.40-70 Sharps Straight

[Jeff Higgins]

Kind of a bit of an oddball caliber even back in its heyday (if it ever really had one) of the late 19th century, it's even more so today. A few months back I showed you guys my newly acquired Winchester Highwall in this caliber, given to me by my long time hunting partner. Well, she finally made it to the range with me yesterday.

While I have "known" this rifle for over 30 years, I never really had the opportunity to play with it and get it properly sorted. My buddy tried, with a lot of advice from me, but could never get it shooting satisfactorily. He is just not a vintage firearm or black powder kind of guy, so he struggled, and finally gave up about 20 years ago. And there it sat. Until now.

My first efforts show a lot of promise. I acquired brass from my friends at Buffalo Arms, which they reformed from .30-40 Krag, which is the closest readily available. They still had to swage the rims to reduce diameter and thicken them, then turn the rims for final diameter and thickness. Quite an involved process, and one I don't have the equipment to do myself.

Anyway, brass, dies, and bullet mold in hand, I went to work. My first load consisted of a 300 grain bullet from an RCBS mold, seated to 3.0" O.A.L. (.010" off the rifling). Underneath it is a .060" thick vegetable fiber wad, 70 grains of Swiss 1.5 Fg black powder, sparked by a Winchester large rifle magnum primer. My second load is what we call a "duplex" load, with everything the same as the first, but with the addition of 7.0 grains of Reloder 7 in the bottom of the case, over the primer, under the black powder.

Both loads shot well, with the duplex load edging the straight black in accuracy. Five shot groups from the bench at 100 yards with the straight black went 3"-4", with the duplex load 2"-3". This was with no cleaning between rounds, just between groups, with no blow tube or anything else to control fouling. Not bad for a 133 year old rifle with a somewhat pitted bore.

This rifle is a delight to carry. It just might need to go hunting with me next year. I need a bullet with a bit larger meplat and maybe a bit more weight for that duty, but Buffalo Arms has plenty to choose from. I think I'm on my way, anyway.

The rifle and a loaded round, with a .30-'06 for comparison:

[Joe Bob]

Coolio. I just bought s .45 score Carbine.

[ficke]

Wonderful rifle, great caliber. This brings back memories from Coopers Landing AK in the 1980's there was a good group of metallic cartridge black powder shooters there.
My dad had a model 1874 Sharps and trapdoor Springfield in 45-70 and a Borchardt Sharps in 45-90 that was chambered for paper patch bullets.
45-70 government was at one time a fairly common caliber as it was a Army surplus gun Caliber. The old timers said you can buy a trapdoor Springfield Army surplus rifle cheap and shoot deer with it or a 410 shot gun shell is close enough to the 45-70 shell and it would fire in it to shoot rabbits and light game.

Thanks for sharing your rifle.

[Gretch]

very cool.

I have two in 45 - 70, and that brass is widely available.

One is a Henry Big Boy........... think is a hoot to shoot........... the other is a ruskie made sid by side.

not accurate as the barrel registration mechanism does not hold up to the shock of the heavy round. It could be fixed by a good gun smith with some real effort and brazing. Some day, maybe.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Gretch

very cool.

I have two in 45 - 70, and that brass is widely available.

One is a Henry Big Boy........... think is a hoot to shoot............

Bite yer tongue Higgy....it's OK man

I have a baby Henry Golden Boy (.22)..smooooth....the Marlins don't mind.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

Coolio. I just bought s .45 score Carbine.

How many pesos ?

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by KC911

Bite yer tongue Higgy....it's OK man

I have a baby Henry Golden Boy (.22)..smooooth....the Marlins don't mind.

It's all good... as long as they don't have scopes...



Seriously, though, for someone looking to get into vintage single shots or big bore lever guns, the .45-70 is the place to start. Everything is readily available and of the proper size.

One of the first things that had to be addressed on this rifle was its chamber dimensions. It is a true .40 caliber, meaning a .400" bore and .408" groove diameters. The original chamber would not allow a cartridge to seat if it was loaded with anything bigger than a .403" diameter bullet. This was common in the late 19th century, early cartridge rifle era when everything was loaded with black powder and much of it had paper patched bullets.

This relationship works well with soft, pure lead bullets that are used when paper patching. They "bump up" (obturate) to fill the bore when smacked in the ass with a healthy dose of black powder. Grease grooved bullets of even slightly hardened lead, like 20:1 lead/tin or wheel weights, won't do this as well. Smokeless powder will not do this even with a pure lead bullet.

Well, I had played with paper patching, and long before this rifle showed up had decided I wanted nothing to do with it. The solution, then, was to send the rifle to gunsmith John King of Kila, MT, to have him run a chambering reamer with "modern" dimensions into the chamber to open it up to allow for up to .410" diameter bullets to seat. So, at my behest, my buddy did this. He got a mold that would drop .410" bullets, but never did get another set of loading dies, thinking what he had should work.

Additionally, the rim thickness on the original chambering is a good deal thicker than most any other rimmed cartridge. The brass he had was for a "modern" rim thickness, which was too thin. These things headspace on the rim, so that was a constant problem. Getting the correct, thick rimmed brass back then was still a problem.

That's where it sat for 20 years until he gave it to me. I've got the proper dies for it, a proper mold, and the correct brass. I should have a fighting chance.

[Gretch]

very interesting story..........

and no, no scopes on either of the Henrys in my collection.

don't mind me............ I just like reading your detailed stories........ and I like the big cartridge rifles.

[Jeff Higgins]

Yeah, I just have a real penchant for the big, booming black powder single shots. Almost matched by my penchant for lever guns. They are both a lot of fun, in a very relaxing, slower paced kind of way. Mind you, I have no shortage of modern, scoped, high velocity rifle/cartridge combinations, and I thoroughly enjoy them as well. I just feel like I'm "home" when I'm playing with the old stuff.

[flipper35]

So Jeff, are you saying I shoudn't mount a 57x scope on my .45-70? It mounts all nice and high and the weight reduces recoil!

[KFC911]

Go ahead and mount that sucker....then give Higgin's a high-five fer me

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by Gretch

very cool.

I have two in 45 - 70, and that brass is widely available.

One is a Henry Big Boy........... think is a hoot to shoot........... the other is a ruskie made sid by side.

not accurate as the barrel registration mechanism does not hold up to the shock of the heavy round. It could be fixed by a good gun smith with some real effort and brazing. Some day, maybe.

I bought a Henry Big Boy in .44 to hunt deer here in OH. I loved how the gun looked, but it was awful in the accuracy department. So much so that I sold it and went back to using a shotgun.

[Gretch]

my Henry 45 - 70 is dead on out to 200 yards....... hot loads, yes, but the rifle (octagonal barrel) handles it easily.

[Reiver]

What diameter .40 are you using in that weight? I shoot a 45 70 and most shoot .458 lead round but I get better accuracy with a .459...and if I push the FPS I use a harder alloy lead combination.
This will sound strange but use cream of wheat as a filler above your separator in the casing.
It does a great job of cleaning the bore of lead....believe me, it works.
I make two lower power rounds with cream of wheat for my last two shots....leading is very slight afterword's.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Reiver

What diameter .40 are you using in that weight? I shoot a 45 70 and most shoot .458 lead round but I get better accuracy with a .459...and if I push the FPS I use a harder alloy lead combination.
This will sound strange but use cream of wheat as a filler above your separator in the casing.
It does a great job of cleaning the bore of lead....believe me, it works.
I make two lower power rounds with cream of wheat for my last two shots....leading is very slight afterword's.

Don't worry, it's not as strange as it sounds. I'm familiar with the Cream of Wheat trick. I used to use it as a matter of course when shooting cast bullets in modern smokeless powder rounds. I also used Puff-Lon, if you are familiar with that.

I stopped using any kind of fillers many years ago when there began to be reports within the CBA - Cast Bullet Association - of ringed chambers, and worse, that guys were thinking were the results of using fillers. I now use 5744 powder almost exclusively, which bulks up enough to not require a filler. It's a cast bullet shooter's dream.

So, anyway, these black powder cartridge rifles are a completely different animal from modern smokeless powder rifles. Much of what works in modern smokeless rifles simply does not work in these.

To answer your question, groove diameter is .408", so I'm using .410" diameter bullets. Alloy is 20:1 lead/tin. I always try to use cast bullets at least .001" over groove diameter, or .002" if they will chamber. Bigger is better.

Lube is SPG, which are its developer's, Stephen P. Garbe's, initials. He came up with this black powder specific lube back in the late '80's to early '90's when we were all still struggling with the rediscovery of black powder cartridge rifles. We didn't know any better and were using hard lubes like the NRA beeswax/alox mix and others that were not suitable for black powder use. In this application, the lube has an additional job that it does not have when using smokeless - it plays a vital role in keeping the black powder fouling soft. Anything that is too hard won't do that, and anything with any sort of petroleum product in it combines with black powder fouling to make a pretty darn good asphalt mix. Pretty good for resealing your driveway, but it plays hell with accuracy. SPG and other black powder lubes are a mix of Ivory soap, beeswax, and neatsfoot oil. Pretty soft stuff, kind of like margarine in consistency.

There is no room for any kind of a filler. Black powder fills the case, with a fair amount of compression to boot. Any airspace is dangerous, and can lead to catastrophic detonation. Original Frankford Arsenal loads for the .45-70 Trapdoor had the powder compressed darn near half an inch from its nominal height in the case. This is one of the key components in black powder accuracy that we play with in an effort to find an accurate load for a particular combination of components. The Swiss 1.5 Fg powder I am using likes minimal compression, somewhere around .10" to .15". American made Goex FFg that I use in other applications requires almost .30" compression before it starts to provide any accuracy. This is even after having filled the case through a 30" long drop tube to settle the powder, before we further compress it in a purpose made compression die.

Hard cast bullets just don't work in black powder cartridges either. I have a pretty hot load that I shoot in my modern Marlin 1895 and Winchester 1886 .45-70's, utilizing H322, that absolutely requires hard bullets. In those loads I use the RCBS .45-400 GC cast from Lyman #2 alloy and quenched, then they even get a gas check. I'm driving those just over 1,900 fps from either rifle, with no leading whatsoever. Interestingly, I still use that "black powder" lube - SPG - with great results. I size these to .459", but only because .460" will not chamber.

I own several "black powder only" .45-70's as well, plus a .45-90 and a .45-100. Everything but the .45-90 uses .460" diameter bullets. The .45-90 will only chamber up to .457" diameter, so that's what it shoots.

The only guns I have ever had a problem with leading are a couple of .44 mag revolvers. With these, I use a variation of your trick, and just put a cylinder full of those evil jacketed bullets through them at the end of a shooting session. It rubs me wrong in the very worst way to defile my revolvers in such a manner, but hey - at least I've found a use for jacketed bullets. Otherwise, outside of modern bottlenecked rifle cases, I just don't see the point.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by Reiver

What diameter .40 are you using in that weight? I shoot a 45 70 and most shoot .458 lead round but I get better accuracy with a .459...and if I push the FPS I use a harder alloy lead combination.
This will sound strange but use cream of wheat as a filler above your separator in the casing.
It does a great job of cleaning the bore of lead....believe me, it works.
I make two lower power rounds with cream of wheat for my last two shots....leading is very slight afterword's.

I was actually curious on the leading.

Ever use paper patch?

[Jeff Higgins]

I've fired hundreds of rounds of paper patched bullets in several different calibers, and not all of them black powder. For anyone interested in reading up on how to make them work, I would highly recommend the late Paul Mathews' book The Paper Jacket. It's the most exhaustive treatise on the subject I have ever read.

It's a very tedious process, to be as kind as possible. It only enjoyed a very brief moment in the sun before ammunition manufacturers abandoned the concept. Even though conceived in the early black powder cartridge rifle era, in my experience, it is actually more suited to use with smokeless powder.

Black powder loads absolutely require that something be included to help keep the fouling soft. They cannot be successfully shot "dry", as modern smokeless jacketed bullets loads are assembled. Grease groove bullets carry this fouling softening agent in the form of the bullet lube in their grease grooves. Paper patched bullets can't do that. Our solution, then, is to place a "grease cookie" of bullet lube under the bullet. The stack-up in the case (from the bottom up) is then powder, cardboard wad, grease cookie, another cardboard wad, then the bullet. The idea is to have this grease cookie atomize in the bore to be absorbed into the powder fouling in an effort to keep it soft.

Well, it just doesn't seem to work very well. You still wind up wiping the bore after every shot in an effort to maintain any sort of accuracy. The "blow tube" we use when shooting grease groove bullets, with which we puff a few deep breaths down the bore between shots to help keep the fouling soft, is not as effective on the much drier fouling left behind when paper patching. We try in vain to add more lube to the grease cookie, but all that does is ruin accuracy in its own right.

Where paper patching shines is with modern, high velocity loads when you want to use a really soft bullet alloy. The expansion of a pure lead, heavy .45 caliber bullet driven out of a hot .45-70 load or .458 Winchester Magnum load is something to behold. I used to shoot a 500 grain bullet from an old adjustable mold, cast from pure lead, at over 2,000 fps from my Ruger #1 .458. It was absolutely devastating on larger, soft skinned game - it was like a .458 caliber varmint load.

The very serious downside of paper patching is barrel wear. With the pressures generated in even a black powder cartridge rifle (mid 20,000 psi range), not to mention modern loads exceeding 40,000 or 50,000 psi, the paper becomes very abrasive. Guys who have done this far more than I have have reported barrel life as low as a few thousand rounds, which in a match rifle, sure isn't much. Might be o.k. in a hunting rifle but, hell, I shoot most of mine more than that. I know most folks don't, but there is still the tedium of assembling these loads. Lots of extra fooling around that other techniques simply don't require.

[Joe Bob]

Originally Posted by KC911

How many pesos ?

300 with an extended magazine.