.45-70 '74 Sharps 200yd initial PPB cartridge load testing

~ August 20, 2020 ~ Testing out PPB cartridge loads at 200 yards. Pedersoli .45-70 '74 Sharps with barrel and paper patch chamber relined in chrome moly by Lee Shaver. The cartridge build includes Starline fire formed brass, Federal 210M primers, case flash hole reamed (each of the last ten rounds had a newsprint wad added inside the case and over the flash hole), 81 grains of Swiss 1-1/2F drop tubed and with light 1/16" compression, .060" LDPE wad, BACO Jim444530E slick with 1:16 alloy that drops at 528 grains, Seth Cole 7# canary yellow paper patch. The PPB fits the bore like a hand in a well fitting leather driving glove.

Shots were taken for group and not score, the sights were not moved. This video shows the last 2 shots taken as fast as I can load, aim, and fire. BrentD bore gophers were used for wiping between shots, along with a dry patch. My aiming and firing concentration was not entirely on game, and I did the best i could. The last ten round 2 shot groupings were - 2", 1", 6", 3.25", 3" - for a total of 15.25" to yield a 3.05" aggregate. Not really good, but not too bad. At least they were all in the black. :-)

Target hit sequence is shown at the video's end for all 15 rounds fired, with the last frame showing the last ten rounds sequence number marked in red. This is half the total rounds fired for score at our Spring/Fall Buffalo Rifle match (30 rounds). If the 15 shots fired were taken as score, the total would be 141-3x out of 150.