45-70 case lenth question

[Will52100]

I have an 1885 Uberti hiwall in 45-70.  It is suprisingly accurate.  I started reloading with black powder almost as soon as I got it.  Well I stoped buying bullets and started casting my own.  I am casting a 510 grain pointed bullet for it and it seems accurate enough.  I tried several differant seating depts and such, but the best load so far is with the bullet seated out so far that the first lube grove is fully exposed.  Is this normal?  The bullet dosen't engage the rifling till it's moved just a bit further out past the lube grove.  I assume this is because of the bullets slender nose?  Or do I have a longer chamber?

Thanks,

Will

[ShortStake]

Will,

The Uberti .45-70 is a SAAMI specification chamber.

Measure the diameter of the cast bullet's top most band and determine if it is actually smaller than the barrel land/grove diameter.  If so, the bullet can be seated out (further) until it engages the lands of the barrel without causing any harm.  Another quick check is to insert a sized and lubed cast bullet nose first into the Uberti's muzzle.  This will give you a quick reference as to the bullet's fit.

Having a band and a grease groove exposed on a loaded round is quite common for rifles used in Silhouette and Mid/Long Range competition.  For rounds used for hunting an exposed grease groove is not a good idea because of the potential for foreign matter to collect on/in the bullet lube

[Will52100]

Thanks, I checked the bore dia. and the bullet is a good fit.  Didn't think I had a problem was curiose just the same.  I've read where some get a custom mold with the first driving band smaller to seat further out.  Doesn't apear that I have that problem :grin: