Need Load Development help for High Wall

[Treegunner]

I am trying to make my first load for my Uberti 45-70 High wall 30" bbl, and honestly it isn't going well. What's working for everyone around here is:

25g of IMR4198,
.405gr Meister RN/FP (.458 Dia),
CCI LR BR primers
OAL of 2.570.

Tried it and my 3 shot group avg was 2.75" with a MV of 1205 FPS, tried 28g and it tightened to 2.30" with a MV of 1370 FPS. I was thinking about using the 28g and tinkering with OAL a little bit. Maybe the barrel still needs to broken in it has about 100 rounds thru it as of now.

It could be my shooting as well, I have only been shooting for about a year but I think I am OK shot, consistant 1/2" groups with my .22 and MOA with my .308, but I guess I have only about 120 shots using a 45-70. I was using the sight reticle with fine crosshairs with the circle in the middle (maybe I should have used the regular crosshairs).

Is this about the best this rifle is going to get or does anyone have any tricks up their sleeves they could enlighten me with.

Please all info on shooting technique or load development is greatly appreciated

Thanks again all,
Treegunner

[Lanny]

Heck Treegunner, on my good days, with the right loads, my Highwall will put 5-6 shots downrange at 100 yds. touching...with a Marble tang sight. I'm not familiar with that bullet you're using, but I've shot jacketed 405-gr. and 300-gr. Remingtons, Hornadys, Speer and Sierras. I've settled on the 300-grainers. With all the cautionary caveats and disclaimers that you use these at your own risk, here is what my Uberti likes, with the 300-gr. Sierras, an OAL of 2.550-2.580" and Win. or Fed. primers:

IMR 4198/41.2 grs. for approx. 1850 fps
Varget/60.0 grs. for approx. 1900 fps

Is your gun scoped? If so, can you tell me what setup you have? Pictures would be nice. Good luck.

[Treegunner]

Hey Lanny, Thanks for the info, I am using Ukranian Soule sights.

The first thing I will try is an OAL of 2.580 and use the cross hair reticle in the front globe and see what happens. If I cant get the accuracy I want out of these I will change to a 300 gr.

How is the kick using 41.2 gr of 4198?

[Lanny]

Not as bad as 60.0 grs. of Varget or H4895. And not as bad as compared to most loads with the 405-grainer. You'll flatten your trajectory, which is still pretty loopey anyhow. Every gun has certain likes and dislikes. You need to find it's sweet spot. See how it does with factory 300 and 405 grain bullets and you'll get an inkling of what 1800 fps and 1300 fps muzzle velocity does in the gun. From there on, you can experiment using the factory velocities as a baseline. This all applies to jacketed bullets and smokeless powders. I don't know squat about blackpowder and have only limited experience with cast bullets. Also, analyze your downrange groups. Circular is good. Horizontal may be shooter error. And vertical may be a forend bedding problem. Use a good sandbag rest when testing. Good luck.

[Treegunner]

I will probably get out there next week and see what I can do with OAL and maybe tweak it all some more and I will give you an update.

Treegunner

[Lanny]

As noted in earlier posts, my concern with my IMR 4198 load was the amount of air space left in the case. Treegunner, you must have next to nothing with just 25 grs. I think you may have an indication that more MV might be a good thing, as you stated it tightened the group somewhat. Get a good .45-70 reloading book, to be safe stick with the Trapdoor level stuff and have fun. Also, try the 300-grainers. They recoil less.