44man:You need to do the Abs of Steel tape.Lay on your belly unless it is round like mine and makes me rock!
Johnw..ski:Sounds OK. I prefer Creedmore for the long range stuff.How about belly shooting?
John
I installed the new sight on the BFR 45-70. Now I will see what this revolver can really do.
John
-Remember-
Anything is possible if you don’t know what your talking about.
You're going to hate me for this, but I had my Matchdot mounted exactly like that with the front ring against the turret. Rear ring was also the same. After about a year the glass started distorting and Ultradot sent me a new sight. Now I mount it like 44man. He puts the extension on the front and the ring all the way up. He's never had a problem so it's possible there's a gain with his mounting.
Frank is right.
I never put a ring over any glass so check where the rings are against where the glass is.
I like to put the extension on tight with a small rubber strap wrench and mount the front ring at the joint or a little ahead of it.
If the glass is clear, it will be OK.
Point taken. I know its kind of ass backward but I have the same sight on my indoor target pistol and I prefer the shade on the back. I was seeing reflections in the rear glass and it was distracting.
Thanks,
John
-Remember-
Anything is possible if you don’t know what your talking about.
Johnw..ski:Great idea.I prefer the shade on the back
I just got back from the range after sighting in my new Match Dot sight and trying some 425 gr. gc Glenhills boolits over 28.5 gr SR4759, Federal 155 primers, and a bit of filler. The groups from a rest at 50 yds. were right around 2". Not great but not too shabby either.
I'll keep tinkering and keep you all posted.
John
-Remember-
Anything is possible if you don’t know what your talking about.
Find a target with a white spot a little larger then the dot covers so you can center it nicely.
Got out and shot the BFR 45-70 10" revolver again today, this time with a powder charge of 27.5 gr. of SR 4759 and the same 425 gr. Glenhills GC cast boolit, a tuft of filler and Federal 155 primers. At 50 yds. from a rest it's still grouping at 2".
While I consider the current accuracy very good I plan to start trying some different boolits and see where it goes.
One real surprise today was had on the 200 yd. range. After high power practice I took out the BFR and took a couple of shots at the standard SR 200 yd. target. Using my 50 yd. sight settings I shot at the top of the target frame from a prone position and got a 6 o'clock 8. My second and last shot was taken aiming about 6" above the target frame producing an X. This revolver is still surprising me.
John
-Remember-
Anything is possible if you don’t know what your talking about.
Are you casting, or is it store bought?
A warning for you if I have not said it before.
Do not download the SR4759 too much and 27.5 gr with that boolit can give you trouble. It can fail to ignite and stick a boolit in the bore so be careful and make sure they all sound and feel the same.
That is why I use 28.5 gr with a 420 gr. I found a boolit change can tolerate a little reduction but others will not even if the same weight.
It is hard to find load info for short barrels and it took a lot of work to make my revolver work.
Next the boolit needs to be hard because of the long jump and I use water dropped WW metal as my softest for target.
50-50 needs to be oven hardened and still gives me fliers but is better for deer.
I made my own molds plus I have tested others but have no molds for them.
These are all the different ones my gun will shoot. The gun is very forgiving about boolit choice.
Last edited by 44man; 06-07-2011 at 08:55 AM.
I forgot to mention the gun works best with a .459" boolit so be careful if you buy a mold that drops .457" like a lot of them do. Mold makers are stuck on boolit sizes that would not even work in old rifles.
Frank has some decent molds and he can tell you about them. I have shot some of his boolits.
44man:Why does Lyman list for a 425 grn boolit 23 grns of SR4759? Why does RCBS show list 26-28 grns for their 425? The first trapdoor, the 2nd is Marlin load.A warning for you if I have not said it before.
Do not download the SR4759 too much and 27.5 gr with that boolit can give you trouble. It can fail to ignite and stick a boolit in the bore so be careful and make sure they all sound and feel the same.
Montana Bullet Works makes good boolits. You're best bet there might be GC 350 grn and up, (HT) .459. I tried the RCBS 300 FN GC boolit (mold) and it doesnt' shoot. I think the BFR likes heavier boolits with wide flat noses, no SWC for this baby. It's a hunting platform, it likes hunting boolits.
Rifles are different, boolits are held back by rifling enough plus they use rifle primers.
The BFR 45-70 is not set up for rifle primers and trying them made accuracy suck anyway. The boolit has a long run to the rifling and a rifle primer likes to push everything out of the brass too quick.
The gun WILL fire them but it should have a 28# mainspring.
I can only tell you that a 420 gr boolit with 27 gr stuck 2 boolits in my bore.
If you think I am going to 23 gr, you must be kidding!
Besides that, I don't trust ANY Lyman loads.
Hodgdon has pistol loads for the 45-70---ALL long barrel PISTOL loads with powders that are too slow. Nothing for a revolver. I can't see any of the loads even working in a 15" barrel. 4189, 4595 and Varget. Varget actually can work for some strange reason.
If I could only have 3 powders, they would be 296, SR4759 and Varget.
I even use Varget in my 10" 7R and 7BR after Hodgdon said it can't work. 3/8" groups at 50 yards with open sights.
44man:I haven't had any problems, but it could be right on the edge. I'll take a look.I can only tell you that a 420 gr boolit with 27 gr stuck 2 boolits in my bore.
44man, what kind of Varget load are you talking about?Varget actually can work for some strange reason.
If I could only have 3 powders, they would be 296, SR4759 and Varget.
I even use Varget in my 10" 7R and 7BR after Hodgdon said it can't work. 3/8" groups at 50 yards with open sights.
In the past I tried to buy a 454 casull rifle and ended up with a 45-70 Marlin Stainless Steel Lever eveloution.
At the time I read that the 45-70 built less pressure than the 454 casull is this so?
I have often thought about buying the BFR in 45-70 to play and hunt deer with.
I seen a BFR at Gander Mountain in the past it was BIG is the recoil managable or is it worse than the 454 casull?
I know it probably depends on boolit weight but I have also heard that some powders have a sharper recoil than others.
What has been your experience?
BTW I shoot a 8' Stainless TAURUS Raging bull in 454.
I also shoot a SS VH DW 44mag in 6", 8" & 10" along with several other pistol calibers.
NRA Life Member
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |