40 82 High Wall

I recently acquired a 1885 High Wall manufactured in 1890 cal is 40 82. After months of research on the net I feel like I know less now than when I started researching this caliber. I have an original Winchester bullet mold and the original Winchester reloading tool, have a NEI .410 265gr gas check mold on the way and have 40 pcs of40 82 Bertram brass. The barrel slugged at .4025 on the lands and .4085 in the grooves. The mold throws a .404 to .406 bullet made from COWW. I have made up a dummy shell using the reloading tool and it chambers fine, no issues at all.
My problem is I'm not sure how to go about loading for it. I dont mind using black powder or smokelss. I would prefer to use Swiss black but cannot find any. I dont mind using smokeless either. I have alot of smokeless powder 3031, Imr 4895, Rel 7, H4198, H4350, Rel 15, 4227, 1lb of SR 4759, and some Lil Gun.
I guess the real problems comes down to using a filler. Everything I have read over several months about fillers is they all seem to cause problems of some sort. I'm not willing to use grits or corn meal. Several posts about them forming a solid plug in the case put me off them.
I have read about a single sheet of 1ply toilet paper working well and PSB shot buffer performing well to. But the toilet paper had to be folded a certain way and Im not sure how much of the PSB to put in the case.
Im looking to be able to hit a 5in target at 100yds if I can get smaller thats great. The loads with filler needs to able to make a 1¹/² ride on a 4wheeler then a mile walk to my stand. That's why I need a filler that want pack up or become a solid plug.
Any help y'all can provide would be great. Thanks

I have a Ballard in .40-85 Ballard Everlasting, which is very similar to your cartridge. I use 2400 in mine, and also H4198. The case on my .40-85 is longer and skinnier, but both should be close as far as BP or smokeless loads go. I'm using a heavier 315 gr. bullet with 23.0 grs. of 4198. But data I found says 28.0 grs. with a 260 gr. bullet is 1425 fps, so I'd start around 23.0 grs. and gradually work up to see what groups best.
I don't use fillers with smokeless and never will. Never found any reason to, so I avoid them. My load of 23.0 grs. 4198 and the 315 gr. bullet is extremely accurate at long range in my Ballard. 650-1000 yds. it does very well for me.

Thank you! I will look into that

Graf and sons has Swiss in stock. 5744 is a good smokeless powder for the old BP cartridges

I did fillers with several obsolete cartridges. Anymore I load most with Unique and just point muzzle up and slap butt before shooting, no fillers.

We get in trouble at our range pointing muzzles up in the air when loaded! I just stand the cartridge up on it's base, then chamber it and it works fine. But only do this with certain powders that don't fill the case much.

Thanks for the info folks

I have a Browning BPCR made in 40/65, that was rechambered to 40/82, and it is a shooter. I have a 325 gr mold and a 400 gr mold, that is a postell bullet. I have shot the 325 with 13.5 grs of Unique, as cast and the bullet pan lubed, no filler neccesary. It shoots in an inch easily at 100yds. I have recently made some of the 400 gr slugs, and will be trying them and the 325 with IMR 4198 and 5744 also, will post on here when I do and will pm you with the results. Also, I lube 45/90 brass up, and run them into my sizer, and great 40/82 brass is made. I recently made 58 cases like this, and only lost 3.

If you really want to use the .404-.406 mold, you may have to go with a softer alloy than WW to get it to bump up. Or beagle the mold.

What twist is your barrel? I remember something about Winchester having two .40 Cal 2.4" cases, one for heavy bullets, one for lighter ones. I would guess the one for light projectiles had a slower twist.

Robert

The reason I was thinking about using the filler was because of the size of the bullet to the bore size, the bullet is a bit undersize to the bore. This is a plain base bullet mold, would be using the filler as basically a flexible gas check. I just dont know how much to put in the shell along with the powder. I cant find Unique anywhere. Is about impossible to find powder anywhere. Thank yall for all the info though.

I've been shooting the 40-82 in an 1886 Winchester since the late 80's. I use Venturino's load of 34 grs. of IMR-3031 under a 260. gr. cast bullet and I top the powder with an open cell foam filler. Duplicates factory velocity and the open cell foam is as fail safe as can be asked for. You can cut the filler with a 45-70 case then cut it slightly longer than required to fill the vacant space in the 40-82 case. Powder will not migrate past it, it cannot turn into a solid plug, slips easily past the slight bottleneck of the 40-82 and expands to fill the space and according to Sherman Bell's pressure test does not introduce a pressure spike of any significance. That's also been my experience. You will have to make your own decision and I am compelled to say, you're on your own. I can't recommend my practices to anyone. In addition, unlike Dacron/polyester, when you're finished shooting it doesn't appear as if you've been plucking chickens.

Thanks for the post Sharps 45 90. Open cell foam filler, is that the same thing as the stuff in the can to seal up cracks or are you talking about meat tray foam?

A filler will not make up for an undersized bullet. Nothing will stop it from leading, and your accuracy will suffer, plus get worse as you shoot more and the leading gets worse. I would not shoot undersized bullets, and instead get a .409"-.410" bullet for your .4085" groove barrel. No sense in adding an undersized bullet into the equation while you're trying to work up good loads.

Thanks Sharps

PM sent.

[QUOTE=DeepSouth;5159635The barrel slugged at .4025 on the lands and .4085 in the grooves. The mold throws a .404 to .406 bullet made from COWW. I have made up a dummy shell using the reloading tool and it chambers fine, no issues at all.
[/QUOTE]


You might try sizing it down another .001-.002 and paper patching it.