Patching with 0.452” Bullet (45-70)

I have a Hoch mould that drops a 420 grain patch bullet at 0.452”. I’ve successfully patched this bullet using smokeless in my #1 for 25 years and rely on it for hunting. One day, I’ll spring for a 0.444” mould, but in the meantime, want to patch for my Sharps using black. I had the chamber cut for patching, but to date, only have shot grease groove bullets, and get the occasional “1 ragged” hole but am rewarded consistently with 1.5” groups. The downside, I’m using a bore rider and thumb seating which doesn’t allow me to extract the bullet if I decide to not shoot, which I’d want to do in the field if hunting. My goal is to get a hunting bullet that has adequate accuracy and allows for case and bullet to be extracted at will. Now that’s out of the way, can someone explain how, if any lube is used? Grease cookie under bullet or jojoba oil on patch? I don’t want to carry a rod to wipe and I don’t expect to fire more than three shots before getting back to camp and doing a clean up there. I don’t want to use a blow tube as I’d just as soon carry a rod and wipe

When you say your chamber was cut for patching….. what exactly does that mean?


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Using a "lube cookie" sandwiched between two card wad under the bullet will help soften the fouling long enough for a follow up shot if needed.

RRR

ian45662, honestly I don’t know the actual dimension it’s cut to, but when I ordered the rifle, Kirk, at Shiloh asked if I intended to shoot patched bullets and I opted for the chamber to be cut accordingly.

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Originally Posted by Castaway

ian45662, honestly I don’t know the actual dimension it’s cut to, but when I ordered the rifle, Kirk, at Shiloh asked if I intended to shoot patched bullets and I opted for the chamber to be cut accordingly.

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It probably has the 7 degree transition instead of their standard 45 then.


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Sounds right. Just saw you were on Shiloh forum with same topic. Red River Rick, thank you

I am very new to groove diameter patching or “groovish” since I am patching them to .456. I am curious as to what others are doing to get them working.


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My only experience so far with groove diameter paper patching has been with a 38-55.
I’ve been rubbing some SPG on the patch after wrapping the bullet. I’ve had no trouble loading and firing three shots and still maintaining decent hunting accuracy of around 2” at 100 yards.
This cartridge is so small that a lube cookie would use up too much space needed for powder. As it is I’m using only 45 grains of OE 1 1/2.
In a 45 caliber cartridge where there’s more capacity, a lube cookie is probably a better way.
I mean to try a groove diameter patched bullet in my Shiloh 45-70 hunting rifle as soon as I can afford yet another mold!
JKR

The bullets that Sharps supplied for loading sporting(hunting) ammunition were tapered. The base is patched to bore diameter, the top edge of the patch is patched to.006-.008” UNDER bore diameter to allow loading into a dirty bore. In a modern chamber DD bullets seem to work best. The base band is 3/13” wide and is patched to bore diameter and the rest of the shank is patched to.004” under bore diameter. In my.45 caliber rifles the unpatched bullet is .444/.440” when using paper that adds .006” to the diameter.

I use a 1/4” thick lube wad composed of 2 parts jojoba oil and 1 part bees wax sandwiched between wads punched from fiber milk cartons. What ever lube you use, it should be the consistency of butter at room temperature.

Getting the cleanest burn possible from the powder is important. With the currently available powders I use 3FG Goex.

The bullet must be held firmly in the case to keep the bullet centerline with the barrels centerline or accuracy will be dismal.