Like the title says, just because it's black powder doesn't mean it's a muzzleloader. Brief history lesson here, "white powder" aka "smokeless" is a relatively new invention. Ammunition as we generally know it, hasn't changed hardly at all, only the powder in the last 125 years. The history of smokeless powder is relatively short and many cartridges still in use today were originally loaded in black powder.
So a bit more history, the first center fire round in use by the US military was adopted in 1866, the 50-70Gvt followed by the 45-70Gvt. It was a black powder round that saw service in combat against the Native Americans and by the "buffalo hunters".
Having a soft spot for antique things, naturally, I wanted a 50-70 so I settled on an original 1869 rolling block from Sweden in 12.7x44r. It was originally a rimfire round used by the Swedes that is extremely close in dimensions to the 50-70 but a rimfire. Fast forward to now, 12.7x44r hasn't been manufactured in over a hundred years, but many ended up as 50-70s. Mine was a bit of an adventure. The chamber would accept 50-70 and had already been converted to centerfire. Trying to get this critter to shoot was an excercise in frustration. The rifling looked ok but I sent it out to be checked. Bobby Hoyt informed me that the rifling was pretty badly eroded for the first 10in of the barrel so it was a prime candidate for a reline and from there it was only a question of twist rate. I opted for 1:24 and rechamber to 50-70. In for a dime, go for a dollar, I had a set of Lee Shaver Soule sights installed and off to the range. Handloading for black powder cartridge accuracy is worlds different from smokeless. It's been a learning curve but I think I've finally gotten it down a bit. Last Sunday, was a very good day. As they say, pix or it never happened.
First time at the range with the new sights before the new liner was installed.
This was state of the art precision sights in the late 1800s
Best group prior to rerifling with a new liner was a Lyman bullet and this is a 50yd group
Spend time learning reloading cartridges with black powder and fun things can happen, just over 2moa with a called flyer-
This is a very interesting target. @Theodore Maynard was shooting his original 45-70 1872 Trapdoor with a couple different loadings and he decided to do a couple "mad minutes" at 50yd. This is offhand, 50yd, 10 rounds load and fire as fast as possible. There's only one hit outside the 6in black. Some folks shooting for max accuracy with black powder cartridge will wipe between shots, blow tube and other techniques, but this target is a couple 10 round, offhand strings with nothing between shots. Just load and fire as fast as possible with an antique rifle and old school black powder cartridges. Yeah, Charlie is one seriously good shot and a lot of fun to hang around with.
So a bit more history, the first center fire round in use by the US military was adopted in 1866, the 50-70Gvt followed by the 45-70Gvt. It was a black powder round that saw service in combat against the Native Americans and by the "buffalo hunters".
Having a soft spot for antique things, naturally, I wanted a 50-70 so I settled on an original 1869 rolling block from Sweden in 12.7x44r. It was originally a rimfire round used by the Swedes that is extremely close in dimensions to the 50-70 but a rimfire. Fast forward to now, 12.7x44r hasn't been manufactured in over a hundred years, but many ended up as 50-70s. Mine was a bit of an adventure. The chamber would accept 50-70 and had already been converted to centerfire. Trying to get this critter to shoot was an excercise in frustration. The rifling looked ok but I sent it out to be checked. Bobby Hoyt informed me that the rifling was pretty badly eroded for the first 10in of the barrel so it was a prime candidate for a reline and from there it was only a question of twist rate. I opted for 1:24 and rechamber to 50-70. In for a dime, go for a dollar, I had a set of Lee Shaver Soule sights installed and off to the range. Handloading for black powder cartridge accuracy is worlds different from smokeless. It's been a learning curve but I think I've finally gotten it down a bit. Last Sunday, was a very good day. As they say, pix or it never happened.
First time at the range with the new sights before the new liner was installed.
This was state of the art precision sights in the late 1800s
Best group prior to rerifling with a new liner was a Lyman bullet and this is a 50yd group
Spend time learning reloading cartridges with black powder and fun things can happen, just over 2moa with a called flyer-
This is a very interesting target. @Theodore Maynard was shooting his original 45-70 1872 Trapdoor with a couple different loadings and he decided to do a couple "mad minutes" at 50yd. This is offhand, 50yd, 10 rounds load and fire as fast as possible. There's only one hit outside the 6in black. Some folks shooting for max accuracy with black powder cartridge will wipe between shots, blow tube and other techniques, but this target is a couple 10 round, offhand strings with nothing between shots. Just load and fire as fast as possible with an antique rifle and old school black powder cartridges. Yeah, Charlie is one seriously good shot and a lot of fun to hang around with.
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