Bullets & Brass
Traditional 45-70 Government Loads / Where is Trail Boss Powder? / The 6.8 Winchester or the 27 Nosler
column By: Brian Pearce |
Traditional 45-70 Government Loads
Q: I have been reading Handloader for about 15 years and have learned much from your detailed articles. I have used your +P style 45-70 Government loads and am very pleased with the accuracy I am getting. They have worked great for hunting whitetail deer and elk here in Northern Idaho, where it is almost always dense timber. The problem is that those +P loads kick too much when shooting for fun at the range. I am looking to duplicate the old Remington 405-grain JSP factory load that goes something around 1,300 feet per second (fps). The problem is that I cannot find the Remington 405-grain or the 400-grain Speer bullets for sale, as both are always out of stock. Do you know when these will be available again, or do you have any alternative bullet ideas? Can you offer a load that will duplicate the Remington factory load? I am using a modern Marlin Model 1895 Cowboy Carbine with a 20-inch barrel that was produced during the Remington ownership years. It has always worked reliably and is very accurate. I have outfitted it with a Skinner Express rear sight and had a local gunsmith do some trigger work to bring it down to a crisp 3-pound pull. It is my favorite levergun. Thanks in advance for your help.
K.L., Coeur d’ Alene, ID
A: I do not have any insight as to when Remington will offer their 405-grain bullet as a component. I believe Speer is shipping their 400-grain JSP bullets, so just keep checking with your dealer and watching customer-direct companies like Midway USA and others. With that said, demand is very high for 45-70 components, so just keep trying.
When you find the 400-grain Speer bullets, try 44.0 grains of Hodgdon Varget, or 38.0 grains of Accurate A-2015 powder, each capped with a CCI 200 primer. Either load will go just over 1,300 fps and offer good accuracy.
If you cannot find the above bullets, perhaps you should consider using cast bullets that offer excellent performance in the 45-70. But they also offer longer barrel life and are usually lower-cost options. If you don’t cast your own, Rim Rock Bullets (RimRockBullets.net) offers moderately priced cowboy-style 405-grain RNFP bullets and an excellent 430-grain gas-check WFN-style bullet. You can also use the above data (powder charge weights) with those two cast bullet options.
Where is Trail Boss Powder?
Q: I have been checking continually with my dealer to replenish my supply of IMR Trail Boss powder. Recently, he told me that it is discontinued and not available from his distributor. Can you suggest a powder that works equally well for my vintage black powder cartridge guns and duplicates the ballistics of my 100 percent capacity Trail Boss loads? I will mostly use it to load the 45 Colt with 250-grain bullets, 45-75 WCF with 350-grain bullets, and the 38-40 WCF with 180-grain bullets.
J.L., via Facebook
A: IMR Trail Boss has not been discontinued; rather, it has been rebranded from IMR to Hodgdon. It remains precisely the same powder. Trail Boss is a popular powder that usually sells out as soon as it hits the shelves. You might pass this information along to your dealer.
The 6.8 Winchester or the 27 Nosler
Q: I have been getting the itch for a new long-range hunting rifle. I have rifles chambered for both the 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5 PRC, a 7mm STW and a custom-built 300 Winchester Magnum. I’m considering buying a rifle chambered for the 27 Nosler or the 6.8 Winchester and would like to know your opinion of each. Perhaps you could make an objective comparison of the two? Any insight that you can offer will be appreciated.
J.A., via Facebook
A: While these two cartridges essentially compete with each other, they are distinctively different. Naturally, both are based loosely on the beltless 404 Jeffery case, but with technical changes in the head and rim. However, the 27 Nosler has an overall cartridge length of 3.340 inches that makes it suitable for rifles with 30-06 length actions. In contrast, the 6.8 Western has a maximum overall cartridge length of 2.955 inches, which makes it suitable for some, but not all, rifle actions designed for the 308 Winchester, which has an overall length of 2.810 inches. Incidentally, the 27 utilizes a 1:8.5-inch barrel twist, while the 6.8 is SAAMI listed at 1:7.5 to 1:8 inches. Both have a 35-degree shoulder that helps achieve an efficient powder burn, especially in the chamber, which serves to reduce throat erosion and lower shot-to-shot extreme spreads.
The 6.8 was designed specifically for heavy-for-caliber, low drag, high ballistic coefficient (BC) bullets at comparatively lower velocities. In testing early ammunition from a Browning rifle with a 26-inch barrel, the 6.8 pushed the 165-grain Nosler Accubond Long Range bullet to 2,955 fps. The 175-grain load reached an actual velocity of 2,836 fps.
On the other hand, the 27 can also stabilize heavy-for-caliber bullets but pushes them to notably higher velocities due to its greater powder capacity. For example, it can push a 150-grain Accubond bullet at 3,300 fps or a 165-grain Accubond Long Range at 3,158 fps, which is roughly a 200 fps advantage over the 6.8. Nosler is not loading factory loads or offering handload data with 175-grain bullets. However, the 27 will readily stabilize 130- and 140-grain bullets and can push them at some very impressive velocities of 3,600 and 3,500 fps, respectively.
As I see it, the 6.8 is better suited to extreme long-range target work due to its faster twist barrel and being designed to stabilize the 175-grain Pro Hunter bullet at slower velocities. Due to its reduced powder capacity, the 6.8 should offer a longer barrel life.
However, the 27 offers an incredibly flat, laser-like trajectory that few big game hunting cartridges can match. For example, the 150-grain Accubond bullet has a BC of .591, and when pushed to 3,300 fps, it boasts of being the 2nd flattest shooting cartridge (at 1,000-yards) in the Nosler family of cartridges and is flatter shooting than the 6.8. With a 200-yard zero, at 500 yards, it only drops 28 inches and retains 2,529 fps. Again, very, very few hunting cartridges even come close to offering such a flat trajectory. Switching to the 165-grain Accubond Long Range bullet with a .620 BC at 3,158 fps, the 27 is an outstanding long-range hunting cartridge at any reasonable distance.
From a hunter’s standpoint, I would personally favor the 27. Regardless, both the 6.8 and the 27 are suitable for hunting deer, antelope, black bear or elk and are truly outstanding open country cartridges.