Historian and highly regarded national champion BP shooter Dr Balász Németh [aka capandball on Youtube, replicates Gus's long-range shot with his trusty ol' 44-40 rifle as he takes Mr Chicken-dancer through the spleen at roughly 400 yards. Bonus material is the use of an 'Ideal' loading toll from the late 1800's, fascinating stuff!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_uTd35PCmY&t=619s

That was fun and educational. I’ve never seen the Ideal (?) tool in use. Pretty handy. Like a Lee Loader on steroids. Lol Thanks for the video.

The shooting was mildly interesting but that tool was awesome!

quote:

Originally posted by Strambo:
The shooting was mildly interesting but that tool was awesome!

Yes it was! Looks similar to the Lyman Tong Tool, but with more functions.

I have a Winchester 1892 with a 1904 serial that a previous owner had re-barreled in 357 Magnum at a time when Winchester was doing this. At a pure guess I suspect the barrel dates to the 1950's or 1960's, do it could be considered a modern barrel.

Anyhow with a Range Master acting as a spotter I've shot this rifle using a Marble's rear tang peep sight to under one inch at 100 yards. Shot 3 consecutive groups of 5 with two measuring 15/16 inch and one at 7/8 inch. Ammo was a home brew 357 Magnum featuring a 158 grain Hornady XTP over 14.8 grains of H110. BTW, out of the 20 inch barrel on the 1892 this load clocks at a sleepy 1620 fps. So it's not something I would choose for long range shooting but if I were to replace the buckhorn sight with a ladder sight a 400 yard shot would in theory be doable. BTW my peep sight might adjust to 200 yards but it's doubtful, at 100 yards it is dialed in sort of high.

The big issue with shooting these calibers at long range is that the bullet will transition from supersonic to subsonic. As a result what is accurate at 100 yards might look like a shotgun pattern at 400 yards. So, hitting Chicken Dancer at 400 yards with a 1873, that's a lucky hit. Now, if the rifle was an 1895 loaded with something like 30.06, that bullet would be supersonic at impact and a sure bet if the shooter's good enough.

I have one of those Ideal reloading tools in 44-40 (also have them in 45-70 and 32-40) that I use to cast bullets and load 44-40 black powder rounds for my antique 1885 Colt Lightning rifle. It works very well. The rifle has been in my family since it was new, which is even cooler.

Sir - I'd be very much obliged if you could send the next Ideal loading too that you find in .45-70 in my direction, in return for money.

I'm well-known as a good payer.

Winchester made the loading tools as well. Theirs were nickle plated. I've a minimum of experience with both the Ideal and Winchester. Those loading tools are quite collectable and have some good value. My friend Dick had quite a assortment of them.