40-70 SS loads

[Ted Kramer]

Mike,

You'll like the .40-70SS once you find the load your rifle prefers. It took me a couple years to get the bugs worked out. My rifle is a CSA '74 purchased in 1999. I started out with BA stretched .30-40 Krag brass but it varied a lot in neck thickness and a lot of the cases separated at the mid-point. Extracting what looked like a .44-40 case caused just a wee bit of anxiety for me as a new shooter of BPC rifles. To his credit, Dave Gullo replaced each and every failed case.

The stretched Krags would comfortably hold 68 gr. of KIK 2ffg compressed ~.125" under a 390 gr. Brooks bullet. Against the advice of many on several chat rooms, in 2001 I purchased 200 Bertram cases and still have and use each and every one of the original 200. The Bertram cases hold about 5gr less powder, w/same compression and bullet.

I've had the best luck with Winchester LR primers, 62 gr. KIK 2ffg, a .020" wad cut from a cereal box (preferably Wheaties) ~.125" compression and the bullet on top with very little neck tension, no crimp, front driving band just off the rifling. This is a clean burning load. Velocity averages 1330.

Eyes full of floaters make shooting groups at 200 yards pointless for me but the rifle/cartridge/load does well for me shooting our buffalo herd shoots where we shoot 25 rounds in 10 minutes with no chance to use a blow tube.

Hope yours works out for you. Keep us posted.

Ted