Experiences Shooting a 450 or 500gr Bullet in a 50-70 #1 RB

[John Boy]

Interested to hear experiences which weight bullet shoots better in a 50-70 #1 Rolling Block
Have shot the 450gr (1:20) to 1000yds with good accuracy. Before I cast some 500's, is it worth it and will accuracy will be better?
Rifle: #1 RB - (501/507 bore) Argentine Ladder

[oldremguy]

Hello John Boy,

Is this the same 50-70 rolling block from the Michigan National Guard, with the rack # 220, that we talked about some time ago. I have never shot mine, but after seeing your post, I will have to get it out of the safe and make up some ammo. I have 2 moulds, one 450gr and the other is about 540gr. The only problem is the range I go to only goes out to 200 yards. What load do you use with the 450gr bullet? What kind of groups do you get with it?

By the way, did you ever write that article about Homer and my 50-70 No.1 Rolling Block?

Have a Good Day,
Matt

[John Boy]

Matt - tis the same rifle that went to Michigan and for all the personal reasons, have never called or written the AG there for any archive data on the 2 shipments. Guess I better make it a To-Do because it would be nice to have an AG's report of the era for historical reference.

OK, the #1 Musket 50-70 and Homer... Yes, took the rifle to Ridgway in October 2009 to see what it would do on Homer at 1000. Gonna say up front - not a Match Quality Round!
Loading Data:
* Starline 50-70 Brass, annealed
* Lee 515-450F, 1:20, (actual weight 457gr) 40:40:20 mix of mutton tallow-paraffin-beeswax
* Resized 511 using Lee bottom push lube/sizer. Rifle groove is 507
* CCI BR2 Primer
* 70gr Swiss FFg
* 0.075 Hard unlubed Felt Wad
* 1263 AV with a 13.8 SD
** Each round shot with 5X breathes using a blow tube. It was cold, raining and the Relative Humidity was high with good hygroscopic foul
** Each shot was a 6:00 hold. I'm a bulls eye shooter but had to hold at 6:00 to get on target with the '79 Argentine Sight
100yd - Up 5 lines on the sight
200yds - Up 1 line using 300 yd sight gradient
300yds - Up 1 line using 400 yd sight gradient

OK, now Homer ... used 1100yd setting and had to fiddle with sights up 4 lines to get close. After about 5 sighters ... and like I said - Not a Match Quality rifle - only 5 hits. At least I got one 7 ring hit. Homer is 82" wide and 48" high. At about 11:00 he goes into the shadows and only half the target is visable


But here's the neat one, My Infamous Miss, ... sitting next to Homer was a High Bore Swinger. My spotter said the sucker was doing about 150 mph


The reason for the 500gr bullet question - possible better accuracy with the heavier bullet and not having to fiddle as much with the metric settings on the Argentine ladder sight

[oldremguy]

John Boy,
Thanks for writing back with the information about the load you are using. Sorry I can't help you out on how the 500gr bullet would work in the rifle. Hopefully someone will have the answer for you. What kind of groups do you get at 100, 200 and 300 yards with the rifle?

Have a Good Day,
Matt

[John Boy]

What kind of groups do you get at 100, 200 and 300 yards with the rifle?

Matt, I don't remember. When I get good groups with a rifle, I snap a picture for reference or save the targets. Have no pictures so they had to be not stellar
Overall, there had to be a lot of hail mary's and fire for effect in the old heat of the battles because try to hold a fine POA looking down at the tiny foresight 35" away is not like shooting with an ocular and a globed insert

[Wester13]

Ping Irons

The most ignored component of enhancement in golf will be neglecting to factor in your ping g15 irons physical conditioning. There are four main physical requirements golfer requirements to graduate in order to a greater, much more constant level of play. ishiner

[John Boy]

The 500gr bullets have been loaded and ready for testing:
* Lee 515-500-F ... resized to 0.510, 1:20, homemade lube - BC 0.283
* Starline Brass
* Remington 9.5 LR Primers
* 70grs DuPont Fg (vintage pre 70's)
* 0.030 Fiber Wad
* 0.040 Mutton Tallow Lubed Felt Wad
Seated out to 3rd GG band