45/70

[270 win.]

I was looking at the harrington and richardson single shot 45/70 government today and was wondering the accurate range on one. Of course I seen Quigley down under. I was just wondering if it would be accurate out to 7 or 8 hundred yard. just to target shoot or have some fun groundhogs or yotes. any advice would be appreciated.

[frizzellr]

Quigley was shooting a 45/110 which has a little more umph than a 45/70, especially out out of that long barrel of the Sharps he was using. As far as being able to hit something at great distance, it would be a feat. At the distance he shot that bucket the front sight would have looked like and oak tree stump covering an arcorn. There are records of long shots being made with a 45/70, but it would take lots of practice.

[johnch]

I have a Handi rifle in 45/70.
With my cast bullet loads ,a Lee 500 gr ( comes out 485 gr with my alloy) mold # 90577 starting out at 1550 fps .
At 450 yds ( longest range I can safly shoot at the club) 4" groups are common (if I do my part).
That is with a scope and sand bags
I have one 5 shot group that mesured 2.75"
I have not been able to do it again.

If you have a safe place to shoot have fun.
With a good load you should be able to hit a few ( scare the H_LL out of the rest) at the ranges you talk about

Johnch

[James B]

I am going to the Quigley shoot in Montana in June I will be shooting the H&R Buffalo Classic in 45-70. They have a 32 inch barrel and the targets at the shoot will start at 350 and stretch out to 800 yards. The Buffalo classic can be turned into a 45-110 and 120 just by reaming the chamber. This has been done quite often by the H&R crowd.. Billy Dixon a buffalo hunter made the most famous documented shot when he shot an indian brave off his horse at 7/8 of a mile. The Indians rode off and didn't look back.

Shots at these ranges 800-1000 yards are made with Black Powder loads and experts have never been able to duplicate the long range ability of the 45-70 with Smookless loads. I am loading the 4 groove 500 grain Government cast bullet in mine. I am just getting started in the Black Powder cartridge loads. This load is with 65.5 grains of Goex 2F

[PigBuster]

Hey 270 Win.

I just got back from a Texas wild hog hunt where I did quite a bit of shooting with Jim Leatherwood, of Leatherwood Optics. Jim has just introduced a new-made telescopic tube sight for BPCR shooters, and had one mounted on an original .45-70 Sharps Borchardt. I fell in love with the rifle and scope combination - especially after I had absolutely no trouble knocking over steel turkey and ram silhouettes at 300 meters. If you or any of the others are interested, I have a writre up on the shoot/hunt (where we took a number of wild pigs) on my website at www.hpmuzzleloading.com.

Toby Bridges,
PigBuster

[aunsaber]

I have an H&R buffalo classic that I took out to 45-100(2.6), the reason I didn't go further was the cost of the brass gets a little rediculous. Also the H&R has a 1in20 twist and mine doesn't like the really big bullets anyway. Of the bullets I have tried,480 grains is about all it will handle. So far the best bullet I have found is a 420gr. RN from a custom mould that I barrowed from a friend.
Good luck.

[James B]

I have one box of 500 grain bullets. I am hoping that I don't have to step down in weight but time will tell. The Handi Rifles all seem to show a preference for the lighte per caliber bullets. Some that I have talked to have had good results with the 500 RN and Goex 2F.

[Vapodog]

I was just wondering if it would be accurate out to 7 or 8 hundred yard.

Frankly this is a task that even the finest of rifles in the most modern cartridges can accomplish.....and there's very few of them that can do it.....
To answer your question.......It's extremely doubtful!!!