Tempature was 80 degrees. Chrono was about 10 yards in front of the muzzle. All results in FPS, with a 405 grain Remington bullet.

75 grains IMR 4320- 2276, 2314, 2297

80 grains IMR 4320- 2408, 2416, 2412

85 grains IMR 4320- 2501, 2476, 2519

Recoil is stout, especially with the hottest loads. Add about 50 fps on for the gun being 10 yards from the chrono. 2550 fps has 5884.6 ft-lbs of energy. Bad thing is the sights will not come close to sighting in anywhere closer than 300 yards. The max loads knocked the sights out of the dovetail, and I guess bent something, because the gun shoots almost a foot high at 50 yards, which according to my calculations makes it dead on at just under 500 yards.

45-70 also shot at 2300 fps with a 300 grain Remington JHP the chrono the same distance away, with 5 grains under max lever gun loads. Figure 2350 coming out of the muzzle, you could possibly get 2500 fps with safe lever gun pressures from a 22" or 24" barrel. Tack on a hundred fps for top Ruger loads if you have a strong action, and you're in some serious power from that old cartridge.

Oh yeah, would the cotton filler be the reason for bad deviations in velocity?

Tyler, what rifle is your 45/120 and your 45/70.

Also I would not use cotton as a filler, it can burn. Use dacron polyester pillow stuffing avialable at most craft/sewing stores.

I have a Ruger #1 converted to 45-120. Didn't just rechamber it, because it would have been way light. Instead I put a heavier, longer barrel on it.

Anyhow, I shoot 300 grain Barnes X flat points with 458 Lott load data (H4198). I haven't chrony'd it yet.

I get a nice three shot cluster at 100 yards. I tried the pointed X bullets too, but it actually likes the flats better. I'm sure they will be devistating on deer.

I have a scope on it, and even with that weight, it does shove pretty hard, so I can't imagine shooting heavy 400 or 500 grain loads through it.

H&R Buffalo Classic 45-120
Marlin 1895gs 45-70

They said dacron can ring a chamber?

quote:

Originally posted by Tyler Kemp:
H&R Buffalo Classic 45-120
Marlin 1895gs 45-70

They said dacron can ring a chamber?

What are you talking about Daron is the filler of choice and has been for a very long time

Tyler
Dacron, and other fillers, have ringed chambers when used improperly.

With Dacron just make sure you use plenty of it and that it is compressed between the bullet and the powder.

In my 450 No2 with Nitro for black loads I use 15 grains of poly. With full power loads, more powder, less space for filler, I use 3 to 5 grains depending on the powder charge.

I MUST use some type of filler with ALL loads in my 450 No2.

I have shot over 3500 rounds in this double rifle, with filler with no problems.

With out filler every shot is a hangfire.

Now for full power loads I use a foam plug I cut out with a 50 BMG case.

They look just like the Kynoch wads.

Tyler--Some years ago I had a bull barreled Shiloh Sharps in 45-120. It weighed 16 pounds.

I spotted a load in an old Lyman loading manual, and just HAD to try it. It was/is a real barn burner.

300 gr JFN
90 gr. H4895
2742 fps
34,100 cup

Or, a bit lighter:
300 gr JFN
65 gr H4895
2159 fps
19,700 cup

I shot a few of the 90 grain loads--accurate, but the recoil was really stiff in the 16 pound gun. You don't need dacron for filler in this one. The filler is the H4895.

Have fun.

Tyler,
That reference was to BPE loads.

Tyler,

Can't speak to the load.

Am concerned about the foot high problem. Before shooting the rifle any more, PLEASE determine what happened to cause it to be suddenly that much too high.

When something unexpected like that happens it is telling you to locate the problem before doing much more. Way better to be safe than sorry!

It looks relatively close when I bore-sight it, but when you shoot it, it's way high. Any ideas?

Tyler, check the stock bolt, if it loosened up from all that recoil, it could change POI.

Tim

Barrel jump?

Don't know if that would be the cause, but if the barrel really rises with recoil, it could be part of it. Usually affects handguns more than rifles, but same principle.

It was dead on from the factory. Shot some respectable groups with it even though I was fearing the recoil of it from the bench. The sights came off during a shooting session with max loads. I was going to get the receiver sight with target knobs, but everywhere is backordered, so I need to make these sights work. Getting to the stock screw is gonna be tough, I have a recoil reducer really tight in the stock!

Isn't the 45-120 essentiallly the same capacity as the 458 Lott, and the loading data and results similar?

Tyler,

When I put a Mercury recoil reducer in the butt of my 500NE it then shot 6 to 7 inches high at 50 yards.

Could that be the issue?

Roi

the 45-120 is abnout 13% larger than the lott

quote:

Originally posted by Tyler Kemp:

75 grains IMR 4320- 2276, 2314, 2297

80 grains IMR 4320- 2408, 2416, 2412

85 grains IMR 4320- 2501, 2476, 2519

Recoil is stout, especially with the hottest loads. Add about 50 fps on for the gun being 10 yards from the chrono. 2550 fps has 5884.6 ft-lbs of energy.

.

That should get you honorable mention in the Whomper Club!

Your Barrel harmonics are throwing the bullets very high. The muzzel probably needs more weight to damp the effect. A adjustable muzzel brake with weight added will get it to shoot to the sights better. The Mercury recoil reducer is also contributing to the barrel harmonics. My guess is the heavier the bullet the worse this will become.-Rob

I don't really want a brake on it, but what can I do to add some weight to the barrel?

Weight can't be added to the forend due to the poorly attached forend stud, NFG tried it and the recoil promptly removed the forend stud.

A barrel fitted sling swivel would be neat, but wouldn't add much weight. How about a depleted uranium barrel sling swivel?

Tungsten is more dense than lead, and doesn't have that residual radiation problem of depleted uranium.

Lead 11.34 g/cm3
Uranium 18.9 g/cm3
Tungsten 19.25 g/cm3