FYI, 45-70 range report.

[littlejack]

Hey Fellas:
Its been a while since i've shot my Uberti HiWall, so I loaded up some rounds a couple of days ago and today was the day. Sun was out off and on.
First, I will say that I did have a reason other than just burning up some black powder. Some time back on this site,(i think) I read that someone wanted to know if all of the lube grooves needed to be filled to get good results?
Now, the reason that I wanted to try these loads out, is the fact that I only greased the botton 3 grooves in this cast boolit. The boolit is the old standard
that Lyman (Ideal) introduced many, many, many, many years ago. I believe it's going to be over 100. It is the old government 457125 rn. This boolits shoots well in my rifle, so why change. I doubt I will ever be in the competition circles over 100 to 200 yards, even though I hear that this boolit is still used with good effect at longer distances.
The reason, for not lubing the first groove, is that my rifle only shoots well with the first driving band being engraved by the lands. That leaves the first groove in the open to pick up all sorts of debris, dirt and grit. I want to use this load for deer this year, but do not want any foreign **** getting in the lubed groove and going down my bore.
OK, Here's my load.
WW brass.
WLR primer.
70 weighed grains of 2f Goex, compressed .100.
One .030 card wad, with one news print disc between wad and boolit.
One 457125 seated to touch the wad. C.O.L. 2.965.
Alloy is 20-1, lubed with the Emmerts recipe. I did NOT index the rounds to the chamber.
The first four shots from the clean cold barrell were in 3/4". I got soooo excited, I blew the last shot. It opened up the group to
1 5/16". This was at 100 yards.
I fired another group. It wasn't as tight, but all shots would have hit a golf ball.
So, a long story short. I am very satisfied with the results of the days shooting.
I did not see any difference in the fouling. I used only a blowtube between shots.
Clean up with five breaths and a dry patch, and the bore was mirror bright.
I did shoot a couple of groups at 200 yards, but my eyes are just not that good any more. The groups would have hit a baseball, but I believe the rifle can do better than that.
Good shooting to all of you. Don't take your eyesite for granted. I sure miss mine.
Jack

[Don McDowell]

Jack glad to hear you and that rifle finally came to a good understanding.

[littlejack]

Yes sir Don.
I appreciate all your tootering and teaching. I learned a lot from you and Rick, and many,
many more on this forum, too numerous for me to remember.
Jack

[Don McDowell]

Jack always glad to help IF I can.

[Catshooter]

Nice shooting littlejack. I have yet to use the Holy Black in my .45-70, but I will.

Cat

[littlejack]

Yes Sir. Thanks for the compliment. This is my first bp rifle, and I do enjoy it a lot. It was a whole different ball game, getting the loads shoot accurately compared to modern smokeless loads. Once a fella gets the basics taught to him, it begins to make sense.
I found out that the clean up that was supposed to be real bad, difficult, and time consuming,
was just a bunch of ignorant folks talking.
If you take the bp plunge, I think you will enjoy it more than smokeless or the bp imitations.
Jack