50-70 government

[ground blind]

I am new to black powder cartridges ,I am getting the needed supplies together for loading a few 50-70 government rounds.dixie gun works has .515 425 grain 4 groove conical bullets available ,everything I have read says use 450 grain bullet ,with 3 groove ,will the 425 grain 4 groove work ?

[GregLaROCHE]

A 425grain boolit should work fine. Don’t expect to load 70 grains of powder, unless your gun is designed to shoot cartridges with a greater overhaul length than what’s most common today.

I just realized you were talking about 50/70. I was thinking 45/70. You probably can disregard what I wrote.

[varsity07840]

I am new to black powder cartridges ,I am getting the needed supplies together for loading a few 50-70 government rounds.dixie gun works has .515 425 grain 4 groove conical bullets available ,everything I have read says use 450 grain bullet ,with 3 groove ,will the 425 grain 4 groove work ?

The "three groove" may refer to the number of grooves in the barrel, if the rifle is an 1866, 1868 or 1870 Springfield Trapdoor or an 1871 Springfield Rolling Block. Some converted percussion Sharps carbines and rifles also have 3 groove barrels. Remington NY State Rolling blocks have 5 grooves. They all have(or are supposed to have!) .515 groove to groove depth. They have slow twists. But, I digress. They all like the 450 gr Government .515 which does have three grooves and stabilizes well in a slow twist barrel. My Lee mould drops them at .517 and I lube them and then run them through a .517 die to true them up and clean off excess lube. They are slightly less than 1" long. The Dixie bullet appears to be a bit longer and you may have to seat it with the top groove exposed. I can't say if the lower weight would hinder accuracy. If you have a "modern" repro rifle, it may have shallower grooves, around .510, and a faster twist. You'd want to use a .512 bullet. Also, don't count on store bought bullets to be the advertised size. They sometimes are smaller. I learned a long time ago to invest in moulds and casting gear for my BPCRs. There are very few outfits that supply quality BPCR bullets, and these days they're often out of stock and quite expensive.

[StrawHat]

The "three groove" may refer to the number of grooves in the barrel, if the rifle is an 1866, 1868 or 1870 Springfield Trapdoor or an 1871 Springfield Rolling Block. Some converted percussion Sharps carbines and rifles also have 3 groove barrels. Remington NY State Rolling blocks have 5 grooves. They all have(or are supposed to have!) .515 groove to groove depth. They have slow twists. But, I digress. They all like the 450 gr Government .515 which does have three grooves and stabilizes well in a slow twist barrel. My Lee mould drops them at .517 and I lube them and then run them through a .517 die to true them up and clean off excess lube. They are slightly less than 1" long. The Dixie bullet appears to be a bit longer and you may have to seat it with the top groove exposed. I can't say if the lower weight would hinder accuracy. If you have a "modern" repro rifle, it may have shallower grooves, around .510, and a faster twist. You'd want to use a .512 bullet. Also, don't count on store bought bullets to be the advertised size. They sometimes are smaller. I learned a long time ago to invest in moulds and casting gear for my BPCRs. There are very few outfits that supply quality BPCR bullets, and these days they're often out of stock and quite expensive.

I agree with all of what Varsity07840 wrote. I shoot a customized Springfield 1866. I use the Lyman bullet, 515141, a custom boolit with a hollow base and the Lee version of the Lyman boolit. The hb is the best but the Lee mold produces a surprisingly good boolit.

I am not familiar with the DGW bullet, so, no comment.

You will need a decent black powder specific lube and if you are only going to shoot 100 or so rounds, just buy some. Lots of vendors have their own concoction and most will work.

The actual load? I prefer 65+ grains for hunting but 55 grains would be as low. I would go. Seat the boolit down on the overpowder wad. A regular rifle primer to set it off and you should be good to go.

Enjoy! And report back to us.

Kevin

[ground blind]

the rifle I want to shoot is a 1870 u s n Springfield rolling block ,I have it working and all cleaned up .just want to shoot it a few times and then pretty much going to just enjoy it ..I will anneal the new brass, use ff powder, going to build a drop tube use a rifle primer ,card wad and compress bullet with no air space .am I missing anything ?the bullets I have from dixie have 4 grease groves and are pure lead.i think I will buy the lee 50-70 mold and melt them down and recast to the new mold ,from what I am reading that's what I should use .and I should not crimp real tight from what I understand ?

[pworley1]

The bullets you have should work just fine.

[StrawHat]

If they are the correct diameter, those DGW bullets should be okay. Just use black powder lube.

Kevin

[ground blind]

ok thanks I'm measuring .515 to .517 I will try them out

[varsity07840]

the rifle I want to shoot is a 1870 u s n Springfield rolling block ,I have it working and all cleaned up .just want to shoot it a few times and then pretty much going to just enjoy it ..I will anneal the new brass, use ff powder, going to build a drop tube use a rifle primer ,card wad and compress bullet with no air space .am I missing anything ?the bullets I have from dixie have 4 grease groves and are pure lead.i think I will buy the lee 50-70 mold and melt them down and recast to the new mold ,from what I am reading that's what I should use .and I should not crimp real tight from what I understand ?

If your die set is a Lyman, don't run the round high enough in the seat/crimp die to crimp it at all. The die does a roll crimp which will damage the bullet.
I take the decapping pin out of the sizing die and run the round up just high enough to take the flare out of the case mouth.

[ground blind]

ok sounds good ,that's what I have been reading that you don't have to have a real tight crimp ,just tight enough hold bullet.