Shiloh Rifle Forums

Hello All,

I happen to have 1000 pieces of 40-70 SS brass made by the Rocky Mountain Cartridge company. At the time, 3 years ago, I was going to go with the 40-70SS for my 1877. Now, I've decided to go with the 40-50 SS.

Can I just cut down my 40-70 SS brass to make the 40-50 SS brass? Or are the dimensions completely different?

Also, anyone know where to get a good set of reloading dies for the 40-50 SS?

R,
John W

I inherited some RMC 40-70 brass from an owner that re-chambered his rifle to 40-50. When he trimmed back his brass, the rims were too thick.
The RMC brass is lathe turned on the inside, so the ID is constant, ergo it gets thicker as it is shortened. FWIW.....................

John W , for as scarce as 40-70 ss brass is right now ( correct headstamp anyway) sell that stuff for what ever it will cost to get the correct dimensioned 40-50 ss brass that is correctly head stamped. I'm a betting it won't take to damned long to sell it either. Maybe put a little premium on it to boot. bobw

bobw wrote:John W , for as scarce as 40-70 ss brass is right now ( correct headstamp anyway) sell that stuff for what ever it will cost to get the correct dimensioned 40-50 ss brass that is correctly head stamped. I'm a betting it won't take to damned long to sell it either. Maybe put a little premium on it to boot. bobw

That is a good idea! Where do you recommend I try to sell my 40-70 SS Brass? It is correctly head stamped.

R,
John W

303 British makes good 40-50 brass as well as Krag brass. Krag brass has been hard to find lately but I recently bought some Hornady Krag brass and it seems good. My son shot a 40-50 for several years and the Krag brass had more case capacity than the 303 brass, about 5 grains more. You should be able to use the 40-70 dies to load the 40-50, you need to adjust the expander and seater stems much lower. I used a Lyman neck die and I made the expander die and a straight line seater die when I loaded his ammo.

John Bly wrote:303 British makes good 40-50 brass as well as Krag brass. Krag brass has been hard to find lately but I recently bought some Hornady Krag brass and it seems good. My son shot a 40-50 for several years and the Krag brass had more case capacity than the 303 brass, about 5 grains more. You should be able to use the 40-70 dies to load the 40-50, you need to adjust the expander and seater stems much lower. I used a Lyman neck die and I made the expander die and a straight line seater die when I loaded his ammo.

Thank you!

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but how does one form 40-50 brass from Krag brass, or from 303 brass? Is an instruction guide available?

R,
John W

John, I am interested in some of your RMC brass but I live in the UK and I believe that there could be a problem shipping brass out of the US.
I would have thought that you would have sold it all by now.
I shoot a Shiloh No. 3 in 40-70SS but nobody stocks the brass over here. I do have some from some years back.
Chris
England

I have about 400 pieces of new RP 30-40 Krag stretched brass. I would trade 4 to 1 for the RMC brass. It's $90.00 for 20 pieces of the RMC brass.Would be a sin to cut it down.

John W wrote:

bobw wrote:John W , for as scarce as 40-70 ss brass is right now ( correct headstamp anyway) sell that stuff for what ever it will cost to get the correct dimensioned 40-50 ss brass that is correctly head stamped. I'm a betting it won't take to damned long to sell it either. Maybe put a little premium on it to boot. bobw

That is a good idea! Where do you recommend I try to sell my 40-70 SS Brass? It is correctly head stamped.

R,
John W

I think if you don't get enough pm"s here about it to advertise it over on Don McDowell's site (Historical Shooting .com) he has a want to sell or trade column. bobw

30-40 Krag and 303 Brit brass can be fireformed in your chamber to make 40-50 brass. You can use either smokeless or black powder to fireform them. I've used 10 grains of Unique with the case filled with cream of wheat, grits or cornmeal with a dab of Elmers glue on top of it all. Let the glue harden and fire the cases in the rifle. They will expand to fit the chamber. Trim to length and you are good to go. You can also use a case about half full of black powder topped off with the fillers mentioned above. It may take a second firing with a 40 caliber bullet and black powder to get them fully formed no matter which method you choose.

Hi John, I'm interested in the 40 70 SS brass too.
If you haven't sold it yet send me a PM
I'm in Florida...

Thanks..Ken