#1 caliber help

[mustangstilidie]

im looking into buying a ruger #1 but im in a toss up of a 375H&H or a 405 winchester. The gun will mostly be used for target shooting to about 250 yards( yea i kno it hurts but its nothing for me to shoot 100 rounds of 300 mag in a day so i think ill live http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley_smack_paddle_ani.gif ) and seldom used for hunting. Im trying to get into casting so thats a plus for the 405 and i already reload but ive always wanted a 375... HELP! your toughts please thanks!

[DEERSLAM]

Target practice with a .375H&H or a .405win doesn&#39;t sound very fun.
I&#39;d go .375
Have fun!

[myfriendis410]

.450-400 three inch in a Ruger No. 1: LOTS of moulds available for the venerable .45 line of rifle cartridges and what could be COOLER than shooting the same cartridge that Major Jim Corbett shot all those maneaters with. Obviously you are loading, so you can always load down, and I find the No. 1 to be somewhat soft on the shoulder anyway.

But I gotta tell ya; a .300 WM ain&#39;t a .375 nohow noway.

[sidepass]

I shoot a TC Encore in both the 405 win and the 375 H&H mag. Both of mine are very accurate and both are thumpers. The 375 has the ballistics for 250 yards plus and the 405 win is good to about 200 yards. I can handle 30 or so rounds from each on the bench, I go 170 lbs and 5&#39;9&#39;&#39; so i&#39;m not a big guy. I do pay lots of attention to my shooting position and have been bitten by the 405&#39;s scope this year while takeing my blacktail buck.Oh yes I find the 375 recoil a big push and not the sharp kick of 30 cal mags i&#39;ve shot. Hope this helps.
sidepass

[mustangstilidie]

myfriendis410: now that you mentioned casting ive looked into the 458 lott. looks mean but like you said load light with cast bullets and it should be that bad at all and brass is cheaper than the 450-400. So, i guess the decision is now on the 375 or the 458 lott....

[tmoniz]

I&#39;ve shot the 458 Lott. It&#39;s not fun.
I&#39;m not a large person but I do enjoy the 375 H@H.
Like some one said it&#39;s a big push.

[mustangstilidie]

it does look pretty nast but what i was thinkin was to use like a 400-500gr cast bullet and back down the powder so that it feels like a stout 45-70 load... if that is possible. i was lookin at molds for teh 375 and i only found one mold that MIGHT work for it but then again if i stick with something .458 the possibilities are endless... plus i wil surley be putting a muzzle break on what caliber i decide on so that sould soften up the recoil a bit too.

keep um coming guys! Thanks

[myfriendis410]

Remember that a muzzle brake is most effective with high pressure cartridges i.e. 50,000 psi plus. I don&#39;t think you will be happy casting for the .375 as it&#39;s designed for a faster bullet than a cast bullet can accurately deliver. Don&#39;t even bother with gas checks; they won&#39;t help. A deep cut rifling in a 45-70 is tailor made for cast bullets.

And brass is dirt cheap.

[mustangstilidie]

so the 458 lott is lookin as the better of the two you think?

[myfriendis410]

You would definitely have to load it down significantly to be able to shoot a lead bullet but yeah, you could. But it would kind of be like putting a coat of paint on the crown jewels--you don&#39;t own a .458 Lott to shoot 45-70&#39;s, you know?

I would go with a cartridge made for lead bullets and go from there. But that&#39;s me. I could also see justifying the .458 Lott by loading for lead and having full boat jacketed loads too. Ouch!

I&#39;ve always wanted to own a really nice replica Sharps in one of the Buffalo cartridges--shoot black powder cartridge with my own cast lead bullets--maybe even a paper patched lead bullet. Someday.......

[rodneyshishido]

Check out the 416 Rigby. Right now it&#39;s got my interest!

[bpnclark]

A 416 Rigby or 458 Lott for target shooting? http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-bowdown-purple.gif

[sidepass]

Not exactly target rounds,I understand they can be accurate but who would want to use them from a bench for more than a sighting in session. Good luck! and keep us posted.
sidepass

[tmoniz]

I like the Ruger #1
But then there&#39;s this.

[rodneyshishido]

I would love a Sharps. Only problem is that I am left handed and the hammer is on the wrong side. It would be okay for target shooting, but, I do like to hunt with my rifles.

I have considered the 1885 Sharps, but, esthetically it is not as pleasing as the 1874.

[tmoniz]

How about a High Wall.

http://www.uberti.com/firearms/1885HighWall.tpl

[mustangstilidie]

ive looked at a sharps and shot one to. My friend shoots states and nationals with one in a 40-65. They are awesome for shooting but its just not my bag of nuts; blackpowder to me just seems to be a hasstle to load and shoot compared to smokeless. As for the 458 its like myfriendis410 said i can shoot cast with it and when im feeling the urge i can put in some 500 grainers, juice up the powder and watch my shoulder go down the road( i wont just be shooting cast ill shoot jacketed through it to just as much). I shoot all offhand anyway so the bench dosnt see me hardly at all unless sighting in so i dont think it will bother me that much... but i dont know until i shoot one.

i was lookin in my books and the 45-70 takes 12grains of trail boss to make around 1000fps with a 405gr cast; so if i were to make it around 15 grains in the 458 lott with the same bullet i should be im guessing 1400fps... which seems like a very pleasent load to shoot if it works. ur thoughts?

[rodneyshishido]

The Hodgdon reloading book has smokeless powder loads for the 45-120 and 50-140.

[myfriendis410]

I think, if you have a heavy weight barrel, upgrade wood and maybe a dead mule, you could load that same bullet up to around 1,800 fps with no difficulty and think you will find it to be not too bad to shoot.

Trail Boss is too fast for the large capacity case and would give really wide variations in velocity. Got to use something slower that fills the case better; more like 4227 or 8765. Just guessing on the powders. You certainly could use data for a 45-70 in the cast bullet range with no risk of overpressure.

I&#39;m with Tmoniz; I still want a Sharps! However, they take serious dedication to shoot well. The lock time has got to be terrible so if you flinch (which I do too much of) your round is gone, brother!

The one thing I would be concerned about with the Lott is the round just wasn&#39;t designed for lead. You may have trouble if the rifling isn&#39;t deep enough to engrave or if the rate of twist is too fast to grip the bullet. Close attention to detail and a lot of questions about the rifle in question need to be asked.

I still think the 450-400 three inch is the one.

[mustangstilidie]

suprisingly with only 12 grains it just about fills the case 100% with the bullet seated; but i see what you are saying. With cast arnt you supposed to go one thousandth under what the bore is.... say the slug come out to .458 and you make the bullets .457. so if the rifling is to shallow to grab the bullet would it maybe work to make the bullets the same size as the slug? just get more fouling...?

[myfriendis410]

.001" over bore is the norm for lead. .459" would be what you would size to, to start. It will then depend on the individual rifle/cartridge combination and you might find that .002" over or .0005" over will give you the best results. It can take you years to come up with the right fit on all of the components and get the accuracy you want. Jacketed is relatively easy by comparison.

But it&#39;s fun and engaging, and makes you a better shooter.

[mustangstilidie]

i agree. i think reloading made me a better shooter by far.