KirkD
10-05-2010, 10:27 AM
Gents, I'm a bit pressed for time, so haven't taken any photos and can't do my usual, more detailed range report, but for what it is worth, here are the results of my load-development trip to the range yesterday.
Rifle: Winchester Model 1886 45-70 made in 1890
Sights: Open iron sights, the rear sight of which is the ladder type with a wide notch a little wider than 1/8". I have trouble shooting accurately with this type of sight due to the fact that the notch is so wide that I'm never sure that I have the front sight post exactly centered with the top flush with the top of the rear sight. There is a way around this, as I found out yesterday on my 50 yard target.
Bullet: I had a fellow cast up 1,000 of them a couple years ago for me, before I started casting my own. I don't know what mould he used, but it gives a 405 grain plain base bullet.
RESULTS:
25 grains of SR4759, standard Winchester primer: 1,261 fps, E.S.= 38 fps
This gave me a 3/4" five-shot group at 50 yards, just one ragged hole. At that range, the target spanned the notch better, giving me the ability to perfectly center the front sight in the huge notch. Also, I aligned the top of the rear sight and the top of the front sight with the bottom edge of the paper, giving me perfect vertical sight alignment with each shot as well. The same load shot at 100 yards gave me a five-shot group that was 1 & 1/8" wide by 3 & 3/8" tall. This was my first 100 yard group of the day. With my subsequent shooting, I got a little better at getting that front sight centered and at the right elevation.
25 grains of 5744, standard Winchester primer: 1,272 fps, E.S.= 50 fps
Only one five shot group at 100 yards was fired, giving a nice, triangular 2 & 1/8" group.
30 grains of IMR 3031, standard Winchester primer, 1/2 sheet of 1-ply toilet paper as filler: 1,017 fps, E.S.=44 fps
Only one five shot group at 100 yards was fired, giving a 3 & 9/16" group. One shot was low, probably due to me still getting used to getting the proper vertical height of the front sight in that huge rear notch. That one shot extended the five-shot group from 3 & 1/8" to 3 & 9/16".
28 grains of IMR 4198, standard Winchester primer: 1,252 fps, E.S. 21 fps
Only one five shot group was fired at 100 yards, with four shots going into 3 & 1/4" and the fifth shot way out to the left, extending the group to 5 & 1/2".
No filler was used in any of the loads except for the IMR 3031 load.
On my next trip, I will try the following:
24.5 grains of 5744 with 1/2 sheet of 1-ply toilet paper filler.
25.5 grains of 5744 with standard Winchester primer, no filler
25 grains of 5744 with magnum Winchester primer, no filler
25.5 grains of IMR SR4759, no filler
2400 also gives good results, but I've got tons of 5744, so I'll see what it can do with a little tweaking. Thus far, 25 grains of SR4759 may be the most accurate load for this particular rifle.
Rifle: Winchester Model 1886 45-70 made in 1890
Sights: Open iron sights, the rear sight of which is the ladder type with a wide notch a little wider than 1/8". I have trouble shooting accurately with this type of sight due to the fact that the notch is so wide that I'm never sure that I have the front sight post exactly centered with the top flush with the top of the rear sight. There is a way around this, as I found out yesterday on my 50 yard target.
Bullet: I had a fellow cast up 1,000 of them a couple years ago for me, before I started casting my own. I don't know what mould he used, but it gives a 405 grain plain base bullet.
RESULTS:
25 grains of SR4759, standard Winchester primer: 1,261 fps, E.S.= 38 fps
This gave me a 3/4" five-shot group at 50 yards, just one ragged hole. At that range, the target spanned the notch better, giving me the ability to perfectly center the front sight in the huge notch. Also, I aligned the top of the rear sight and the top of the front sight with the bottom edge of the paper, giving me perfect vertical sight alignment with each shot as well. The same load shot at 100 yards gave me a five-shot group that was 1 & 1/8" wide by 3 & 3/8" tall. This was my first 100 yard group of the day. With my subsequent shooting, I got a little better at getting that front sight centered and at the right elevation.
25 grains of 5744, standard Winchester primer: 1,272 fps, E.S.= 50 fps
Only one five shot group at 100 yards was fired, giving a nice, triangular 2 & 1/8" group.
30 grains of IMR 3031, standard Winchester primer, 1/2 sheet of 1-ply toilet paper as filler: 1,017 fps, E.S.=44 fps
Only one five shot group at 100 yards was fired, giving a 3 & 9/16" group. One shot was low, probably due to me still getting used to getting the proper vertical height of the front sight in that huge rear notch. That one shot extended the five-shot group from 3 & 1/8" to 3 & 9/16".
28 grains of IMR 4198, standard Winchester primer: 1,252 fps, E.S. 21 fps
Only one five shot group was fired at 100 yards, with four shots going into 3 & 1/4" and the fifth shot way out to the left, extending the group to 5 & 1/2".
No filler was used in any of the loads except for the IMR 3031 load.
On my next trip, I will try the following:
24.5 grains of 5744 with 1/2 sheet of 1-ply toilet paper filler.
25.5 grains of 5744 with standard Winchester primer, no filler
25 grains of 5744 with magnum Winchester primer, no filler
25.5 grains of IMR SR4759, no filler
2400 also gives good results, but I've got tons of 5744, so I'll see what it can do with a little tweaking. Thus far, 25 grains of SR4759 may be the most accurate load for this particular rifle.