Shiloh Rifle Forums

Hey All...

I have a new rifle about to be delivered. It's a 45-90 with a 32" half round standard weight barrel, 15" twist Douglass barrel (not a typo). I had thought that I might have a chance to work up a ladder test prior to the Quigley if time allows. The bullet I am thinking to use is the BACO 545 gr Money bullet, I have the M2 mold on hand. Have not graduated to PP yet, although I do think on it occasionally...

What is the range of charge weights guys seem to be running in their 45-90's? What type of wad stacks?

I have an ample supply of Swiss 1.5F, but only 5 lbs each of OE 1.5F, 2F, and 3F. I have plenty BR2 and regular LR primers, and lots of new brass freshly annealed (not trimmed). I have lots of over primer wads cut and ready to go also. Lube I'm running is Emmert's Improved.

Grateful for any pointers/advice you guys can provide!!

1-15 twist Douglas .45 Caliber Barrel?
Baco Moulds have 6 numbers before the M2
Is it a Rollingblock action, a DS Cole or ?
Scope or irons?
1-20 alloy works OK
Improved Emmerts should work
Large Rifle Primers OK
First step is establishing cartridge overall loaded length.
Ladder tests can be done at 200 yards to find harmonics of barrel velocity.
Weight of charge and wads can then be determined.

A gong/plinker load for the Q should probably be tested out to 800 yards I am guessing? Mostly to determine if you have enough elevation on the sight or sights to reach that distance with your load.

My Shiloh has a 1:16 twist Shiloh barrel The bullet you choose will probably depend mostly on the reamer used to chamber the rifle.

For a 1:16 twist Shiloh I can recommend the 459540M3 when shooting with no neck tension. The 458535M1 also shoots very well in mine with about 0.001" neck tension.

I use 80gr of Swiss 1.5 with the 540gr bullet and 78gr with the 535gr bullet. CCI BR2 for both, seated to just engrave the bullet in both cases.

I didn't get max accuracy until I had annealed my cases twice.

Chris.

Run 85gn of Goex Old E 2f under a Paul Jones Creedmoor bullet, with a .060 fiber wad and DGL lube.
Bullet is shot 'as cast'.

Try Accurate 46-530C mold, 75/76 grains 1 1/2 Swiss, LR primers, coffee filter bottom of cartridge and .060 veg fiber ; Walters or Circle Fly. Emmett's modified will work very well.

Lumpy Grits wrote: ↑Sun May 15, 2022 2:00 pm Run 85gn of Goex Old E 2f under a Paul Jones Creedmoor bullet, with a .060 fiber wad and DGL lube.
Bullet is shot 'as cast'.

Robert

gunlaker wrote: ↑Sat May 14, 2022 6:31 pm My Shiloh has a 1:16 twist Shiloh barrel The bullet you choose will probably depend mostly on the reamer used to chamber the rifle.

For a 1:16 twist Shiloh I can recommend the 459540M3 when shooting with no neck tension. The 458535M1 also shoots very well in mine with about 0.001" neck tension.

I use 80gr of Swiss 1.5 with the 540gr bullet and 78gr with the 535gr bullet. CCI BR2 for both, seated to just engrave the bullet in both cases.

I didn't get max accuracy until I had annealed my cases twice.

Chris.

Chris, I realize this post is a year old but hoping you can expand on "engraving the bullet" and annealing the cases. I am currently loading and shooting for 45-70 and have a Shiloh 45-90 on order. I have never seen the term "engrave" on any of the BP forums and how often do you anneal your cases? I have read on Starline's site that one may need to to anneal initially for better accuracy. I have done a little annealing of my 45-70 cases but I generally don't because the brass is never resized, so I figured it did not need it. Thanks Tom

shoot the brass first and see if you need to anneal it. If your not going to resize there is no point in annealing the brass. now if your getting blow by yes, anneal. On engraving, it is when your bullet comes into contact a certain amount with your lands. They make cartridge seaters as to let you leave your bullet out further and you can use that tool to push the round in.

matt

I anneal with a propane torch and a battery drill with a Lee case holder to hold the case. You can find lots of posts on how to anneal using this technique, but with Starline 45-90 I generally hold the case in the outer part of the flame for 5-6 seconds. If you use neck tension then you'll notice right away when expanding case mouths that it takes less effort on the press handle. Usually I anneal them twice when they are brand new just to make sure they are consistent.

As far as engraving, mostly I seat the bullet out so that when I chamber it and then remove the round, I can see where the lands have engraved the first driving band about 1/2 way. I used to use one of those cartridge seaters with one of my 40-65's and seat the bullets out further, but after a lot of shooting I stopped as I didn't see an advantage.

Chris.

Thanks Matt and Chris, understood. I appreciate the quick replies!

I’ve been doing a fair amount of work with this rifle and most of the above advice has been shown true…

Powder charge definitely seems to be in the 83-86 grain range with the BACO 540 grain M3 money bullet. Going to be testing several lots of ammo for accuracy as soon as I get back from a trip to see my grandson in Georgia (finally get me some decent BBQ too!)…

Funny how time flies by and leaves me scrambling to get ready for the Q every year!!

bpcr shooter wrote: ↑Wed May 03, 2023 5:47 am shoot the brass first and see if you need to anneal it. If your not going to resize there is no point in annealing the brass. now if your getting blow by yes, anneal. On engraving, it is when your bullet comes into contact a certain amount with your lands. They make cartridge seaters as to let you leave your bullet out further and you can use that tool to push the round in.

matt

Matt, what are all the indications of blow by? I know unburned powder is an indicator. What else? Thanks. Tom

Black streaking on the outside of the case.