anyone have any experience shooting 45-70 loads in a 45-120 chamber ?

i'm thinking of chambering my 45 cal wickliffe to 45-120..... but really think i might be shooting it more with 45-70 or 45-90 ammo.

would the long "jump" to the rifling have a negative impact on accuracy ?
any other problems ?

quote:

Originally posted by tomo577:
i'm thinking of chambering my 45 cal wickliffe to 45-120..... but really think i might be shooting it more with 45-70 or 45-90 ammo.

Uh... then why chamber it in 45-120?
If you go to the many Single Shot and BPCR boards and ask, you will see that the 120 is generally a poor choice.

[QUOTE]would the long "jump" to the rifling have a negative impact on accuracy ?[/QUOTE)
Yes.

Besides the accuracy issue from having the bullet jump into the leade, you'll get hot gasses blowing past the bullet and eroding the leading edge of the rifling in the chamber.

I asked my gunsmith about that, he said it wouldn't hurt anything, but accuracy may not be best and it would need a good cleaning before shooting .45-120 in it afterwards.

Tim

well if its chambered for 45-120 in a heavy wickliffe falling block action it can be loaded to 450 x 3 1/4 nitro specs when needed.

the cases are very similar (not identical)

Try one of the BPCR sites. I think most will tell you the 45 - 3 1/4 is not a good idea.

There are a number of 45-2.4 (45-90) shooters but I don't think they use the 45-70 in them.
Some of these large cartridges are enough challenge using correct length brass.

Well, having shot a bunch of 45-70's in my C Sharps 45-90 with out any ill effect. I have to say that if the bullet is seated out over a full charge my rifle shot to the same point of impact at 100yards and teh idea is a good one.

Now a 45-70 in a 3.25" chamber....hmm, that is way off the map in terms of bad ideas. Accuracy would suck and you could likely have some chamber erosion as well. Another problem would be leading at the lands if the bullet is excentric leaving the case. It has to travel a ways to reach the lands.
Buy two rifles.

THANKS GUYS FOR YOUR COMMENTS !

i think i will just ream the chamber for 45-70 to start with. if i feel compelled later on ,
i can open it up to 45-90..... or to the full tilt 120.