What action would make a good platform for a 45-120, useing higher pressure loads.

I was reading the latest 45-70 dangerous game thread and had an epiphany. case capacity of the old 45-120 (114 gr water) falls neatly between the 458 lott (98 gr water) and 460 weatherby (128 gr water). And technically if the round were to be chambered in a suitable action, and load data developed to take advantage of the modern action, much akin to the 45-70 in the marlin 1895 and ruger no 1, it should be a very adequate rifle. And brass seems to be cheaper and more readily available than other cartridges in the same capacity class.

I know the ruger no 1, and a double rifle will work, but what other rifles will a 4.25" cartridge fit in, and hold up to the higher pressures. 2500 fps with a 500 gr bullet shouldn't be hard with a suitable action.

What about one of the 45-70 double rifles from Remington (if they ever get imported) reamed to 45-120? Someone oughta know if this would work safely.

A Sharps would handle it. Hell, even an Encore should handle it until blows the welds.

George

I did this years ago when BELL first brought out the 45 Basic brass. Actually wrote an article about it that was accepted by Rifle, then they later backed off and didn't publish it. I still have the article laying around somewhere.

I rechambered a Ruger No 3 I had at the time, and put on a set of No 1 wood. The gun was too light (Ouch! in the biblical sense) and the twist was technically too slow, but I was just out the cost of a reamer to experiment. I found that I could get pretty close to 460 performance, as would be expected. Surprisingly, it seemed to stabilize even the heavier bullets OK (probably due to the velocity). Bottom line was there were no surprises. It performed just like you would expect a 45 caliber case of that capacity to perform. One interesting twist was that I took advantage of the straight case design and loaded up som shotshell loads. I used shot capsules intended for the 45 LC, and overloaded them with No 9 shot, then used an overshot wad I ginned up and crimped it all in place. Used a 3031 charge consistent with the weight of the pellets. I seem to remember that I got about 1050 to 1100 fps with them. They spread fast, but you could put enough in that case to kill birds or rabbits at 15 to 20 yards. I did this mostly to test the theory of a survival type cartridge to carry when using a non-tapered big bore (quail with your Rigby .500?)

Anyway, the bottom line is that in a good action such as the Ruger, I am convince that the 45-120 is fundamentally a better round than the Lott or Weatherby. Ideally, in the real world, you could slightly exceed Lott velocities at much lower pressures with better ejection.

I sold the reamer to my local gunsmith after this. I believe I actually ordered a reamer for a 45 Basic chamber. Used a set of 45-70 dies to neck size and load and had no problems with base expansion; reloads slid right in, so I doubt any of my pressures were very high. Somehow, I think I remember that the true spec for the 45-120 originally called for a 451 bullet (as did all the old buffalo cartridges). The Kodiak hammer double had just come out in 45-70 about this time, and the gunsmith I sold the reamer to had to regrind the pilot to rechamber a Kodiak double for a guy, so I suspect the original Kodiaks used the old BP specs for barrels and chambers. Anyway, if you buy a reamer made for 45-120, be sure it is for a 458 bore.

The Ruger #1 would be a fine action to get the most from the cartridge. I have seen a 50-140 done up on a #1 by a local SASS competitor for the buffalo target and it sure did ring that bell! He used a 32" heavy octagon bbl to help absorb some of the recoil. I could not stop looking at either the rifle...or the huge cartridges.

I have a .45-120 (3 1/4") built on a Ruger #1. The barrel is a Douglas 1-14" twist, profiled half octagon and half round, 28" long with a muzzle diameter of about 1". The rifle is very heavy and totally impractical for hunting. On top of that, with 96 grs. of WW-785 and a 500 gr. Hornady, it will bug your eyeballs when you shoot it off the bench. It's a real fun gun, especially when you run up against someone that says recoil doesn't bother him. One such person shot it with his Stetson on and it knocked his hat off. I've never shot it with 500+ gr. cast bullets and a compressed charge of black but, I might someday.

You might give Alan Hall in Clanton, Al. a call as Alan make a very slick falling block single action that would fit this, I believe. Hall MFG.

Find a Ruger #1 458Win and rechamber if you don't want to spend alot of money. I did mine in Lott but if you want a really big case go with the 450#2. Be sure to add weight to the butt and maybe the forend too, and of course a better recoil pad.

If the Ruger is too pedestrian, go with a Hagn or Hein's Farq repro.

quote:

Originally posted by GeorgeS:
A Sharps would handle it. Hell, even an Encore should handle it until blows the welds.

George

What welds?

It would be stupid to load such a cartridge as you guys think of loading them given the gas handling of a Sharps.

Brent

I have seem quite a few NEF 45-70's reamed to 45-120. However this was just for Black Powder loads.

Ruger nr would be a fine chioce also for the .45-120 cartridge