The American Sharps Shooters, 2015-3

[Mike]

    Tom, That old original might do well with the Spencer bullet. The old Springfields often had a 1 in 42 inch rate of twist which really wasn't quite fast enough for the 450 grain bullets. And try those light loads with spacers so you don't have an air gap between powder and bullet. That shouldn't be any problem because I'm compressing powder quite a bit to get 65 or 70 grains under the standard grease groove bullets. Also, you shouldn't need to worry about the recoil. Try those light or carbine loads but then you'll probably graduate up to rifle loads rather quickly. I like the carbine loads in the .45/70, especially in my lightweight from C. Sharps Arms, but for my .50/70 rifles the more standard load is more than fine.
Here's a picture of a group fired with my .50/70 at just 50 yards, 10 shots with a 450 grain bullets from a Lee mold over 65 grains of Olde Eynsford 2F. Shoot sharp, Mike