Just received my new Lyman mould for the 40/65. This is one of the new 40 cal tapered designs. I note from the catalogue that they also make similar for 45/70 and 30 cal.
I believe these are designed to engage the rifling at loading; has anyone tried this design and what results did you get?

Hello Bad Ass!

Just inform you that my Uberti High-Wall .40-65win just arrived!
Will soon do some testing with RCBS 350gn(370) CSA, and RCBS 400gn(420) CSA.

The rifle looks promising!
Will most likeky have to do something about the buttstock for some serious prone shooting.

/Johan Karlsson, Sweden

I haven't used the Lyman, but I am using a tapered bullet of my own design in my 45-70: Borerider nose, and GG section slightly tapered all the way to .460 at the base, starting at around .455. Shoots quite well in my rifle...
I even had a Lyman 457125 lookalike made with such a tapered GG section, and a bigger nose (.452) to fit my rifle. It all helps in aligning the bullet in the bore.

Using my Pedersoli Sharps Shilouette rifle with peep sights, I test fired the Lyman tapered mould (410678)for the 40/65Win at 100 yards today.
62gn Swiss FFG and with the tapered bullet just a mere 2 driving bands into the case to give an O/A length of 3.2"
Weather was poor with 35Cdeg, a storm coming (poor light) and winds of 12-15mph chopping over the range.
First 10 shot group, which I chronographed at 1334fps av, measured 1.71".
After cleaning, the second ten shot group, which was fired very fast because of the approaching storm, went 1.12" with seven shots forming a single ragged hole of just 0.53".
I noticed that the first five shots loaded easily and four cut a single hole, three of the second five shots had to be pushed into the breech with the end of a screwdriver indicating that powder fouling will need to be removed every 5 shots in the future.
Looks like the similar mould for the 45/70 (457677) will be the next purchase.

Hello Wallace, I just checked my Midsouth catalogue for the Lyman .40 cal bullet you are shooting in your Sharps rifle. It doesn't list a tapered bullet but I don't think that necessarily applies here anyway. I shoot a 40/65 with several different bullets and the principal is pretty much the same with any of them. They shoot best when camed into the rifling but the fouling ahead of the bullet needs to be softened before chambering the round. This can be done with a blow tube, which can be bought or made without much trouble. Even a length of tubing inserted into the chamber with 3 to 5 breaths will do the job. Needs to be done after each shot. A wooden wedge can be made to fit into the breech block mortise that will give a prying action to seat the shell the last small amount. It can be made with the area that would be in contact with the primer cut away. You may find with proper use of the blow tube the caming action of the falling block itself will be enough to seat a proper length shell. Just adjust the overall length to allow seating with the closing action of the rifle. It sounds like your trouble is coming from the fouling more than anything. Also your velocity is right up there but it sounds like you are getting accuracy so if you can stand up to the recoil go for it. These rifles tend to shoot better at longer ranges than 100 yards. You should be good out to 500 meters with your combination. Don't be afraid to compress the powder to get the OAL you need but do it with a compression die, not the soft bullet you are seating. Hope this helps. Bob

Don't worry gents, after nearly 40 years of shooting I know what I'm doing. The amount of force required was just a little bit more than finger pressure could manage. You are right about the danger (I did use the non-metal end). I don't like to use the camming action of the block because if I push it home with the finger I can feel if the fouling or an oversize case is the culprit.

35C is 93F in other parts of the world. Turns out that 30 minutes after we left the range, the storm struck and eventually blacked out 120,000 homes unroofed a block of units in central Brisbane with winds of 80mph. One person died and 7 were hospitalised from flying debris.

Thanks for the tip on the blowtube. I load the powder with a 24" drop tube and then compress with a nylon plug that is two stepped; one side fits into the seating die body and the other side turned to .405 and length adjusted to compress the powder about 0.030"
I use a .409 neck expander plug to hold the .410 bullet base. The expander that came with the Lyman dies was only .404 and bullet seating used to damage the base of the projectile. Bullet seating now, well you can't even feel it going in the case.

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000152640678

Cheers