If you like old reloading tools, here’s one. Winchester mod 1880 (I believe) marked 45-75 WCF.
If you like old reloading tools, here’s one. Winchester mod 1880 (I believe) marked 45-75 WCF.
This is the first time I have heard of a 45/75. Were there many produced?
The .45-75 Winchester Centennial is a centerfire rifle cartridge developed in 1876 for the newly designed Winchester Model 1876 Centennial lever-action rifle. Winchester Repeating Arms Company introduced the rifle and cartridge at the United States Centennial Exposition. The Model 1876 rifle used an enlarged version of the famous Winchester Model 1873 action to offer a lever-action repeating rifle using cartridges suitable for big-game hunting. The cartridge and rifle enjoyed brief popularity with Gilded Age American hunters including Theodore Roosevelt, and was issued to the Canadian North-West Mounted Police and to Texas Rangers.[4]
.45-75 Winchester Centennial
45-75 Winchester 1876.jpg. Got to love wickopedia
An additional point, IIRC, the spoon type handles seen here are the earlier style (but confirm for yourself… I haven’t fooled with these for years!)
Froggie
"It aint easy being green!"
The 45/75 is a good cartridge. That tool and the correct mold will still make good shells. There should be a drop in decapping pin with it but they are usually lost by the time they cross my path. That one is set up to also deprime Berdan primed cases.
I shot a number of big animals including several elk with my 45/75 1876 Winchester back when I could still see iron sights. Now that I have new eyeballs, thanks to cataract surgery I may hunt with it again. My little avatar photo is a bighorn ram I shot in '99 with that cartridge. I just won the Montana lotto again this year (got a Mountain Goat permit!). I am seriously thinking about dusting off the old '76 and trying to get my goat with it.
Notice also that this tool was made in the era of Berdan priming. I can’t imagine developing the eye to hand skills necessary to use that little pointy part to prick the primer cap and lift it out of the pocket. I bet if we still had mostly Berdan primers reloading would be a lot less popular! (Maybe primers wouldn’t be selling for $125/1000!)
Froggie
"It aint easy being green!"
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 |