I have an 1886 in 45-90. The gun was manufactured in 1888. I would like to take it to Africa on my next buffalo hunt but am somewhat concerned with shooting the fully jacketed bullets and smokeless loads. I do not know what problems may occur with the higher pressures and so forth. I have been shooting 300 gr. cast bullets with light smokeless loads.
This gun is in great shape with a bright bore. It has been professionaly restored so I am not concerened with hurting collector value.
Thanks for any input.

Very safe with about anything your shoulder can take. I would suggest that you contact Doug Turnbull here in this forum for a professional opinion.

1886's are really strong.

Rich

Tim,
My Miroku Winchester 1886 .45-90 has been to Africa and killed a couple of things. We havealso experimented (played) with quite a few bullets and loads for thin skinned and thick skinned game.
If you determine that your rifle is safe to shoot heavy loads,let me know when you begin to load your hunting ammo and I will share some successes and failures with you.
BTW, there are many sources of .45-90 loads on the internet and all it takes to find them is Google and a little time. Here is a fun place to begin, on the Wolfe Pubs site
http://www.loaddata.com/member...iberid=26&header=.45 Caliber Reloading Data

Enjoy

Seems like I recall reading sometime ago that the early 1886's were not as strong as later ones and stout loads could be a problem?? Might want to double check on the wisdom of feeding your rifle stout smokeless loads. Just a suggestion.