Finally Midway has some .45-75 brass in stock, and a reasonable price at that. Purchased 100 pieces today.

Dad (now 85) has a 95% or better condition Winchester .45-75 1876 Sport model that he's had since he was 10 years old. Him being an ex-101st Airborne Sargent (Korean Conflict) needless to say this firearm has been pampered over the past 7 decades and the photos show it. Each year he takes it out and oils it, applies a good wax to the stock.

He's flying out from Minnesota for his youngest grandson's final senior year in Football for Senior Night in Oct this fall and I'm surprising him with 100 rounds of .45-75 ammunition. He said he's not shot the rifle since the late 40's (A Garand replaced the Winchester as his "Go To" deer rifle after the war).

The first step is ....taking the step and ordering the brass, which I did. Now I will be motiviate to purchase the die set, black powder and lead bullets however this will follow in the next few months (I have to go slow on ordering as I'm ramping up my own supply of 5 calibers in prep for the Hillary win ;) Wife "Flak" starts peppering my fuselage when I'm overspending in enemy territory)

They will be ready when he gets here in October.

Any old winchester loaders here recommend a good black powder? I'd like to keep this a low pressure round.

A little history of the rifle before I show the pictures, in his own words:
"Serial # 57XXX, The rifle is King's Improvement, Patented March 20,1866 ....October 20, 1880. Round Barrel, Interior Brass Shell Feed and Extractor. with Lever Action. Rear fold down Elevated Sight. It is really in good shape for its age and has never been refinished. I bought this gun in the early 1940's at around 12 years old and used it as a youngster for deer hunting....at my Grandpa's Resort at Cass Lake, MN.

During the second World War there were not any new firearms for sale. My Uncle Ed who was a traveling salesman bought it in Iowa from one of his customers before he was drafted into the Second World War. He use to take me deer hunting and put me in the woods somewhere on a log while he went off and tried to chase deer my way. I paid for it from the money I made at that early age by taking people out fishing from my Gramp's resort on Cass Lake. It cost me a whole $10.00 that was a lot of money for a kid in the 40's. So basically that is all the info I have on it."


I have since found out with some research and local experts in the Winchester field that he has a rare collectible if I am not mistaken. Either way, I made sure he was insured up to $20k for the rifle on his insurance rider. I am sure you folks know more about this rifle than I do as my expertise area, as green as it is, is in Trapdoors. I welcome you to share your thoughts!

Well, I'll be damned . . . I've never even heard of .45-75.

That's pretty cool, both the rifle and your reloading project. Keep us updated!

I don't see any BP loads in my data for this cartridge.

Barnes lists one load with a 350 gr. lead bullet using 24 grains of 4198, for 1380 fps muzzle velocity. This load matches the old factory load, both in bullet weight, muzzle velocity and energy.

I routinely use 4198 in place of black powder in my oldies.

Oh yeah....friggin sweet rifle!

I have used 4198 but AA5744 meters better with my .45-70 cartridges.

I'd like to keep to historic (black) powder for his old girl though!

Thank you Madpick, I can always count on you for a great reply. :)
Will do, though I will be slow and stealthy as to not upset wife...the CFO. :(

WOW! Cool story, and a very clean looking rifle!
I imagine it will be a step back in time for you both when you shoot it.
Ill bet your dad will recall some new (old) stories that you may have not heard before.
Thanks for sharing.
Oh and to your dad. Thank You

I will share this post when he visits. Thanks!

I also have never heard of the .45-75. And he shot that thing when he was 12 years old? Holy Crap, your father must have been a true Minnesotan green giant.

I love the rear leaf sights. Very, very cool.

I'd try Goex F black powder.
Maybe reduce the 75 grains to 50-60 or so.
Beautiful rifle but still has a weak toggle-link action, and you don't want to take any chances with a piece that nice.

http://www.goexpowder.com/images/LoadCh ... -Rifle.pdf

Really awesome thing to do for your dad! Wish I could offer some insight but, like Madpick, this is the first I've heard of .45-75. Great project, looking forward to reading the updates!

Thank you sir.

Yeah, not sure if he'll shoot it, but at least he'll have ammo for it if he has the desire.
I'm sure you know the value of the rifle as I do...

I think.....I think this would make an excellent story for my blog....


Awesome story and journey, thanks for sharing!

Started the BP journey with setting up for .45-70 first before I move on to Dad's loads.
This first BP load I used the following:
Starline Brass
Federal Magnum primer
500 gr bullet
This 500 grain bullet is made by "The Bullet Man" in Montana. He claims "Duplicate 45-70 Gov. 500 gn bullets. These are cast in a soft alloy of about BHN-9 and sized to .459" diameter. This design is our copy of the original arsenal design shown in the picture. They are cast identical to the original arsenal bullets recovered in the Fort Buford Fort Union area of eastern Montana. This is a replica design. This bullet loaded to between 1270 and 1330 fps will regulate to the original Trapdoor Springfield issue sights at all ranges the sight is calibrated for."

I wanted to start with about 62 approx in volume. The powder used is an older unopened can of Dupont FFg that came with this rifle. I validated it was BP and that it would burn :), you can click this link to see. https://vimeo.com/176676475



I built a drop tube to assist in compacting the powder to prevent air pockets. Instead of eye screws to hold the 24" of brass tube, I went with a combination of a nylon strap supported by a washer and rubber grommet. It has a gasket around the brass tube to make it adjustable too.


I drilled a couple of holes in the base plate just to keep the Valved flask and powder measure in place when not in use.



I used a .060 vegetable .45 dia wad. These were relatively inexpensive. After loading the BP into the casing, this wad placed on top. I then used a Montana Black Powder Compression die to push the wad down another .150


As you can see, I went beyond the max 2.795 to 2.835. The reason being is I took a friends advice (Thks Vic) and compressed it about .150 after dropping the powder in. I was careful not to 'crush' the powder as suggested. I also added a taper crimp in a separate stage from the bullet seating.


How am I doing? I don't know. We'll find out Saturday!

LOL at that train gif.
:)