New to me Shiloh Sharps

[Randy Bohannon]

Doug, a lube sizer is only useful for getting lube in the grooves you do not want to “size” a perfectly made bullet from a perfectly made mould , a learned lesson from Paul Jones .”460-461” size die will not touch the bullet but will apply the lube to the grooves if you don’t want to pan lube. I pan lube all of my greaser bullets for BPCR guns
as my lube sizer is for smokeless lube and a big pain in the butt to change lube.

[1578Tiger]

That's a beautiful rifle. These guys have "been there, done that." Shiloh can easily send the build sheet and manual. Good shooting!

[doug_bailey]

I ordered the bullets from Buffalo, but I balked at the black powder - they have a minimum order of 5 lbs, which seems like a lot considering I'm just getting started. Is there anywhere that sells by the pound, or perhaps a local store that carries it (SF Bay, NorCal)?

[bobw]

1lb? Jfc that's less than 100 rds you order by the 25 lb case so you have the same lot number for 2000+ rds..bobw

[doug_bailey]

Agreed, except that I don't have an experimentally derived preference for a specific powder, so I might end up with 5 lbs of annoying exposive taking up space. What I was ready to pull the trigger on was Swiss 2F - if I get 5 lbs of that, will I regret it?

[doug_bailey]

And I added some veggie wads to the order (0.060"). Not sure whether these are needed or not - what's the word on wads? Bullet is 500 Grain 20:1 with SPG lube.

[Randy Bohannon]

Swiss 1.5 or 1.0 is never a mistake for the 45-70, you should have no problem finding a load that will shoot well.Do 5lbs and mix them 3 lbs of 1.5 / 2 lbs of 1.0 that should be enough to start and get an idea of what the rifle likes.
When Old Eyensford 1.0/1.5 comes back around give that a try as well.
As for wads .60” LDPE have been my two Shiloh 45-70’s preferred wads.

[powderburner]

All the granuals will shoot. The finer the faster and the sharper the recoil. As stated. It is mix and match to get five pounds get a couple of each. Shoot them all and make a decision then. And use the leftover for practice. It wount have to set around.

[doug_bailey]

I have bullets and 5 lbs of Swiss 1.5G on the way. I also have a bunch of spent brass from shooting my Winchester for the last few years which needs cleaning up and preparing for reloading.

The Youtubes show folks using dry vibrators and tumblers with organic media and a little metal polish. I already have an ultrasonic parts cleaner with heater - will that do a decent job? I'm a little cautious with what I use in it - I have had bronze gears go pink (liquid preferentially dissolving the tin) by accident. If the parts cleaner is OK, what's a good recipe and appropriate time/temperature for cleaning brass?

[Randy Bohannon]

I use BACO solution and ceramic media and Thumblers Tumbler B model with excellent results you could try their solution https://www.buffaloarms.com/1-quart-of- ... mcomp.html . I have heard that Simple Green works in the ultra sonic machines but have no experience with them.

[bpcrshooter62]

Hi i have used this for over 16 years with the Shiloh cleaning liquid and my brass comes out like brand new inside and out including the primmer pockets stainless steel pins and Thumblers Tumbler B model with excellent results you can go wrong with this set up have fun be safe and keep shooting

[doug_bailey]

I processed some of the once-fired brass - it's Starline originally and was loaded with smokeless by Choice in Montana.

I decapped it, then put it in a ziploc with 1 qt tap water, 1 cup vinegar, 1 tbsp salt and 1 tbsp dish soap. Then dropped the ziploc into the parts cleaner at 35C for 20 minutes.

The inside and outside is squeeky clean, also the primer pocket. As far as I can tell (being an ignorant newbe) it looks pretty nice. The min length is 2.0905" and the max length is 2.0945" of the 15 units that I processed.

Do I need to do anything else (mechanically clean primer vent hole, anneal the brass etc)? Or is this good to reload?

Bullets arrived and powder shows up on Monday. I'll try to find somewhere locally that has primers and pick some up over the weekend.

[doug_bailey]

One more thing - I have some that fell on the ground. Generally I load and fire one shot at a time from the 1886, but my kid likes to cycle the lever action and that chucks spent brass all over the place. Some has dents in the side, some has a kink in the opening. I skipped processing these (which is why I have 15 not 20 in this batch). What's the word - would these get fixed by the dies in the press or are they scrap?

[doug_bailey]

Woohoo! 5 lbs of 1.5F Swiss just showed up. Primers too by the end of the week. Hopefully I can chuck some lead down range this weekend if I manage not to make a mistake and blow my face off. Any last minute advice for the first time reloader?

[Gamerancher]

It's always a good idea to trim your brass all to the same length. Set your trimmer up to the shortest piece and trim the rest the same.
Start by full length sizing your brass, especially since it was fired in a different rifle, (even the ones that are dented should size up ok in your press), then expand the case mouth to accept your bullet with perhaps .002" neck tension and a slight flare at the mouth to start you bullets without damaging them.
With 1.5F Swiss, a starting load of say, 62gr will get you going, your .060" wad on top and use a compression die set the powder column down to a height that will seat the bullet so as it will chamber easily. Do not use the bullet and seating die to compress the load, just set it on top of the wad with no air gap. I use a Lyman Taper crimp die to take the flare out of the case mouth after seating.
This is not the be all and end all of how to load but will get you shooting safely. As you progress there are a lot of different things you can do with your reloading to fine tune for accuracy, there is a plethora of knowledge and discussions on this site to explore.
Good luck and enjoy.

I did a basic reloading guide for our newer members "Down-under" if you want to read it here.

https://buffalorifles.com.au/wp-content ... No.-93.pdf