Triple 7 in 45-70

[wonderwolf]

I'm new here and wanted to dive right in to things. I got a bunch of 40-60 brass from a estate sale made from 45-70 brass 2 summers ago and finally got a 45-70 H&W 1871 this summer for $285 with a nice tang sight and leather work. I blew out all the cases and got about 8 pounds of FFG triple 7 from a old lady who's husband died and hunted deer with the stuff. So I figured I would put it to good use. I do all my casting with straight wheel weights (no added tin) into a water bucket out of the mold. Right now I'm just using a 405gr weight bullet. I looked around for load data but could not find much to start with so I thought I would start with 50gr....and that went clear to the case mouth so I backed it off to 40gr. Seems to be a nice plinker load @ only 200 yards. I'll try to back it off more so some of the young small bore kids I coach can shoot it. Wondering if anybody else has used 3X7 in the past and has any good info.....as a side note I need to anneal all my brass before I load them again because of being over worked.

[John Boy]

Wonderwolf ... 57gr volume FFg H777 with a 500gr bullet and the Buffalo Classic:
600yds - 5 shot group:
3 - were a cloverleaf (1.75)
1 - 4" to the left of the cloverleaf
1 - 3" to the right of the cloverleaf
Group: 7" x 2.75"
PS: never been able to repeat this group.

[A Nimrod]

What ever you do DON'T leave a air gap between the powder and the boolit!
A Nimrod

[RayinNH]

wonderwolf, just a headsup for you if your having to resize those water dropped boolits. I tried resizing in a Lyman 450 and gave up because I thought that I would destroy the thing. Too much surface area on a 45-70 slug...Ray

[dubber123]

I'm not sure how long after you water dropped them, but sizing soon after dropping has always worked well for me. The bullets get much harder with a few weeks age. I size 440 to 540 grain water dropped ww 45-70's with no problems in a Lyman 450. I tried sizing a dropped .475 Linebaugh bullet after sitting, and snapped the handle right off on the first pull. Sizing soon after dropping works fine for me though.

[wonderwolf]

They usually get sized and lubed within a week of being cast...In a few cases where I have cast almost 500 bullets in one sitting have they sat around for longer that that.

[WBH]

wonderwolf.....BPCR is a whole different world than dumping a bunch of 5744 or 4895 into a case and pulling the trigger. There is a wealth of info regarding the shooting of BP that you should read and re-read before loading any.

Air space(there should be none), primers, wads, compression, bullet obturation, powder, lube, blow tube, etc all play a huge part in developing a safe and accurate load.

Paul Matthews, Mike Venturino and others have written volumes on this subject.

Read up and have fun with your new toy.