cases & projectiles for 45 x 2 7/8" .. req'd 'downu

[J.B.]

G'day guys & gals, thought I'd shoot up a flare from 'Downunder' to let you know we haven't given up yet. Quigley may have gone back home but he didn't leave a lot of cases or information here when he did ! I've been shooting a Shiloh.. No.1 Sporter with #1 heavy 34" bbl. in 45/ 110 for a few years now but unfortunately all too rarely. Having paper patched for the last four annual shoots I go to.. I posted my worst results to date only a few days ago. I'm changed from Goex to Swiss 1 1/2, using CCI Magnum primers.. my projectile is a 550 grn cast from a Ballard mould and patched with .001 paper. I'm still using lube flats that I ordered with my rifle and up until this year..had worked fine. While I can obtain Bertram brass easily.. I keep hearing of Bell, Norma & Starline.. As I'm trying to build up at least 80-100 cases of good quality and consistant length and capacity..I'm open to suggestions. I'm experiencing severe fouling in the throat area and there's no way of chambering a 3rd or 4th round without a blow tube or a run through with a rod. I've got a lot more questions but I've rabbited on long enough now.
thanks
Gavin (Oz..JBBooks)

[Lee Stone]

Gavin,

I have read good comments on the Norma brass but have not tried it. I have both Bell (.50/90) and Starline (.45/90) brass. I bought a thousand of each. Ought to be a life time supply for me.

I find that both the Bell and the Starline are made from rather hard brass and require annealing. Before annealing both brands rather "squawked" while being run through the sizing die even though well lubed. After I annealed them they quieted down while being sized. I like both the Bell and the Starline quite well. I use Winchester brass for my .45/70. So far I haven't had to anneal any of that. I buy all my brass in lots of 1000 so it will last me for a while. That also makes the brass all from the same lot and reduces variations.

How is the humidity around Sidney? I live in SouthEast Louisiana (near New Orleans) in the extremely humid Gulf South. Even in our high humidity (60% humidity is considered a very dry day here. Our usual humidity is in the 80 and 90 percentiles) I blow tube 5 to 7 long breaths after every round fired. Possibly if you were to blow tube after every shot, you might help your fouling problem. Also, you might look at your lube. Is it staying moist the length of the barrel and forming a good lube star at the muzzle? If not, you might consider a change there. If you would like, I can E-mail you the formula I have developed. It works well for me (my rifles all have 34 inch barrels) and my shooting friends who have tried have indicated it works well for them and that they like it (of course they may just be trying to be kind to me ). Send me a private message if you would like the formula.

[wolfie]

Howdy Mate i have a 45 110 also got to tell ya the norma brass is the best of the lot.very evan rims, primer pockets and flash holes.my bell brass suffers from inconsistant neck thickness tends to be thick over all.i also have HDS brass i think it was made by Bertram has good neck consistantcy but rim thickness sucks and have had several split lenthwise only shooting black powder best to ya

[RR]

Hello Gavin,

It has been my experience that the finer grain powders will usually give fouling problems in my 45-110. I have fired many test loads and keep comming back to Goex 1fg. With this I dont have any fouling trouble and get the kind of accuracy needed for target work. For hunting loads intended to be "minute of Buffalo" accurate out to open sight ranges I have some loads using Goex Cartridge and Swiss 1 1/2 that work for this. But they will give fouling porblems after about six rounds or so even with a blow tube but I had better have hit something before I need six shots when hunting. If at all possible give the 1fg a go for target match work.
RR

[Bad Ass Wallace]

Gavin,
I use Bertram for my 45/120 with great success after going through the primer pocked unifying, wall thickness and case length checks. Recently I got some 50/70 cases that had rims varing in thickness by .011, but fixed these also with a little lathe work.
That you are getting fouling after 3-4 shots, indicated that your lube is not doing it's job. In my Sharps, 45-50 shots between cleaning is norm with no deterioration in accuracy is norm.
One of the best bullets available for us Aussie's in the CBE 462/500 which is a copy of the original Sharps design with deep & wide grooves carrying plenty of lube.
http://www.users.bigpond.com/ammodump/cbe.html

[J.B.]

Thanks guys for the input. Sorry it's taken me a while to acknowledge but I'm as computer literate as a bandicoot with a hangover. Lee..you mentioned the humidity levels and while Sydney is usually fairly high compared to the rest of the state.. we've had drought conditions for much of the country for 2-3 years now and it's very dry everywhere. We had light rain yesterday but humidity is still only 62% ..which is pretty dry and it only gets lower the further inland you go. The nice lube stars I was getting at the muzzle ..seem to have dissappeared this year and it may be the lube isn't up to the task. I've used SPG with good results on lube groove bullets but have yet to use it as a 'grease cookie' for paper patching. I think that is the next step. Wolfie.. thanks for the note on Norma brass.. It's not imported at all down here ..so I'll have to source someone in the States to send me a box or two. I've really had no problems with Bertram..other than inconsistent case lengths when ordering 45/110.. rather than basic. These varied as much as an 8th of an inch in some cases but he appears to have addressed this.. Although..i'd sooner have them over by a few thou.. and trim them back !... R.R. ..I did try 3F initially ..and while I got heaps of powder in the case.. fowling was 'off the dial'. After reading Mike Venturino & Steve Garbe's book..I reverted to 1F Goex.. The fowling was still there but no where near as bad. I only switched to Swiss recently as an experienced BP shooter I know down here said it was burning quite well in his 45/ 70 & leaving very little fowling. As for me...I noticed no difference other than bad scores. I tend to be of the feeling that it may be a lube problem but I'll only find out by trial and error. G'day 'Bad Ass'..nice to know there are a few of us left ! As I said before..I don't have a real problem with Bertram at all..and the one and only case I've had split.. (first firing).. was apologised for and promptly replaced with 20 new cases.. Can't complain about that ! Length consistency and actual capacity..seems to vary against some of the other brands on the market though. In order to obtain some uniformity..I was going to order some 3 1/4" cases and trim them back but have been warned off by scary stories of 'neck thickness'. I don't know if this is as much of a problem for me when I'm using bore diameter paper patched bullets..but only time will tell. I do have that CBE mould you spoke of and while it does allow the projectile to dodge some fouling on chambering..I didn't find it offered any major benefits over the Lyman Postell mould I also have and being a lube grooved bullet..I'm sacrificing 8th of inch or so in powder capacity against the paper patched design. Thanks to you all for your advice.. it's been taken on board and now I've just got to get a chance to put it into practice. I will try and obtain some Norma 45/110 cases though.. so if anyone can suggest a contact.. let me know.
regards..
Gavin

[Smokin]

Gavin,

Here's a site you can check out. Graf and Sons is where I ordered my .45-110 Norma brass. It comes about 2.900" and requires FL sizing which is quite a squeeze and trimming to length, but it is very high quality. Good luck, Smokin

http://www.grafs.com/