Shiloh Rifle Forums

I’m looking for a bullet mould for personal use. This will be for a Shiloh 45-70 with black powder. I plan to use it for everything from short range on out to 1000yds.
Anyone have experience with it?
It has two reduced driving bands for extra powder capacity. This sounds like a great idea, but does it cost accuracy? I’d prefer accuracy over fps.
I’ll listen to any and all ideas. And since it is a Shiloh, would the .460” be the correct diameter?
Thanks in advance.
ARN

Go with the .458 version for your Shiloh otherwise you wouldn’t be able to chamber your ammo.

This mould design is for the Pedersoli sloppy chambers. Their barrels are of good quality yet their chambers tend to run large, Shilohs do not.

Kenny Wasserburger

Kenny Wasserburger wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 9:46 am Go with the .458 version for your Shiloh otherwise you wouldn’t be able to chamber your ammo.

This mould design is for the Pedersoli sloppy chambers. Their barrels are of good quality yet their chambers tend to run large, Shilohs do not.

Kenny Wasserburger

Correct me if I’m wrong here, but I thought a Shiloh measures at .458 at the outside of the rifling and .450 at the inside? I haven’t slugged mine to know exactly.
The bullet should just butt into the rifling is my understanding. And to get a good seal I’ve been told to run +.001-.002.

And what about accuracy of the reduced 2 driving bands design? Does it reduce accuracy?
Thanks

How about this one instead?

It sounds like I really should slug my barrel too.

Also, where can I acquire a pure lead ball to slug my barrel? I’d assume I need a slug of approximately.460-.475?

Thanks

Round fishing weights.

And I agree with the .458 mold size.

[quote="A Atwood" post_id=340003 time=1675529238 user_id=310011]
Also, where can I acquire a pure lead ball to slug my barrel? I’d assume I need a slug of approximately.460-.475?

Thanks
[/quote]

First of all you want a bullet that will fit a fired case, this slugging crap is just that crap. The bullet has to be fitted for your chamber period and nominally at groove depth, .458 otherwise you ammunition will not fit in your rifle.

To accurately measure a slug you need a special 3 pronged device. Pounding lead into your barrel is nothing I can recommend.

The reduced bands mean exactly what they say to fit up into the bore, to give one a bit more powder capacity, this will not hurt accuracy.

Buy a proper fitting mould all you have to do is get a .458 diameter bullet this is what Shiloh recommends. And no reason to chase you tail slugging you barrel and risk damaging it.

Kenny W.

That is considered a highly accurate competition ready bullet, particularly suited for long range shooting with a 45-70. Most molds drop slightly oversized, so the 458 will allow minimal sizing when going thru a .459 die, and is well suited for Shiloh's tight chambers. Having one or two bore size lands in the rifling both enhances accuracy and allows more powder capacity in a grease groove bullet. However it must be loaded that way. Thus the rounds must be handled with care to prevent contamination of the exposed lube. So not a good bullet for hunting/rough handling.

And Kenny is quite correct. No need to slug a Shiloh.

I keep a box of soft lead .45 cal. muzzleloader balls on my work bench to slug bores. If I need one larger than the diameter, I simply place it on the anvil part of my vise and give it a whack with my hammer, which squishes it down slightly and expands it enough. Then drive it into the bore and measure it. When done the slug goes back in the box to use for smaller bores until it's too small, and gets tossed in my lead pot.

I have been using the JIM459542M5 bullet mold from Buffalo Arms with some success, in my Shiloh 45-70 with 16 inch twist barrel.
.459 fits in a fired case, and seems to work as well as .458 for this rifle.

Needing bullets to be larger than groove diameter isn't really necessary for use with black powder and tin/lead alloy bullets. As soon as the powder ignites, a tin/lead bullet will expand to fill any available space in the chamber.

If you are using bullets which are a lot harder than tin/lead alloy bullets, you may indeed need a bullet diameter larger than groove diameter, and may run into issues trying to chamber such a round.

I haven't shot that exact bullet, but I have the 460535M5 which is a similar concept. It hasn't shot nearly as well as the the 458535M1 for me. That bullet works great in all of my 45 cal grease groove rifles. So like Kenny says, the 458 diameter bullet is pretty good.

My two Shiloh Sharps rifles in .45-70 will actually just barely slip fit a .460" bullet in fireformed Starline brass. That surprised me. Interestingly I can't do that in any of my .45-90's, my 45-100, or my 45-110. 0.458" or 0.459" is as big as can be slip fit into a fired case in those rifles.

I also don't shoot my 45-70s past silhouette distances as I have bigger .45's for that. In those rifles I use either the same 458535M1 with 0.001" neck tension, or a 0.459" bullet that's a nice slip fit. The 459540M3 and 459542M3 are excellent for slip fit loads IMO.

That's my $0.02 ( but it's Canadian $0.02 ) so not worth quite so much

Chris.

Aviator wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 12:08 pm I have been using the JIM459542M5 bullet mold from Buffalo Arms with some success, in my Shiloh 45-70 with 16 inch twist barrel.
.459 fits in a fired case, and seems to work as well as .458 for this rifle.

Needing bullets to be larger than groove diameter isn't really necessary for use with black powder and tin/lead alloy bullets. As soon as the powder ignites, a tin/lead bullet will expand to fill any available space in the chamber.

If you are using bullets which are a lot harder than tin/lead alloy bullets, you may indeed need a bullet diameter larger than groove diameter, and may run into issues trying to chamber such a round.

I have some 96/4 lead/tin ingots from roto metals that I’m going to try first. I hope it works well. If not I’ll have to try something else.

Thanks

Don’t get to hung up on diameter. Shiloh chambers are very tight. .458 will be fine. If it fits it ships.

This bullet shoots quite well in 18 twist Shiloh 45-70 to 1000 yards and closer.https://www.buffaloarms.com/459-530-grn ... 0p1bb.html
The 459525M3 also shoots well but the copy of the original postel above seems to hold better as the distances get longer.

I agree 100% with Steve. The JIM459542M5 is the bullet I would go with in a .45 2.1 if I was looking for a 1000 yd round in a 16 twist barrel.
Dennis