Need some help with reloading my 45-120 uberti 1885 32" oct. barrel. Got brass from Buffalo Arms, and have a bunch of 405 jacketed flat tip leads. Planning on some long range shooting. Any suggestions on grains and powder?

What is the rifling twist in your barrel ? I think from memory they are 1in18 Your 405 Gr. is for 1in20 or more You will need 500 grain for long range if your barrel is 1in18 twist IMR3031 is what I use for my 50/110 I have a chart for loading but can't post on this site , Use my e-mail and I will send chart .

tcdave,

The biggest battle you are going to have is due to the very large case capacity of the cartridge. You're looking for a powder that fills the case, but isn't overpressure for the caliber. This was originally a blackpowder cartridge, and the case was simply filled with blackpowder. Nothing to worry about.

However with smokeless powder, you can get into trouble with pressure long before you get a full case of powder. The more volume you fill with powder, the more consistant your combustion will be in the case. The biggest problem I have seen with trying to shoot smokeless powder out of these type calibers, is the accuracy can be pretty poor due to deviations in velocity.

Your best bet if you MUST shoot smokeless powder is going to be Accurate Arms 5744. It used to be called XMP 5744, but they dropped the "XMP" from the name recently. This powder is bulky for it's weight and takes up more space in the case. The Accurate reloading book lists 5744 with a starting load of 41.0 grains and a max load of 45.5 grains with a 400 grain jacketed flat nose bullet.

You will get better results shooting heavier cast bullets cast with soft lead and shooting real blackpowder in your cases.

There is data for many of the black powder cartridges including the 45-120 on the Accurate Arms site.

Accurate Arms Data

Hodgdon has a bunch of cast bullet smokeless and T7 data..

http://www.hodgdon.com/data/cowboy/lrrd.php#45-120

http://www.hodgdon.com/data/muzzleloading/granular/t7cartridge.php

There's also a bunch in the Lyman 48th. I use H4895 and XMP5744 in my 1:20" 32" barreled 45-120 Buffalo Classic with both jacketed and cast bullets, a friend shoots his BC out to 800yds with 500gr and 515gr cast bullets with no problems, so I don't know that the 1:18" is required, works fine in the BC. I don't use any fillers, just the recommended data, neither AA or Hodgdon recommend fillers. The H4895 is position sensitive, the 5744 doesn't seem to be, have never had a problem with it.

HEY GUYS, THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO. ANYBODY GOT MORE INFO USING DUPONT OR OTHER POWDERS. REALLY HAVEN'T USED MUCH ACCURATE POWDER. THANKS TO ALL.
TCDAVE

I have used IMR 3031 in my 45-70, but it is a much smaller case capacity. I had accuracy problems in the smaller case. I don't have a load listed for 45-120 and that powder. I think you will have problems with powder position in the case and inconsistant powder combustion. It will show up with a chronongraph as changes in velocity from shot to shot. Personally I think it would be a poor choice in your caliber.

You might see if Hodgdon has a load for that caliber listed for Trail Boss powder. It also is bulky for it's weight and takes up a lot more room in the case than conventional powder.

Just curious as to why you don't want to use the Accurate Arms 5744 powder? It's tailor made for your application.

HEY SLOWPOKE,
JUST HAVEN'T USED MUCH OF THE ACCURATE POWDERS. NOT THAT I DON'T LIKE IT, I HAVE DUPONT POWDER ALREADY. DIDN'T REALLY WANT TO GET ANOTHER POWDER, BUT IF I HAVE TO.
THANKS FOR THE INFO.
TCDAVE

http://www.pufflon.com

Good stuff. It will be your friend.

There is a Meacham HIWall in 45-120 for sale in the classifieds.

Rich

Oh yeah, try 84gr of ReLoader 15 and a 480/500gr cast bullet...1950fps with the lighter bullet. Safe in a DR, and my Ruger #2.

Rich