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Stats on Old West rounds


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well a 45-90 with a 520 gr paper patched slug from a 32" barrel winchester 1885 will be trundling along at 1350 to 1400 fps using a full case of ff swiss note that load so assembled will have a tough time being compressed enough to cycle through a n 1886 action so would need a single shot to accept its overall length

 

I doubt many black powder rounds got above say 1600 or 1700 fps given the use of lyman #2 aloy if you do push it faster you get leadding problems which require harder alloys not seen in many old loading charts

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WJ

To get all the stats in one place, I would suggest you pick up a copy of "Cartages of the World " . It is a real good referance book on all kinds of cartages , About $30 or so .

It also has a section on cart. ID by rim type and mesurements , good thing for figguring out what something is (cal) from a chamber cast .

 

CB

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well a 45-90 with a 520 gr paper patched slug from a 32" barrel winchester 1885 will be trundling along at 1350 to 1400 fps using a full case of ff swiss note that load so assembled will have a tough time being compressed enough to cycle through a n 1886 action so would need a single shot to accept its overall length

 

I doubt many black powder rounds got above say 1600 or 1700 fps given the use of lyman #2 aloy if you do push it faster you get leadding problems which require harder alloys not seen in many old loading charts

 

The only way a 520 gr. bullet will work in ".45-90" is if the rifling is faster than the standard Winchester 1-in-32" twist, say at least 1-in-22 or faster. The faster twist, with the same cartridge case would be termed ".45-2.4 in. Sharps Straight".

 

Some of the so-called Express rounds (lighter bullets with slow-twist barrels, such as the .45-90-300 WCF and .40-82-260 WCF) could push 1500 from a long barrel.

 

Yes, commercial loads of .45 Colt used 250-255 gr bullets at around 850 ft/sec. But the standard military load was .45-30-230, after the .45-250-40 loading proved too hot for the original iron cylinders of the initial order of Colt's Single Action Army's, and troops complained of the recoil. IIRC, the .45-30-230 left a 7-1/2" barrel around 730 ft/sec. The shorter .45 Revolver Ball round used in both the Schofield and later issued to troops with their Colt's, was a .45-28-230 load at 710 ft/sec. from a 7-inch barrel.

 

Ride easy, but stay alert! Godspeed to those still in harm's way in the defense of Freedom everywhere! God Bless America! :FlagAm:

 

Your Pard,

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