Some help with new Highwall

[brudford]

 I just purchased a Stoger/ Urberti 1885 Highwall in 45-70 cal. Several questions please. There really is no receiver,could I have a smith drill and tap barrel for scope mounts ?
 I have seen the period long brass scopes that mount in the dove tails,really do not want one of those. The rifle has an octagone barrel,does this makes a difference for mounting a scope ? If I load only with smokeless powder can I used hard cast bullets say from wheel weights ? Or do I have to use pure lead like you would with black powder 20:1 lead tin mixture.
I would like to keep everything simple as possible. Use smokeless powder and cast my own bullets from wheel weights. Also with smokeless powder with all that empty space in the cartridge will I have to through in some filler ??  Thankyou

[Ireload2]

It is easy for a gunsmith to drill and tap the barrel for a set of scope bases.
These rifles are fun to shoot with with the tang sights.  If you have never used a tang sight you might consider trying one.
Off a bench with an aperture front and rear aimed at a 6" to 8" bullseye I can get close to 1" groups now and then with several rifles.
If you really must have the scope the standard Browning 85 Highwall is drilled & tapped and costs about what you paid for the Uberti.
You could swap for a Browning.

A smokeless discussion is against the late moderator's rules.
I will answer it this way. If you want to use lead bullets stick with original velocities meaning well under 1500 FPS.  20-1 and wheel weights will work fine as long as the bullet is a good fit and it is well lubricated. But a good fit is not always simple. The driving bands need to fit the groove diameter well and if you use a bullet with a long nose the nose diameter needs to fits the land diameter. A lot of the molds out there do not produce this fit with existing bores.  I have some bullets with a .440 nose when it needs a .449 nose to fit my tightest rifle. To fit the largest bore  I own the nose would have to be .453.  That barrel needs a bullet with a short nose or a custom mold.
I would suggest that you research the available powders and you will find about a half dozen or more that will produce the velocities above with out using a filler. I can tell you which ones if you PM me.

to keep your life simple requires a good mould which may take some researching and careful shopping. There is nothing worse than a poor fitting cast bullet to waste you time money and patience.


 

[Graybeard]

I'm moving this one to the Single Shot Rifle Forum as it is NOT appropriate for discussion on the World of Black Powder Cartridges Forum due to the discussion of smokeless powder.

[brudford]

Ireload, Thanks for your reply. I do not know why my post was removed from the Forum, " World of black powder cartridge rifle, loading,shooting and reloading "
I think I covered about every topic there ? But what do I know ! Is Browning making the 1885 again ? The used ones are getting a premium price.
The Urberti was 850.00$. Does Lyman or anyone else make a rear peep and front sight that will slide into the front dovetail or maybe screw into the plate behind the hammer.
At a reasonable price ?  thanks.

[Graybeard]

The reason is simple that forum is for the discussion of BLACK POWDER guns used with BLACK POWDER ONLY and any discussion of smokeless results in the thread immediately being removed. That is the way the users of that forum voted for it to be years ago and the way it stands still.

Read the description of it and you'll see very clearly what that forum is and is not.

[brudford]

No wonder posts on that forum are way down ! Amazing ?

[Graybeard]

We have forums here for about everything you could possibly want to discuss to include the use of BLACK POWDER in BPCRs which is the ONLY thing that one is for. This one is for any single shot rifle discussion you want whether it uses BP or smokeless powder. Did you notice that it is in the BLACK POWDER section of this site. Why would it surprise you that forums in that section are limited to BLACK POWDER. Seems rather obvious to me.

[Ireload2]

Ireload, Thanks for your reply. I do not know why my post was removed from the Forum, " World of black powder cartridge rifle, loading,shooting and reloading "
I think I covered about every topic there ? But what do I know ! Is Browning making the 1885 again ? The used ones are getting a premium price.
The Urberti was 850.00$. Does Lyman or anyone else make a rear peep and front sight that will slide into the front dovetail or maybe screw into the plate behind the hammer.
At a reasonable price ?  thanks.

Do you know what dovetail is used for the front sight? Lyman most likely makes a 17A sight that will fit it.
There are an array of tang sights at Track of the Wolf and Buffalo Arms that you can look at.
Call Dave Gullo at Buffalo Arms and he will probably let you know what fits your requirements.
Lee Shaver is another source of BPCR sight information. His business is egunsmith.
The exclusionary attitude of BPCR shooters is a familiar pattern on the internet. I think it stunts their sport by rejecting new folks with an interest in the rifles that are not necessarily interested in using the propellant.   

[Graybeard]

The exclusionary attitude of BPCR shooters is a familiar pattern on the internet. I think it stunts their sport by rejecting new folks with an interest in the rifles that are not necessarily interested in using the propellant.

 

You'll get no argument from me on that comment. I've NEVER in my entire life pulled the trigger on a load of black powder. I've used substitutes in muzzle loaders but in the several BPCR rifles I've owned all have used ONLY smokeless powder.

But that personal preference of mine aside the folks who actually use the forum to which this was originally posted voted it to be BLACK POWDER ONLY and that is the way it will be. There are plenty of other forums here for discussions of this nature other than there. They feel somewhat insulted by discussions of other than real BP. To each his own. They have been granted that forum to do their thing on without interference from those of us who do not use BP.

[Ireload2]

They kind of remind me of a church in which the members did not believe in sex. They never had any kids so the church membership shrank. The only way to get new members was to recruit people that wanted to remain celibate the rest of their lives. The last two members were a couple of old maid sisters and then it was gone.
No matter how moral you are you need to get new folks interested to keep the show going.