Who paper patches for their lever guns?

[Bill in Oregon]

Just wondering if you have made any interesting findings about paper, lube, technique, etc.

[flatnose]

Bill, I have read up and researched the topic , and will try paper patcihing as soon as I can get hold of a mold. I will try it for the 45-70 using 300grn bullets. I am looking at .452 molds to patch upto .459 or so. My 45-70 loves the 300grn remington bullets with a full charge of aa2200, of which I have plenty to use up. The cost of the remington 300 and 405 grain bullets are pushing $48.00 per hundred when I can find them, so its time to try some thing more affordable.
I will attempt to recreate my 300 remington bullet load using the same powder and charge with a paper patched gas checked bullet of 22+bhn. I will try alox as a patch lube. It seems that an important factor in cast bullet velocity, is to keep the bullet under 140,000 rpms. Doing the mathematics, most if not all the levergun cartridges fall within that catagory.
Wen I get over to the gun club, I will pick the brains of the schutzen shooters. I think they may use paper patched bullets, and they seem to do pretty good.

[3leggedturtle]

Over on The Cast Boolits forumn they have a section for paper patching. Some interesting reads on it.

[yooper2]

I do for my Marlin 1895. It's no different from patching for anything else besides the fact you have keep the patch inside the case so it doesn't tear when being cycled or shoved through the loading gate. I generally use onionskin paper and I made a little 350 mold that drops smooth bullets at .451". These bullets will do anything anybody could want done with a 45-70.

[Bill in Oregon]

Good replies, guys. I forgot to check cast boolits.
I am in process of buying a Uberti 1876 in .45-75, and may invest in swage dies to make a nice flat point of variable weights that can be paper patched and shot over black powder. I think the 350 was the original bullet weight for this cartridge.

[AJMD429]

Bill, I have read up and researched the topic , and will try paper patcihing as soon as I can get hold of a mold. I will try it for the 45-70 using 300grn bullets. I am looking at .452 molds to patch up to .459 or so.

1. Sounds like a way to use .452 "pistol" bullets for "rifle" loads (it always irked me that "45 caliber" means two different things)

2. WHAT IS THE ADVANTAGE of paper patching...??? Is it a way of getting bullets tighter fit, or a way of dealing with and preventing 'leading', or what...???

Sorry if that is a dumb question, but "inquiring minds want to know"...

[TomF]

I am dabbling in paper patching using 452 boolits patched up to 459/460. One advantage is to run soft lead at jacketed speeds. It is not difficult to do. I purchased "the Paper Jacket" from Barnes and noble.

TomF

[EdinCT]

I paper patch using 20lb 25 % cotton and 9 Lb onion skin. I have applied onion skin directly to .457 bullets. They where 463 + but I then ran the through the lubersizer to .60 alsoI run bullets through a 452 lee sizer to swage them down an the patch them back up and lubed with Rooster jacket.
I cast 340 Lee's with pretty good success, also the 330 Gould and it shoots pretty good. These were cast from 16-1 and run through the .452 die and patched up. Give them a try they might be just what you want.

I shot the Speer 300 grain Unicor for deer and loved it but they got hard to find so this year I bought a Ranch Dog mold for 300 gr, 320 grains gas checked\lubed and shot it over my standard load of Reloader 7 and was very pleased.
I never wanted the 300 HP meat damage and the Ranch Dog bullet cut a 1.5 inch hole similar to the Speer with a short blood trail.

[Borregos]

Bill, I have read up and researched the topic , and will try paper patcihing as soon as I can get hold of a mold. I will try it for the 45-70 using 300grn bullets. I am looking at .452 molds to patch up to .459 or so.

1. Sounds like a way to use .452 "pistol" bullets for "rifle" loads (it always irked me that "45 caliber" means two different things)

2. WHAT IS THE ADVANTAGE of paper patching...??? Is it a way of getting bullets tighter fit, or a way of dealing with and preventing 'leading', or what...???

Sorry if that is a dumb question, but "inquiring minds want to know"...

Here is another inquiring mind

[J35]

Like was was posted above

SOFT LEAD at SPEED = dependable expansion

---J

[Bill in Oregon]

Yep. Pure, soft lead expansion without leading barrels-- even with smokeless. It's something the Old Dead Guys understood.

[flatnose]

Paper patching should get the cast gas checked bullet to jacketed bullet velocities without leading. I want to see if I can get the same accuracy and velocity with the cast as I can with the jacket bullets. The 405 grain plain cast bullets have great accuracy at 1500fps, but the 300grn remingtons are even better in my 1886. The whole point of the exercise for me, is all about target shooting. If I intended to hunt with the 45-70, I would not bother with patching. 1500fps and 405grns of lead is enough to kill anything that I would ever .come across. It amazes me when I see people launching 400+grains of lead at 1800 to 2000fps testing loads for hunting. For hunting what, I do not know. Each to their own I suppose.
I just loaded up the last of my remington 300grn bullets. I found a supplier with 1000 left in stock, and the price is $480.00 plus tax and shipping. I will not pay that kind of money when I can cast and gas check my own for $140.00 per thousand

[Bill in Oregon]

I would guess that the majority of bison harvested during the great buffalo hide era were killed with paper-patched lead bullets. They were the original jacketed bullet.