New rifle Shiloh 1877---Learning to Paper Patch

[parkergunz]

I recently went to Big Timber and got my 1877. 32" round barrel, Rigby Rib, flared forend panels, .45-90 with 7 degree transition, xtra fancy hand select wood (picked out by my daughter), steel buttplate and AAA finish. I topped this off with a MVA 113 and MVA Xtra Long Range Buffalo Soule.

My winter project is to learn to paper patch and work up a long range load.

I bought some 550 grain Creedmoor .444 diameter pure lead cup based swaged bullets and 9# paper from BACO. They wrap to .4505. I have some Montana Bullet Works groove patched 550 grain bullets. I also have, on loan, a Tom Ballard adjustable mold that is current set to throw a 522 grain cup based bullet. I casted a handful of 16:1 bullets. I am trying to decide whether to use the 9# BACO or some Seth Cole 55Y to wrap these with.

My initial wad stack will be .03 fiber, 1/8" felt and .03 ldpe.

My powder will be Swiss 1.5 with CCI BR2 primers. Brass is Starline, annealed of course.

I'll try to keep things updated through my learning process.    

[Don McDowell]

Nice rifle Mike.
I think you're going to find a .446 diameter bullet to serve you better than the .444. 16-1 alloy good choice tho.
I'ld leave out one of those .030 wads when using the felt wad.
Try both papers 9 lb might be the better choice with .444, altho I think you get more dirt diggers using 9 lb than the 8 lb.

[parkergunz]

I have been in contact with both KAL and Steve Brooks concerning a cup based straight sided adjustable molds. I'll scrounge up some .446 bullets to test before I make my final decision. The Tom Ballard mold I have is tapered and at 522 grains the base patches to .451 with the Seth Cole 55Y and closer to .452 with the 9# BACO. It tapers rapidly to .446 patched at about .8'' with the Seth Cole.

[Don McDowell]

The thing you have to watch with the cupped base bullets
1. Keep the cup base very shallow.
2 Even with a shallow cup base they are very hard to cast consistent bases with. The cull rate is pretty high in both visual and weight inspection. I have a cupped base bullet my rifles like very well, but they are exhaustive to cast match quality with. Flat base is a bunch easier and may even show a definet edge in long range accuracy.

[parkergunz]

Thank you for your input. I’m open to any and all suggestions/comments.

[Don McDowell]

Fouling control is a vital part of paper patch accuracy.

[Fogman01]

Parkergunz,
Did Shiloh have that wood there for your daughter to pick or did you get it somewhere else?

[parkergunz]

It is Shiloh wood out of Missouri. There is a $50 charge to hand select. Kirk laid out what he had available and we selected a half dozen blanks. We took them outside with a bottle of acetone and wet them down to see the grain and color in the sun.

[Semtav]

Mike
Looks good. If you get bored and want to try another bullet, I use a Paul Jones Money bullet That I patch to Groove. Works good in my Browning 45-90, Browning 45-70 and Shiloh 45-70. Should work well in your 45-90 with that throat.
Brian

[parkergunz]

Are you guys shooting long range Saturday, weather permitting? We could discuss it then.