Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots OK it hurt.

I fired my Uberti .45 70 highwall for the first time Saturday. I don't consider myself to be particularly recoil sensitive, but after that experience, I think I may now be crescent butt plate sensitive.

I loaded up twenty cartridges from the speer manual, under the lever action rifle section. 49 grains of IMR 3031 pushing the 400 Gr. Flat-SP. I thought this would be manageable. I had previously shot some stout loads in a friend' '95 Marlin, but never from the bench, and while it shoved me a bit. I thought it was the good kind of shove. It made me smile. This rifle from the bench, did not. Far from it.

I really wanted to take a white tail with this rifle in the opening week or so of rifle season. And I had made it my task to get it on paper, see if it liked this load, get a general idea of what direction to take yada yada yada... You get the general idea.

Anyhow, much to my chagrin, the 25 yard target holder at my hunting lease range was gone. All that was left was the 75 yard holder, and the 100 yard holder. I set a cup up about 25 yard down range to break the ice and fire the first shot. It pleasantly flied downrange, and I smiled the smile that only those shooting a rifle and watching a cup fly down range can truly understand. Then I got down to business.

I sat up the target at the closest available place (75 yards). Placed the front and rear rests on the bench and sat down to get down to brass tacks. I took a glimpse down the enormous bore, and centered it in the black of the big bullseye as much as possible, hunkered down behind the demonic buttplate and got ready for business. I fired one shot.


Wow. That was different. I was doing as best I could to put the evil buttplate between shoulder and bicep. Yet, it was a far from pleasurable sensation. I walked down range, fully expecting to see a fulfilling .25 inch bullet hole somewhere on the paper. Alas, it was not to be. No big deal I thought . I'll just slide the ladder on the rear sight slide up a notch, that should give me something to work with.

Uh, no. I figures, let's try the next notch. It's worth a try.
OK that hurt. I sure hope there is a hole. I'll go check it out. Yeah, I'm sure there will be a hole. I hope so, I'm running out of notches, and oh dear god, there is also windage to consider. Wow that thing is metal, and sharp, and thin.

No hole. As I'm walking back to the bench, I can feel my resolve growing as I left the target, and diminishing the closer I came to the great beast, mocking me as it perched nonchalantly on the bags.

One more slide, one more missed target. Time to go.

That's my story, and it ain't much of one, but it's all I got right now. I know I need to start zeroing a new rifle in at shorter range, that was my intention, but the fates, or the weather, and yes my own laziness prevented me from improvising a new target holder.

I think mainly I am looking for validation from those whose pride, and shoulders have been damaged by crescent buttplates. Advise on easy on the shoulder .45 70 whitetail loads. I don't know. Mainly I just wanted to type out the experience I had.

I feel sort of like half a man driving home, because I didn't do the job I set out to do.

I'm still a little tender there three days late by the way. Thanks for listening, and thanks for any responses, recommendations, and even questioning of my manhood.

Good shooting.

WOW! I have never liked cresent but plates. Try putting a bag of shot between the but and your shoulder when shooting off the bench that should help and I bet you do not feel it when shooting at game. Bear

Try some 300 grain trapdoor-level loads. Should be plenty strong enough for deer.

Bruce

'dave,

While the Cresent butt's look soooo cool and retro, and impressive. Trust me on this: That "Quigley" thing only is impressive only on the TV screen.

I learned my lesson on the Carbine butt in much the same way. (The load was 50 gr. IMR-3031 and a 500 gr. cast bullet in a Ruger #3) And then I was stupid enough to try to shoot up the balance of a box of ammo in '86 Winchester with a Cresent butt. (The fact that I'm a slow learner would seem self-evident...)

Irregardless, I discovered in due time that in .45-70, the 300 gr. H.P. is more than adequate for the job at hand. Discard all visions of being a Macho-Man and start low, even with trapdoor level loads. Work up to a level you are confortable with.

On a more humorous note: DO keep a few of the stiffer loads at hand if for nothing else than to make a buddy a "believer". That's why I call them "Buddy Loads". (Yeah, I know, some times evil just emanates from within me! )

Grasshopper

Thanks for all the tips. I believe I will head to Sportsman's Warehouse after work and grab some 300 gr. bullets. I will then load at the starting load for 300 gr. bullets with IMR 3031. Any reccomendations for a good whitetail bullet at trapdoor velocities?

My speer manual states that they don't reccomend their 300 gr. bullet is designed to expand at higher velocities.

My pet load for the Ruger #1 in 45-70 is 16.0 gr. of SR-4759 under a Lyman #458122 330 gr. hollow point bullet. I use a one grain tuft of Dacron seated lightly on the powder to hold it againsrt the primer but you can shoot without one if you preferr. Velocity ran 1650 from the Ruger and slightly slower from an 1895 Marlin. The marlin is one of the early new models that has a semi-cresnt buttplate and it doe hurt with the stiffer loads.
Paul B.

Well, they had no 300 gr. bullets to speak of, so I picked up a box of Hornady 350 gr. RN's. They're the only game in town for reloading, and I didn't want to wait for an order. I'm eager to test my mettle again between morning and evening hunts next week.

I've been perusing data trying to pick a starting load.

Thanks for all the help.

Dave,

you can buy Remington 300 gr. H.P. from Midway in bulk. That makes it real affordable. I fear you'll not like the Hornady's all that well. Because of the long bearing surface on the RN's, they'll likely not show mcuh difference in recoil. If memory serves me right, they were intended for the .458 Win Mag.

Grasshopper

That does make sense. I don't like the fact that it makes sense, but it does make sense. Well, it is a learning process. And if nothing else, I will have fall-back buddy loads. "Here try this one, these are only 350 grains. You big girl"

I will check out Midway tomorrow. Ya know, I'm actually beginning to wish I had just got an '95 Marlin. I have a 336, and it's probably my favorite rifle. I was vulnerable in the gun store after just getting a bonus check. But, I have no regrets. It is a classy looking rifle.

Thou art a man patterned after my own heart....

Yeah. I figure I'll let them shoot off hand a few times with the light loads, they will say "sweet rifle, It is fun and fulfilling, and I feel a connection with my frontier-dwelling forbears", and then slip them the mickey. Hunker down and see what this baby will really do from the bench. Yeah.... that's the ticket...

heh heh.

Hmm, well just to point you the easy direction, try 68 grs of Swiss 1.5fg or Goex 2fg and a 475-530 gr lead bullet. I'm sure you will be on paper shortly.

As for the crescent butt, learn to hold your rifle different. Push it out further on your arm. It is too late now to get past that problem until your arm heals from the beating, but if you start right, you will finish fine.

Brent

400-500 grain bullets launched from any platform are shoulder busters.

If you run those 350 Hornadys between 1400 and 1600 fps I think you will find a very deadly load which is comfortable to shoot. I would probably opt for 32.0 - 37.0 grains of IMR 4198- which should be in that ballpark. Neither 350 from Hornady is likely to open much at these low speeds but I would prefer the flat nose. However, even the round nose ought to work fine of it is placed well. As with any bullet, regardless the speed, which does not open easily, I would probably be inclined to place the shot through parts usually avoided: the shoulders. At stately speeds and with "hard" bullets, even the shots often best avoided can be quickly deadly without spoiling a lot of meat.

Thanks for the tip. I went ahead and loaded some of the .350's up with 45 grains of IMR 3031. The Hornady manual says it will give velocities similar to those that you described.

A respectable buck down here is a hundred and fifty pounds on the hoof. So they don't take a lot of killing. I figure a big .45 caliber hole will put one down pretty fast, and leave a good blood trail.

But all of that is neither here nor there, until I find a load I'm comfortable with, until then I'll use my 30.06, and my 7mm Remington magnum, and my .30-30. Variety is the spice of life.

Ive had a couple of those rifles that just knock the buggars loose,I was at a gunshow recently and some fella had one of those pull over type recoil pads,I snagged it and went to the range and I was impressed with how much less of a beating I took by using that recoil pad..............

Here's a tip I use when sighting in a gun with a crescent buttplate. Buy one of those strap on PAST recoil pads. They aren't that thick, but they darn sure work well for me!
You'll never feel that recoil when you're shooting at a deer, but at the bench it sure lets you know it's there!
It tames the recoil of the deep crescent on my Ballard in .45-70.

Thanks Marlinman. I already have a past strap on pad. I wasn't sure how it would work with a crescent stock, but it's worth a try.

Nice Ballarrd btw.