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is the Jap Win 1885 strong enough for ruger #1 loads?

If you're talking about a High Wall and not a Low Wall, they are approximately the same in strength. Both have been made in high pressure modern cartridges at the factory.

yes, High wall. thanks.

Like the originals they can take whatever your shoulder can take.

very likely, since this is a Trapper in .45-70...

Ouch.

I think Browning's buttplate design is how they discourage heavy loads in their single shots

yea, we'll see how this goes. I have a bunch of ammo loaded to .450 Marlin levels. makes the Marlin trapper kinda lively...

I have shot Ruger Only loads in my Browning 1885 High Wall .45-70. A reduced load shoots more accurately in the rifle than the particular hot reload I was using. My 1885 has a recoil pad and I wear a recoil shoulder pad when shooting the hot loads. As Charlie Russell said in one of his letters "....and it would have killed a Tiger if it had been on the same end I was."

I do think i'll settle on a cast flat nose load eventually, but its good to know it'll take anything.

Don't worry,....simple evolutions such as torn up shoulder ligaments, whiplash neck injuries, detached retinas have a way of regulating things.

GTC

I'm no stranger to recoil...

Famous last words...

got two .375 RUMs that weigh 8# and less and a 3 1/2" Mossberg 835.

I aint' gonna hurt myself with this, but it's not gonna be a .458 WM either.

~15 years ago I tried to calculate how much pressure my $100 45/70 handi rifle could take.
I got some help from my father, chief engineer gun designer, and another old guy, a mechanical engineering professor.

I calculated it would easily take 150,000 psi.

I fired one round of 20kpsi trapdoor springfield starting load.

It kicked me so hard, I did not fire a second round of anything from that rifle for over a year.

Later to validate the calculations, I tested it with an overload work up, but I was not holding it against my shoulder.

took it out last weekend. 350 gr. @ 1900 fps is kinda lively from a 6# gun.

At some point I'd like to take one of the Japanese Low Walls and rebarrel/rebore it to .30-30. I know where there is a pretty nice Custom High Wall in .30-30 Ackley, but it's a little heavier that I like, plus the sighting setup is kind of funky.

a few random thoughts on my High Wall.

first, note to self: don't take it apart just to clean it up. it's a Chinese puzzle to get back together. not as bad as the Ruger MKII pistol, but ya gotta drive out press fit pins and drive them back in during reassembly.

second, there are different versions. I thought about getting a stock with rubber butt pad, but I can't find any that are cut for the Trapper's tang. the Trapper has a steel Ruger-ish butt plate.

but anyway, my bullet mold (Lyman 457643) and sizing die arrived the other day so i'll have to work up a load for the cast bullets. I kinda need to keep the loads at or below .450 Marlin levels because I don't wanna have ammo that'll nuke my Marlin laying around.

lastly, I love this little gun. a pard has a #3 in .45-70 he will sell for $500 so I may get that too just because that's a good deal, but I doubt it'll displace the High Wall.

back together and out to play with it again today.

I would have bought more than one 1885 over the Ruger #1 mainly due to their reputation for stellar accuracy but that lever is a deal killer for me. Yeah, it’s a small point but it really bugs me to have it sitting there between my fingers, I've tried to like it but as soon as I pick one up my hand says "nope". I know folks like them to look traditional and all but if Winchester would just bend that thing out into a nice curve that goes under the hand, sort’a like a Ruger #1...

I thought the lever might whack my fingers during recoil, but it doesn't. I do like the exposed hammer over the safety of the #1/#3, but I still want a Ruger to test for ergos.