50/70 bullets

[Mike]

How many .50/70 shooters do we have here and what is/are your favorite bullets? One bullet I'm using now is the standard 515-450 from a Lee mold. That bullet is about 15 grains heavier than Lyman's #515141 and the difference is in the bottom bearing band which is about twice as thick. I've never been a real fan of Lee molds but this one is treating me rather well. Shoot sharp, Mike

[J.B.]

G'day Mike. I need to get my 50's out again soon as they are feeling neglected! The Lyman #141 worked well for me but I ended up sending Tom at Accurate some specifications and the 50-465S is the result. Designed to be shot with the forward band and lube groove exposed and it's been a good performer for me. Performed great on paper to 100 yds and on steel out to 7-800 yds. I'm thinking I may use it for my next silhouette match if I have another opportunity as its the only suitable rifle I have that makes weight. I'm running the 1/36" twist in mine. Often overlooked round these days it seems.

regards.. Gavin.

[Mike]

Gavin, Thanks for your excellent notes. I'll have to look at your Accurate bullet. My new .50/70 is barreled with a 1 in 26" twist and I find no fault with that. And I do thank you for pointing out that you have used your .50/70 out to 800 yards. That is something I want to try, maybe even at Quigley. I've wondered if my mid-range rear sight is tall enough for 800 yard shooting with the .50/70. (It is plenty tall for the buffalo at Quigley with my .44/77.) Also, you mentioned seating the bullets out with an exposed lube groove. I don't like to do that and I've seen too many shooters with lube exposed on their ammo drop some or all cartridges in the sand. That makes me load my ammo with all lube grooves covered, so I can just put my cartridges in my pocket and go shoot, or hunt. Just the way I do it. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Mike]

Gavin, That must be "51-465S" and I see it has a bore diameter forward band to allow you to seat the bullet out. What powder charge do you use beneath this? Shoot sharp, Mike

[J.B.]

Yes.. sorry Mike that would be the correct mould no. I was trying to remember in the middle of a night shift.. ( not at my best ). I generally agree with you when it comes to keeping lube grooves covered and certainly would do so for field or hunting ammunition but as this was primarily for range/target work I didnt feel it was essential and may lead to better alignment . Like a lot of my loads.. still a work in progress but 75 x 3f Swiss was averaging 1330 fps, while the Lyman bullet #141 in front of 65 x 1.5 Swiss was yielding an average of 1270 fps. I think my next recipe will be the Accurate bullet but with 70 or so grains of Swiss 1.5. That should hover around the 1300 fps mark me thinks and be more than sufficient. The 50's are amazingly accurate and the 1 3/4" is a pleasure to shoot.
rgds.. Gavin

[Mike]

Once again I thank your for those details. The load I'm using with the Lyman or the Lee bullets, with those bullets seated to cover all lube grooves, is 65 grains (by volume) us Olde Eynsford 2f plus a Walters' .060" veggie wad and I have not sent any across the chronograph yet. However, I am expecting to get about 1250 fps out of my new gun's 26" barrel. That remains to be seen, however, because I'm looking for good groups at this time. We have some local bpcr matches at short ranges and that's where my .50/70 will see its first duties. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Stephen Borud]

I have a new 50/70 from Shiloh Sharps. I have 36 rounds through it so far. 70 grains of Fg KIK, .025 card, 3/16 lube, .025 card and a 425 gr PP bullet.

So far it shoots well.

SB

[Mike]

I have a new 50/70 from Shiloh Sharps. I have 36 rounds through it so far. 70 grains of Fg KIK, .025 card, 3/16 lube, .025 card and a 425 gr PP bullet.

So far it shoots well.

SB

SB, Is your bullet mold an adjustable one? I recently got one of the KAL molds from Dean to make the Sharps style .50 PP bullets. So far I've mainly used it to make 473 grain bullets for use in the .50/90. I also have Accurate's .50-470T and that works very well in my other .50/70 with a 30" barrel. But with my new .50/70 which has the 26" barrel I'm staying with greasers for a bit, until I'm sure the barrel is broken in. Thanks for your note, I will probably need to try a 425 grain PP, that sounds like a great hunting load. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Stephen Borud]

Yes it's adjustable Mike. I have the same mold I am sure you have. I bought mine from Dean as well. It never did cast well at 473 grains so I built another mold for my 50 2 1/2", by shortening the KAL mold to cast a 425 grain bullet I do not have any problems with it.

Stephen

[J.B.]

Accuracy and consistency is what its all about ..but every now and again I have the opportunity to put some rounds over a friends chronograph and yield to the temptation. The Accurate mold I mentioned was an attempt to assist the 50/70 for the long range ( 800 yd ) gong match I was attending. I cant imagine there is much game out there that a 50 cal, 420-450 grain bullet isnt going to put down if placed correctly. My Shiloh is running a 28" standard barrel and I've run the Kal, tapered Sharps bullet in it also with good results to 100 yds. Was getting consistent paper rings but accuracy was good. I did order some thicker brass from RMC to hopefully take up some of the chamber slack but the cases were too thick and compromised powder capacity to a fair degree. Most of the time the paper rings came out with the case and fouling just doesnt seem to be 'as much' of an issue for the 50's .. or so it seems to date. I think you'll find 1-2 f fine and I wouldnt bother with 3f again. Was just an experiment ..as I'd run out of the larger granulations. I'm still working on my consistency