Anybody shooting an 1870 Navy Rolling Block in 50-70 Government?

[Snidely70431]

I'm shooting Navy Rolling Block, and have not been having a lot of luck with accuracy. Any suggestions?

 

[doubleh]

I shoot a Navy Arms reproduction in 50-140 that I have dehorned to a 50-70 as I can no longer take the recoil of the 140 gr. load. It gave poor accuracy with either charge until I slugged the barrel to find it to be oversized. Finding a mold that cast bullets large enough to fit correctly improved it quite a bit but it is still no one big hole shooter. I consider it good enough for a deer at 100 yards but I wouldn't even think of carrying it's heavy weight hunting. It's only a steel killer now and then and for not many shots. Call me a wimp if you wish but I have gone through having my shoulder, both actually, rebuilt once and never intend to do that again.

 

[tark]

I'm shooting Navy Rolling Block, and have not been having a lot of luck with accuracy. Any suggestions?

Original or re-pro? If the latter, who made it? Black powder of smokeless? We need more info.

"I'm having trouble with my car. Any suggestions?"

 

[Risky buisness]

Slug the barrel. Find a dimensional correct mold, dont use a hard alloy for the projectiles. The rest of it....who knows?
Perhaps include type of powder grn weight if smokeless, granulation of black, your abilities and target distance....you know pertinent stuff.......

 

[Snidely70431]

Original or re-pro? If the latter, who made it? Black powder of smokeless? We need more info.

"I'm having trouble with my car. Any suggestions?"

Sorry. It is an original Navy Rolling Block that has had the barrel and fore stock shortened. The original front sight is missing. I have been shooting paper patched projectiles that I pour into my version of the Ideal Cylindrical Adjustable Mold

Homemade version of Ideal Cylindrical Adjustable Mould

I recently found a picture of an old Ideal mould in The Paper Jacket by Paul Matthews. Matthews also included a picture of his version:

www.thehighroad.org

The projectiles I've mostly fired approximate the original 450 grain 50-70 projectile. Before paper patching they are .498, after about .512. So far I've used 13 grains of Unique - they shoot low with my front sight - and 30 grains of IMR-3031 - these shoot high. At 40 yards they both seem to print about 6" on center.

I tried slugging the barrel by pounding .57" round balls in the muzzle, but the grooves and lands seem to be opposite each other so the results do not make any sense.

I lubricate my projectiles with a mixture of bees wax, petroleum jelly and graphite, then push them through a sizer. They end up water proof, and when fired they polish the barrel. I may try loading them without running them through the sizer.

 

[StrawHat]

Join one of the cast bullet sights and read all about the 50-70. Yours has a 3 groove barrel. .512 will be marginal for diameter. I shoot a Springfield Model 1866. I use the largest diameter bullet that will chamber.

Paper patching introduces its own set of unique quirks. It is possible to do but you need a firm foundation in cast bullets to deal with them. Just figuring which paper your barrel likes can be a challenge!

Good luck, the 50-70 is a lot of fun. The more I use it, the less need I have for the small brother, 45-70.

Kevin