It doesn't have to be difficult or technical

Support for the 1863 shooter. Discussions of powders, loads, bullets, etc.
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Bill Goodman
Posts: 291
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 9:47 am

It doesn't have to be difficult or technical

Post by Bill Goodman »

I took out a Shiloh .45-70 that I hadn't worked with before. I used some cast Lyman 457124 flat nose .405 grainers 1/30, visually inspected (not weighed), lubed SPG and sized in a .460 sizer (didn't size the slugs down as they fell out of the mould about .459") neck sized some fired Starline brass, loaded 68.5 grs Swiss 1 1/2fg, Walters wad and no real compression, bullet seated just shy of the rifling,primed with Fed 215 (Yes, Fed 215) and shot a 5 shot 1.35 inch group, 100 yards, light breeze- first four into 1 inch the 5th opened the group. I didn't trim the brass as it was fairly new, didn't even true the prmer pocket or de-bur the flash hole. I was pleased. I'm sure weighed slugs, custom mould, doing all the things I didn't do would have maybe shrunk the group etc. But, it isn't ALWAYS necessary. A lot of beginners get turned off because they think they need a lot of sophisticated equipment and technique to make a Shiloh shoot well with BP. I think keeping it simple AT FIRST is a good way to go. If needed or desired, one can get more and more complex with loading. For most new shooters, it's important to get started with minimal hassles and HAVE FUN!
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