45-90

[DirtySteve]

Any one here shooting a paper patched 45-90. Using 1F Goex? I am having a heck of a time getting a load to shoot in my 90... I am using a 530 money bullet (.446) Seth Cole 55W. I have tried from 86-91 grain and my results have been less than stellar..

I wanted to use up my Goex but may have to switch to Swiss 1 1/2..

Steve

[JKR]

Steve,
It would be interesting to see if the results are noticeably different with the Swiss.
How much powder will the 2.4” case hold when dropped tubed flush to the case mouth?
JKR

[DirtySteve]

JKR,
I believe it held 91 grs. of 1F Goex when poured through a drop tube. I had a nice load with a 500 grain bullet and may revisit that. It was 84 grs. I was thinking the 530 may need a little more, so I went with 88 grains, but maybe I should have stayed at 84 or went slightly less.

[Don McDowell]

Might try 90 grains with a single thick wad. I use the Napa rubber cork wad 1/16 material.
I also find that sometimes the Sc 55 y works better with the .446 and fatter bullets.
And sometimes wiping the exposed patch after you seat the bullets with just a drop of jojoba oil and wiping the oil off the patch with a tea towel can really bring things together.
I've found that with regular Goex 1f cci large rifle primers seem to work best, and with the Olde Eynsford 1f br2 primers work well pretty constantly.
Might not hurt to try a large pistol primer.
Fouling control will make or break a patched load, one needs be mindful on that one.

[JKR]

I’m glad Don came in on this as I don’t feel qualified to give load advise. Having said that, my success has come with a full case of powder and a single wad with enough compression to seat the bullet about 1/10”. I use just enough mouth tension to hold the bullet from falling out.
My only experience so far has been with the 45-70. I’ve never had enough GOEX to do any serious testing.
Good luck!
Jim

[Don McDowell]

Goex, and Old Eysnford both like to be mashed a bit. Somewhere around 1/4 inch is a good place to start.
On that BACO money bullet I use a 7/8 in wide patch, and seat the bullet deep enough in the case that about 1/10 of an inch of the leading edge of the patch is engraved by the rifling. Cases that have been sized and expanded and chamfered enough to make a bit of thumb pressure to seat the bullet give the best accuracy.
Wad stacks under that bullet with 1 1/ or 2 f powder can be beneficial.

[DirtySteve]

Thanks for all the input. For fouling control I used a bore pig and and BACO Swab followed by a dry patch. My wad stack for this mess was, a .06 Fiber wad, Poly wad and 1/8" felt. I will try a single wad. It worked well enough for Edwin Perry, I should have tried it first.

I do have a few pistol primers but not many left at this point. I will try them as well.

I seat 1/8" and use CH4D neck sizer to get the neck tension right. I have four different size bushings in .001" increments.

Steve

[Don McDowell]

You might want to try seating a bit deeper. Most of my 45-90's are seated about .2 or a little deeper.
If I'm using a wad stack, I use the thin napa rubber cork and a muzzleloader original dry lubed felt wad., Napa wad on the powder.
Be sure to chamfer the case mouth lightly and size the case before seating the bullet.
What the bore pig is wet with can make a difference as well. I like napa water soluble cutting oil and water , 1 part oil to 7 parts water.

[Kurt]

Steve,

I been shooting the 2.4 Shiloh and CPA now for several years after retiring the .50 and it does well for the gong and 1000 yard shoots.
I would suggest loading ladder loads, zero compression to as much as you want to compress even filled to the top of the case, but this is usually not necessary to use this much powder.
I have used Goex 1F, 2F, and 3F for this caliber with good results but not as good as using the OE or Swiss. I have the bullet you mention as well as a Brooks and Paul Jones but those two have a blunter ball Hemi nose, I like using the blunter nosed bullets over the sharper nosed.
But I seldom find a good group with the OE or Swiss with more that about .120 +- compression. The Goes, now this was with the regular 1F I got the best results with about .300" compression than when the Goex express came out it had several different compression amounts that worked well.
I dont stick with a particular weight, this usually changes per every lot change usually. It don't matter if it's swiss or what ever powder. My last load I used with the OE powder was 82 grains that gave me .128" compression.
All I can tell you and that is do a 3 Shot ladder load increasing the powder one grain for the next three shots till you find the null you're looking for. Start at zero and work your way up 1 grain for three shots and usually you will see what can be tweaked out better with about 21 shots fired. Dont get your mind set on a particular powder weight charge. That will change from lot too lot or even a different rifle it gets shot in

[DirtySteve]

Kurt,
Just curious what distance do you do your ladder testing at? I was planning on banging steel at 800, first for an initial test. Then test any promising load at 400 on paper.

Steve