Bullets for a 1-48 .45 caliber

[Confederate rifleman]

Decided to see if I can develop bullet loads for my 2 .45 Hawkens. The 1-48 twist demand a shorter bullet, so I decided to try the Lee 200 grain .452 and the 230 grain .452. These are not designed for muzzle loaders, but necessity being a mother...
The 200 grain is .500 in length, on the dot. The 230 is .620. Greenhill gives a required twist rate of 1-61 for the 200 and 1-49 for the 230. Its my experience that bullets shorten up in firing. Good old inertia. I once recovered several Lyman 5752130S from a snowbank that was about 200 yards away. They suffered no damage whatever from impact, but they began life an inch long and were a hair shy of 7/8 inch after firing. That is actually quite useful for marginal rifling twists.
Gonna shoot these tomorrow and see if I have a bullet load for deer, and bear ( 230 gr) past 50 yards.

 

[dbowling]

Try Eds 350 gr conical, would think it would shoot very well from your 1:48 .45..

 

[edmehlig]

I actually did shoot them once out of my Lyman Deerstalker and they did quite well even for iron sights at 50 yds. I'm sure with a Peep or scope I could have done a lot better. It was several years ago but I believe my load was either 80 or 90 of Goex 3F powder. Like I said its been a few years and I think I used the Crushed Rib sabots also.

 

[Idaholewis]

This one should be a REALLY good bullet for a stock 1:48 twist. It is Lyman #457191, 292 Grain Bullet, lubed and sized to .452, These things shoot VERY good in my 1:30 Twist .45 Cal

350 Grain Lyman Gould on the Left, Lyman 292 Grain On Right

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Well. Tried both in my caplock. Surprisingly little leading. Surprisingly HORRIBLE accuracy.
Shot the 200s with 50 gr Swiss 3f with and without lubed felt wads. Could've gotten better groups with a smooth bore. Blindfolded.
Shot the 230s with 60 gr same powder, with lubed felt wads. Got a smidgen of hope with a 3 inch group (50 yards). But then all over the place. Will try in the flintlock next. She has a smoother bore, but is .001 larger land to land.
Am REALLY appreciating my Black Diamonds right now.

 

[dbowling]

you may have to up your charge to 75-90 gr of powder to get good accuracy with the lighter bullets, its nice to shoot light loads but they don't always shoot best..with that light of bullet recoil should be negligible.

Well. Tried both in my caplock. Surprisingly little leading. Surprisingly HORRIBLE accuracy.
Shot the 200s with 50 gr Swiss 3f with and without lubed felt wads. Could've gotten better groups with a smooth bore. Blindfolded.
Shot the 230s with 60 gr same powder, with lubed felt wads. Got a smidgen of hope with a 3 inch group (50 yards). But then all over the place. Will try in the flintlock next. She has a smoother bore, but is .001 larger land to land.
Am REALLY appreciating my Black Diamonds right now.

 

[bubba.50]

Save yerself a lot of grief & get a box of maxi-balls and/or Lee reals and/or Lyman/Hornady Plains bullets and a good lube.

 

[Idaholewis]

Well. Tried both in my caplock. Surprisingly little leading. Surprisingly HORRIBLE accuracy.
Shot the 200s with 50 gr Swiss 3f with and without lubed felt wads. Could've gotten better groups with a smooth bore. Blindfolded.
Shot the 230s with 60 gr same powder, with lubed felt wads. Got a smidgen of hope with a 3 inch group (50 yards). But then all over the place. Will try in the flintlock next. She has a smoother bore, but is .001 larger land to land.
Am REALLY appreciating my Black Diamonds right now.

What kind of Bullet Lube were you using? Do you have anyway of testing the hardness of the lead? I have had some HORRIBLE outings with stock 1:48 Twist barrels, Accuracy so bad At 50 yards I couldn’t even hit a Target! Actually i did hit the target 1 time, my first shot hit about 2 foot low hiting the Ground in front of my Target, bouncing up and breaking my wood target frame! (I have seen this happen twice with stock 48 twist barrels) My other Shots couldn’t even be found? Does this rifle have a QLA Muzzle by chance?

Believe it or not Bullet lube can make a HUGE difference in accuracy, But the 2 larger accuracy killers for me in stock 48 twist barrels have been hard lead, and QLA Muzzles. Softer lead and Softer bullet Lube will be your friend here, and if your rifle has a QLA Muzzle NO OP Wad of any kind. My guess is the Pistol bullets you recovered are hard, probably wheel weight hard? If so, that is likely your problem