Pb Mark Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 Friend brought over a very nice original Winchester 45-75 yesterday. It all checked out fine and is ready to go boom. Thinking about making the brass from Starline 50 Alaskan... Is it really as simple as trim, form in legacy RCBS die, final trim, then load? Having never tried this, needing some guidance after doing some reading. Seems like the 50 Alaskan might be the simplest first attempt choice. Do not know this though. Starline has 50 Alaskan and 50-90 Sharps cases available currently. Any insight sure would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still hand Bill Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 Before going to that trouble, why not just buy some loaded 45-70, shoot it then reuse the brass? just stay away from Hornady ftx as it’s shorter. Starline has done a run of 45-70 brass in the last 6 months, so it should be out there. Have you tried ammo seek? They show some available from diamond k. Running almost $1/round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pb Mark Posted June 15 Author Share Posted June 15 45-75, not 45-70. Looks like my choices are beg for some cases, form from 348 Winchester, 50 Alaskan or 50-90 Sharps. A company called Ammunition Artifacts has formed cases made from 32 caliber Magtech brass shtgun cases - 20ea for $145.00. These have rim thickness that better matches the original 45-75 WCF cartridge. Same company has "new style" 45-75 made from 50 Alaskan same price 20 cases / $145.00. This is supposed to be for the Uberti clones that are being sold but do not supposedly match the original Winchester drawing. No ammo available for these apparently either. I have access to a mini lathe and am willing to attempt reducing rim thickness to match the actual correct head space on the particular rifle if necessary. Want to see if they will feed, shoot etc if made from 50 Alaskan and any insight with the "how to". The rifle is an nice original 1876 Winchester made in the 1800's. A black powder bottleneck cartridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pb Mark Posted June 15 Author Share Posted June 15 The rifle is a second model 1876 sporting rifle thinking made in 1888. It is a 90% rifle, properly stored, everything good. Probably a $10K value toy that is above and beyond my financial reach. Hoping to setup only once or twice and make a few hundred cases for it. The rifle is about to become a shooters rifle. I get the "learning knowledge" helping with the reloading process. After all, our knowledge is all we get to take with us when gone from this earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 Your best donor cartridges are 50 Alaskan, 50-70 Govt, and 50-110 as their base diameters are very close to 45-75. Depending on the chamber dimensions you might get away with using 50-90 Sharps. The issue with 50-90 Sharps is its base diameter is .025" larger than 45-75. When reforming cases it is a good idea to anneal the cases between sizing operations to prevent the brass from cracking due to work hardening. Go slow and don't try to do any one operation all at once. After forming a case i would use it to check the headspace. and only thin the rims if needed. IIRC there is a lot of variation in headspacing on rifles chambered in 45-75 The lube you use is also very important. You'll want a lube like Imperial Sizing Wax or Dillon case lube. Another option is fire forming 348 Win brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 25 new Bertram Brass (Australia) .45-75 cases. $75.00 plus $7.50 shipping. PM me if interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 Pettifogger always has Really Neat stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pb Mark Posted June 15 Author Share Posted June 15 PM on the way. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Foot Johnson Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 Unless I was lucky enough to come across Bertram or Jamison .45-75 brass, I always formed mine from .348 cases, but it's kind of labor intensive. Anneal, expand, form, trim slightly long, shoot/fire form, and final trim. I found expanding with a single tapered expander would sometimes split the necks, so I turned out a 5 plug expander set to size them up incrementally - I should build new ones to replace the largest two or three due to the bolt threads on the plug, but it's never really been a problem. Larsen, at least 8% of your new brass is obviously fired... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pb Mark Posted June 16 Author Share Posted June 16 The multiple expanders look like a good way to get there with 348 brass. I used to have a John Linebaugh revolver built on a three screw 357 Max frame. The brass needed to be made using 348 cases. Making 45-75 will be interesting. Plan to start with 50 Alaskan Starline hoping for thicker brass than 348 but again, it's a new one to me. Very happy to be getting the Bertram brass. The couple fired cases were discussed via PM disclosure by Larson. Having this brass to inspect head space and do a bit of shooting sure takes the pressure off and allows for some playing making cases. Excellent help and thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pb Mark Posted June 17 Author Share Posted June 17 Has anyone ever seen a box of these factory made 45-75 BP loads? They were made using formed 348Win cases. A box of 20 are otw although the bullets will probably get pulled due to the unknowns just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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