I have ordered a Turnbull 45-90 and I am on a group buy for a .460 hollow base 300+ gr mold to cast my own for this rifle.

Am I going in the right direction with the hollow base bullet or is there a better slug that I should be looking for.

I should be getting the rifle in about 3 months and I have no idea when the mold will go threw the group buy.

Any help would be appreciated.

No better place to ask than here: http://historicshooting.com/mybb/index.php

The rifle I am getting is a new built version of the Winchester 1886. Modern materials that can shoot black powder or smokeless.
Turnbull recommends a 300ish gr bullet but they say that it can handle the 500gr bruisers.

I do not think that it falls under the older Historical firearms.

If I do not get any response I will try posting on the other forum.
Thanks Creeker for the advise.

Humble opinion on all things .45-something is near abouts 500 grains is where you start. Can't speak to the 1886 but the Marlin 1895 CB rifle shoots them well and the recoil is not abusive.

That said, you can probably make meat with the 300 grain bullet if inclined.

On the Castboolits forum a guy said that he did not like hollow base bullets. I would be better off with a solid base gas check.

TurnBull recommended a 300--400gr slug but that it would handle just about anything I would want to put threw it and be able hold on to it with out breaking me.
I asked them about recoil reducers and they told me that I probably did not need them. The recoil of this rifle was very manageable.
I can not weight to get it and start shooting. Just trying to do some home work before I start making mistakes.

I would look at both the Lyman 457121PH at 480gr plain base or the SAECO # 019 at 485gr gas check design. The Lyman runs a bit small in diameter, and the SAECO is a .460" diameter bullet.

Best wishes for your new project!

Ed

I use an RCBS 45-300 FN. I have one cavity hollow pointed the other is a FN, both GC. The 45-90 originally used the 300 gr. bullet as to get higher vel. I would think that up to 2100+ would be doable, remember a 405 Win. is 2150 full blast w/a 300 gr. Pretty sure that the cast GC bullets can be pushed as fast as any jacketed.-Muddy

Find out EXACTLY what is the maximum O.A.L. of the cartridge that will function through the rifle's action. Base the bullet decision on THAT.

You could "get by" with a hollow base if you were to only load black powder, but I don't see any advantage even then.

I have an 1886 chambered to 50-110. Its great fun to shoot and kills black bears real good. I generally use only BP loads. I have several bullet molds from 300 to 500 grains for it, and all the bullets I use are flat-based, flat point with wide meplats. Its comfortable to shoot with black powder and 500 grain bullets. It can be made uncomfortable with smokeless. I've played with smokeless loads using the 410-grain Cast Performance LBT and the 450-grain Barnes Originals at fairly unnerving levels. Anyway, its a nice big gun that handles recoil well. I can't imagine your 45-90 being a problem.

Enjoy!