Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots A guy CAN'T have too many .45-70 GOVT's

This one makes four. Just got this 1885 Winchester made for Browning by Miroku of Japan this week, haven't been able to hit the range yet. Not normally a big fan of Browning's shiny finishes, but maybe I'll get used to it. I think this pad will be nice compared to my last 1885 with a metal crescent butt plate.


Nice little M8-4X Leupold scope aboard.


Made in Japan


Nice tiger stripes both sides.

I have the same model. Easy on the shoulder, very accurate, and great wood. Enjoy.

Wish I had discovered that cartridge in my early years. Nice unit there.

Kudos on your choice of scope! I get so sick of seeing high powered variables with large objectives on woods guns...

Wow... very nice

Just agreeing with your statement above - I'm not a fan of those hi-gloss Browning-type finishes either, but holy geeze! That's a sweet looking rig!

Too many .45-2.1" rifles? IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!

Mitch,
this is SO beautiful! But, don't you feel guilty cheating on your Ruger #1's?
frm

Yes I do.... (This Browning is kind of like a mistress)

(I still have 21 Ruger No. 1's)

I went about 57 years without ever owning a 45-70.

I'm 59 now and have 3 (different) Ruger No. 1s . . .;-)

This only proves that you are never to old to learn!!

I'm 53, and I think the first time I pulled the trigger on a .45-70, I thought it would be a kitten in the recoil department, judging by all of reading I had done. If I remember right it was a Marlin Guide Gun when they first came out. (Maybe early 90's?)

My Avatar is a crappy picture taken when I dropped the best buck I have ever shot with the "kitten" .45-70 Govt. That buck dropped like the hammer of Thor hit him making me an instant fan of the round.

My number 1's can be loaded to a new level of power if one wanted too, also adding to the versatility of this fine round.

Congrats on keeping an open mind.

Mitch

If the case has a metal filler pounded in with loctite, 1 gr of pistol powder can move a 150 gr bullet at 400 fps. That will stop a 20 pound coon with a body shot and sound like a BB gun. Even if it is legal to shoot on your 5 acres, if you start shooting at coons coming out of your hen house at midnight, the neighbors will not like it if they can hear it.

While you can kill a coon with a 22 CB short that sounds like a BB gun, that has to be brain shot. You can do that if they hold real still in a tree. But running out of the hen house, a body shot is all you get.

Without the metal filler, you would need several grains of powder to get 400 fps, and that will make gas with more than one atmosphere of pressure above ambient at the muzzle, causing supersonic gas escapement, and a loud bang. When the gas slows down to subsonic, a wave propagates of amplitude 2 atmospheres trough zero atmospheres, the threshold of cavitation. That is much noise as a gun can make. The bigger the gas ball at transition, the more lower frequency. That is why big guns sound deeper... bigger supersonic gas ball.

You can't just push the bullet down in the case to get higher expansion ratio. The jump to lands is too far and accuracy will be lost. The high velocity and low noise can be obtained that way, but only good for short range low accuracy.

http://www.westernbullet.com/45riflecaliber.html

Fantastic! That is just what I need for my #3. Will you please provide dimensions for the insert?

In this pic you can see I put Dichem on a cross sectioned 45/70 case, marked off the outside in 0.1" increments, and then measured the case thickness at the marks. With a spread sheet I then calculated for each these points, [the outside diameter of the case] minus [the thickness of the case] = filler diameter at that point.

I then put some 1/2" steel or Aluminum round stock in the lathe and using DRO on carriage and on the crossfeed, I did the taper in 0.1" steps.

Decapping the filled case takes planning. The flash hole must be drilled through the case filler with a diameter that has clearance for what you plan on using to decap the fired cases. I would suggest two airplane drills, one slightly larger.

The longer the barrel the more powder can be used and stay quiet.

The bullet must jam into the lands for a gas seal. Any gas that gets by slows down the bullet and increases the noise.

The action was closed and that forced the bullet into the lands.

0.6 gr Bullseye .....287 fps........ quiet
0.7 gr Bullseye .....384 fps........ quiet
0.8 gr Bullseye .....354 fps........ quiet
0.9 gr Bullseye .....388 fps........ hollow sound but quiet enough
1.0 gr Bullseye .....441 fps........ sounds like a loud pellet gun, but no blam
1.1 gr Bullseye .....418 fps........ sounds like a loud pellet gun, but no blam
1.2 gr Bullseye .....536 fps........ sounds like a very loud pellet gun, but no blam

1.0 gr Bullseye ..... shot with open sights at target at 27 yards, 2" low and 1/2" to the right.


I could hear the bullet hit the brush and dirt.
If the same shots were fired into a piece of plywood, this would be an extremely loud gun for the situation.

I've had a few 45-70's and they've been great. Looking for an Encore barrel now for my truck / hog gun.....

Clarkm, thank you for the layout of the tapers. What is the OAL of the insert or depth from case mouth to insert? I presume I will be belling the case mouth and pressing the insert in. Then sizing the mouth for bullet diameter before seating? Were you using the Lyman 457130?

doublegunner,
Yes I was using a Lyman 457130 from Western Bullets.
The insert is ~ 0.075" from the case mouth.
You want the fit into the chamber tight enough to seal the gas between bullet and lands, but loose enough so you can close the action on the loaded round.
Aluminium inserts are faster to make than steel ones.

Here is some stuff I got for the project
http://www.use-enco.com/

Model No. Description Qty. Price Tax Ext. Price
408-0003 3/32 OIL HARD.DRILLROD 1 1.21 $1.21
422-1300 5/64 WATER HARD.DRILLROD 1 1.09 $1.09
505-6335 3/32 AIR HARD.DRILLROD 1 2.45 $2.45
PN505-3647 1/2" 6' RND ALUM ROD 6061 1 13.74 $13.74
317-8760 500 1/16X6" 135D BLACK PREC TWIST AIRCRFT EXT DR 1 3.89 $3.89
317-8761 500 5/64X6" 135D BLACK PREC TWIST AIRCRFT EXT DR 1 3.93 $3.93
317-8762 500 3/32X6" 135D BLACK PREC TWIST AIRCRFT EXT DR 1 3.02 $3.02
317-8764 500 1/8X6" 135D BLACK PREC TWIST AIRCRFT EXT DR 1 3.28 $3.28

Clarkm, thanks for the materials list etc. I'll go aluminum.