Preacherman, if you find it in your heart, can you send a word to the man upstairs and ask his forgiveness? I usually am out and about doing tactical (almost a dirty word these days) and F-Class shooting, with various and sundry 6.5-06, .308/7.62mm NATO, and .30-06 rigs, trying my best to stay inside 10" at 1000 yards. Success does indeed occur, but it appears I have developed a sinfully wicked itch, and it grows stronger.
I have been seduced, and my heart is heavy. I feel I have forsaken my other long-range rifles, and don't know when I'll return to them. I've been playing with a certain Ruger #1 falling block rifle in .45-70, as part of a grander scheme. I've left a sturdy and faithful wife for the new mistress in my life, to the point of putting a down payment on a new Sharps 1874 rifle with 32" barrel, double set triggers, and vernier sights. You know, the rifle that the Indians said would "Shoot today, kill tomorrow".
How could I? I'm lucky in that I'm not too far from Orlando, FL. There's an older Canadian gentleman who winters here (we call 'em Snowbirds), and he's a master millwright. Not only that, but he's also a record holder for 1000 yard blackpowder silhouette and benchrest up there in Canada. Mr. Marcel Lacelle uses his skills to swage and machine what could arguably be called the finest long-range .459" bullets out there, and he sells them to goofy folks like me.
I've had the pleasure of using his 450gr swaged bullets from a couple years ago. My wife and I lube them with Crisco (sometimes the butter-flavored variety) and load them on top of a full case of Goex FFg, a pinch of WW231 against the primer, and a WonderWad. Accuracy out of my Ruger #1S was downright wonderful, .45 caliber holes making a cloverleaf at 100 yards once the smoke cleared and I could see through the spotting scope again. Other cast .458-.459" bullets just didn't shoot as well, Marcel was definitely on to something.
So last week I checked in with a local reloading outfitter in Melbourne, getting more primers and so forth. On the shelf were baggies of Marcel's bullets, and some decidedly pointy-looking ones at that, more so than the 450gr flat-nosed versions I had been working with before! So I brought two varieties of these gorgeous 500gr Spitzers home, some "naked", and some with a gas check and copper nose cap. I've since learned that the latter bullets have caused Marcel some trouble, they work so well in long-range competition that they've been banned by the match authorities.
Ok, gang, enough jabbering, what do they look like?
From left to right, there's a 405gr cast generic bullet loaded up, that same cast bullet by itself, a Beartooth hard (extremely) cast 405gr flat nose w/gas check, a Marcel 450gr swaged flatnose (my previous favorite), a Lyman Whitworth-style 480gr flatnose, a Marcel 500gr spitzer, a Marcel 500gr gas checked copper nose spitzer, and the plain 500gr Marcel spitzer seated at the front driving band in .45-70 brass.
If you'll notice, most of the bullets shown have fairly ample lube grooves. In fact, the Lyman Whitworth bullet is almost completely covered in lube grooves on the entirety of the bullet's bearing surface. That's probably a good thing for a Whitworth muzzle loader, but not for a .45-70 blackpowder cartridge, because if I seated the bullet to cover all the lube grooves, I'd lose a goodly amount of powder capacity to the intruding bullet. I'd not recommend the 480gr Lyman bullet for .45-70 blackpowder loads for just that reason. Now, if you are running a .45-90, .45-110, or .45-120, that may be just your bullet.
Even the 450gr Marcel flatnose, when seated to cover the top lube groove, intrudes into the case more than the generic 405gr and BearTooth 405gr bullets. I drop-tubed my powder to offset the lesser case capacity, but I knew my velocities were suffering. My Ruger #1 is also cursed with a very short barrel throat, so seating some of the bullets further out was not an option, they engaged the rifling almost immediately and prevented the cartridge from being chambered and the breechblock raised. Bummer!
Now take a look at the Marcel 500gr spitzer, particularly the lube grooves, and the forward driving band. Yup, they basically match the length of the generic 405gr cast bullets, the extra 95gr of bullet weight appear to be forward in the longer nose ogive. Now I have a spitzer bullet, with a better BC, more throw-weight, and it allows a greater powder column behind it, while still chambering in my short-throated Ruger #1!
The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. So come November 11th, while Mrs. G-98 is "saving me money" at the retail sales downtown, I will be at the range, running those beautiful big bullets to at least 200 yards. If they work as well as I think they will, when my Sharps 1874 arrives, I'll be ready to take advantage of the 10" longer barrel. My smokeless centerfire rifles may just have to stay in their respective safes for some time to come.
Here's a variety of Marcel's swaged long-range competition bullets:
Here's the man himself testing out some bullets at 300 yards:
I have been seduced, and my heart is heavy. I feel I have forsaken my other long-range rifles, and don't know when I'll return to them. I've been playing with a certain Ruger #1 falling block rifle in .45-70, as part of a grander scheme. I've left a sturdy and faithful wife for the new mistress in my life, to the point of putting a down payment on a new Sharps 1874 rifle with 32" barrel, double set triggers, and vernier sights. You know, the rifle that the Indians said would "Shoot today, kill tomorrow".
How could I? I'm lucky in that I'm not too far from Orlando, FL. There's an older Canadian gentleman who winters here (we call 'em Snowbirds), and he's a master millwright. Not only that, but he's also a record holder for 1000 yard blackpowder silhouette and benchrest up there in Canada. Mr. Marcel Lacelle uses his skills to swage and machine what could arguably be called the finest long-range .459" bullets out there, and he sells them to goofy folks like me.
I've had the pleasure of using his 450gr swaged bullets from a couple years ago. My wife and I lube them with Crisco (sometimes the butter-flavored variety) and load them on top of a full case of Goex FFg, a pinch of WW231 against the primer, and a WonderWad. Accuracy out of my Ruger #1S was downright wonderful, .45 caliber holes making a cloverleaf at 100 yards once the smoke cleared and I could see through the spotting scope again. Other cast .458-.459" bullets just didn't shoot as well, Marcel was definitely on to something.
So last week I checked in with a local reloading outfitter in Melbourne, getting more primers and so forth. On the shelf were baggies of Marcel's bullets, and some decidedly pointy-looking ones at that, more so than the 450gr flat-nosed versions I had been working with before! So I brought two varieties of these gorgeous 500gr Spitzers home, some "naked", and some with a gas check and copper nose cap. I've since learned that the latter bullets have caused Marcel some trouble, they work so well in long-range competition that they've been banned by the match authorities.
Ok, gang, enough jabbering, what do they look like?
From left to right, there's a 405gr cast generic bullet loaded up, that same cast bullet by itself, a Beartooth hard (extremely) cast 405gr flat nose w/gas check, a Marcel 450gr swaged flatnose (my previous favorite), a Lyman Whitworth-style 480gr flatnose, a Marcel 500gr spitzer, a Marcel 500gr gas checked copper nose spitzer, and the plain 500gr Marcel spitzer seated at the front driving band in .45-70 brass.
If you'll notice, most of the bullets shown have fairly ample lube grooves. In fact, the Lyman Whitworth bullet is almost completely covered in lube grooves on the entirety of the bullet's bearing surface. That's probably a good thing for a Whitworth muzzle loader, but not for a .45-70 blackpowder cartridge, because if I seated the bullet to cover all the lube grooves, I'd lose a goodly amount of powder capacity to the intruding bullet. I'd not recommend the 480gr Lyman bullet for .45-70 blackpowder loads for just that reason. Now, if you are running a .45-90, .45-110, or .45-120, that may be just your bullet.
Even the 450gr Marcel flatnose, when seated to cover the top lube groove, intrudes into the case more than the generic 405gr and BearTooth 405gr bullets. I drop-tubed my powder to offset the lesser case capacity, but I knew my velocities were suffering. My Ruger #1 is also cursed with a very short barrel throat, so seating some of the bullets further out was not an option, they engaged the rifling almost immediately and prevented the cartridge from being chambered and the breechblock raised. Bummer!
Now take a look at the Marcel 500gr spitzer, particularly the lube grooves, and the forward driving band. Yup, they basically match the length of the generic 405gr cast bullets, the extra 95gr of bullet weight appear to be forward in the longer nose ogive. Now I have a spitzer bullet, with a better BC, more throw-weight, and it allows a greater powder column behind it, while still chambering in my short-throated Ruger #1!
The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. So come November 11th, while Mrs. G-98 is "saving me money" at the retail sales downtown, I will be at the range, running those beautiful big bullets to at least 200 yards. If they work as well as I think they will, when my Sharps 1874 arrives, I'll be ready to take advantage of the 10" longer barrel. My smokeless centerfire rifles may just have to stay in their respective safes for some time to come.
Here's a variety of Marcel's swaged long-range competition bullets:
Here's the man himself testing out some bullets at 300 yards:
