So You Think You Can Shoot
- Thread starter kwhi43
- Start date
towboat-er
New member
That's some mighty fine shooting.
That's some mighty fine shooting, I'm happy when I break into the 90's.
Are you sure the Ruger Old Army uses the same barrel as a .45-70? Mine slugs at .452, essentially the same barrel Ruger uses for its .45 Colt revolvers.
Most .45-70 barrels have a .458 groove diameter. I can push a .457 roundball halfway down my .45-70 barrel and look through it and see daylight in each groove past the ball.
I've thought about experimenting with patched roundball loads in a .45-70 for informal plinking, since you can't buy the .460 roundballs that would be ideal for a .45-70 roundball load, I'm thinking of maybe .445 or .451 balls patched with .020 cloth seated in the case, wads or cornmeal taking up the extra space between the light powder charge and the ball.
Are you sure the Ruger Old Army uses the same barrel as a .45-70? Mine slugs at .452, essentially the same barrel Ruger uses for its .45 Colt revolvers.
Most .45-70 barrels have a .458 groove diameter. I can push a .457 roundball halfway down my .45-70 barrel and look through it and see daylight in each groove past the ball.
I've thought about experimenting with patched roundball loads in a .45-70 for informal plinking, since you can't buy the .460 roundballs that would be ideal for a .45-70 roundball load, I'm thinking of maybe .445 or .451 balls patched with .020 cloth seated in the case, wads or cornmeal taking up the extra space between the light powder charge and the ball.
What I posted was "My Old Army Has A 45-70 Barrel. Which it does. I know
because I put it there. Factory has a 1-16 twist. Back in 1973 I ordered a
45-70 barrel from Numrich Arms. I think it was a Douglas barrel. Mr Carver had
convinced me that it was best. I think the groove dia is .465. I also reamed out
the chambers to same dia. My accuracy load in it was 40 grs. Hodgdon FFF.
The powder which I still have a couple lbs. is made in Scotland by Curtis & Harvey.
because I put it there. Factory has a 1-16 twist. Back in 1973 I ordered a
45-70 barrel from Numrich Arms. I think it was a Douglas barrel. Mr Carver had
convinced me that it was best. I think the groove dia is .465. I also reamed out
the chambers to same dia. My accuracy load in it was 40 grs. Hodgdon FFF.
The powder which I still have a couple lbs. is made in Scotland by Curtis & Harvey.
Fingers McGee
New member
Nope, I know I can' t shoot. Best I've done is cutting 4 1/2 out of five playing cards at 10 yards
Oh, I know I can shoot. Hitting what I'm aiming at sometimes is another story all together.
Smart-aleckiness aside, thanks for sharing. It's cool that you found a good mentor who obviously knew what he was doing.
As someone's signature line on one of the forums I read says: "Young guys should hang out with old guys. Old guys know stuff."
Smart-aleckiness aside, thanks for sharing. It's cool that you found a good mentor who obviously knew what he was doing.
As someone's signature line on one of the forums I read says: "Young guys should hang out with old guys. Old guys know stuff."