1-60 twist .465 bore 32" barrel - Best Hunting Ammo?

[Musketbreath]

Hello all, I can find .455 and .460 RB molds no problem, but want a heavier 45-70 style bullet in the 300+g range for hunting. My bore is .465, so kind of an odd size. Minie or Maxi style would be good but can't find anything close to .465 so far. Anyone else running a .465 bore that has figured this out would be a blessing. 45-70 is supposed to be .458 or .007" under, is that too much, or doable with the slug design? What is the perfect slug diameter for it? Do I need gas check base? Thanks for the help - MB

 

[Nameless Hunter]

Have you checked out buffaloarms.com?
They have a selection of .457, .458, and .459.

 

[Musketbreath]

Thanks, I will check them out.

 

[Zonie]

Bullets work best if the diameter of them is about .002 to .003 smaller than the bore so IMO, the .458 bullet might work if it was made from pure lead but I wouldn't bet on it.
You didn't say anything about the rifling and that also has a lot to do with how well a slug will shoot in the gun.

While patched balls need to have rifling that is at least .005 deep, a bullet needs grooves shallower than that and for the long heavy bullet your talking about, the twist should be 1:28 or faster.

 

[Musketbreath]

Thanks for the good information Zonie. It has deep rifling for sure, so with 1-60 I guess it's round balls for this old girl then. It will still be a fun shooter.

 

[mooman76]

You could maybe shoot Lee REALs with an over powder wad. What twist is your barrel.

 

[Musketbreath]

It is 1:60 twist, fairly deep grooves.. I have a .457 RB mold for my 1858 New Army, so with the right ticking that will work good, but would have liked to have put a conical, or other optional ammo through her too. Thanks

 

[excess650]

Accurate Molds can cut whatever diameter and weight you might want. The 60" twist will want a patched roundball or short conical.

Take a look at this Bullet Design Details | Accurate Molds

spec the base band at .465" in pure lead, upper band at .475", and shoot with an over powder wad

 

[F.G. Ford]

Hi,
To get .465 bullets from a .457-8 mold is relatively easy. Cast your bullets from pure lead, Then have a .465 die made up.
Drop your bullet into the .465 die, with a nose punch similar to the nose of your bullet, then press it with a hydraulic press expanding your bullet to .465".
You can also use a heavy duty bench vise to swage your bullets to appropriate size.

 

[nkbj]

This sounds like just about the right rifling, rate of twist and bore diameter to make for disappointing range trips with anything but round ball. Here's why...

60" twist is pretty slow for .46-.47 bore for any bullets much longer than spherical.

If you're stuck using short bullets, they don't have much inertia to resist movement. That creates difficulties in getting the bullet to swell out into the rifling because the whole bullet moves forward instead just wanting to sit there while its hind end swells up. Deep rifling can be difficult to get sealed off even with a hollow base.
But a hot loaded hollow base may be what works.