would be, as Doc mentioned above, that the costs of loading that beast would quickly cause the bank account to notice. And the recoil would cause your shoulder to notice. But, have fun with it, and let us know how it goes if you decide to do it. Cheers!

Erik.

[KCSO]

Re chambering a 45-70 to 45-100 or 120 is no big trick. I have a chamber reamer from Brownell's that is a 45 universal and will cut from 45-90 to 45-120 with the same finish reamer. BUT the Buffalo classic is a light rifle for even 45-70. My 45-100 weighed 12.5 pounds and was a light gun as my buddies Shilo weighs in at 14 pounds. Recoil is stout with either after 20 rounds or so. I personally wouldn't recommend going past 45-70 in the B/C rifle but it is your shoulder. The cost of shooting is a real good point here as if you go to 45-100 your brass costs go up 4 times and the price of dies doubles.

As to safety the Buffalo Classic will handle any reasonable load in any of those calibers. The action is chambered for ctgs up to 50,000 psi so any load in the 24,000 range will be a cinch IF your shoulder will stand it.

[nicholst55]

Several folks on the Graybeard Outdoors Handi Rifle forum have done this conversion; some shoot BP, some shoot smokeless. I would think that the recoil of that (relatively) lightweight rifle, even with the butt filled with lead shot, would make such a conversion rather painful.

http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php/board,126.0.html

[GabbyM]

Just a suggestion: If you want more velocity with BP and aren't restricted by competition rules a duplex powder charge in the 45-70 is a way to go. Burns cleaner and cost even less than straight BP. After that a 45-90 is a large step up in gun from a 45-70.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
That would be a wild creature to be hanging on to.
Just for fun why not load up 20 rounds of 45-70 with a boolit between 450-500 grains and propelled by 40 grains of 3031. That should get you about the FPS a 45-100 would do. I did the same test 30 years ago when I had the same thought of rechambering my modern Navy Arms Remington Roller with a custom 32" 45-70 barrel. That rifle wieghts just about 12 pounds and those 20 rounds convinced me that I realy did not need a 45-100.
BUT on the other side of the coin.. it is your rifle. The area smith that I use to do chamber work charges $50 to do a simple rechamber job. Brass is readily available at Starline last time I looked and you can get around buying dies if you are willing to improvise a little.

[craveman85]

im not worried about recoil i threw 8 rounds through it in about 3 mins after shooting 100 hot loaded 12 ga shells and severals shots through my .243 which actually has more bite than my bc. (100 grain bullets with a metal recoil pad) once i buy the brass the cost of reloading wont be that bad and if i get enough shots out of the brass then it wont be bad at all. im not really worried about gaining a whole awful lot of velocity just want a 45-120 without paying the extra couple grand on a sharps or other gun. im not going to run duplex or smokeless loads in a bc. going traditional with it and i want to have a huge plume of smoke when i touch it off.

[craveman85]

would you really even need special dies for it or could you just use 45-70 dies adjusted for the cases length?

[craveman85]

i have fired over 100 500 grain black powder loads in about 2 hours so i dont think recoil is going to bother me.

[Butler Ford]

http://www.4-dproducts.com/display.php?group=Rifle%20Calibers