Thread: "1873 Winchester 44-40 rifle shooting at 400y - Recreating the Lonesome Dove shot"

I really enjoyed this video; trying to use an 1873 Winchester 44-40 rifle (using a repro Uberti) shooting at 400y to recreate the Lonesome Dove movie shot. I like his channel; especially when he uses old rifles and calibres for hunting.

What I really enjoyed was the demonstration of using an original "ideal reloading tool" to make the lead projectile and also to assemble the cartridge. Sort of like an old fashioned Lee Loader. The tool was to let people make their ammo in the field. I reckon you'll like this @grandpamac

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_uTd35PCmY&t=621s

Have watched a number of capnball videos in the last couple of years, certainly worth watching.

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

I really enjoyed this video; trying to use an 1873 Winchester 44-40 rifle (using a repro Uberti) shooting at 400y to recreate the Lonesome Dove movie shot. I like his channel; especially when he uses old rifles and calibres for hunting.

What I really enjoyed was the demonstration of using an original "ideal reloading tool" to make the lead projectile and also to assemble the cartridge. Sort of like an old fashioned Lee Loader. The tool was to let people make their ammo in the field. I reckon you'll like this @grandpamac

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_uTd35PCmY&t=621s

Greetings @bumblefoot and all,
Thanks for that. I had seen pictures of the old Ideal tools but never seen one used. I was impressed that he tried to use period equipment, melting the lead in a ladle over the campfire rather than a pot. I also noted that there was no sizing of the case other than crimping the case after the projectile had been seated. I think that Lyman may still offer that tool, much imoroved and without the bullet mould today as the 310 tool. It neck sizes the cases primes and seats the projectiles with screw in dies.
Mike Venturino wrote about attempts to recreate a shot in Rifle or Handloader Mag a while back. The shot was by a buffalo hunter and reputedly knocked an indian of his horse at 1500 yards. The cartridge was a 50-90 or similar and the test was on the actual site. Mike and his mates shoot black powder silhouette out to 500 metres. They shot from a bench and their porjectiles were definitely not cast over a camp fire. Although they were not able to replicate the shot they came close enough to agree that the shot was possible but a fair bit of luck would have been invloved. There really is no end to this handloading rabbit hole is there. I think I should make a nice cup of tea and sit quietly for a while.
Regards Grandpamac.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second...of_Adobe_Walls

In those days they used to sell the tools with the rifle, you were expected to handload your own cartridges. It was the invention of smokeless powder that make handloading a niche thing.
The old ideal tools are cool. You don't actually need to size cases when your loading with blackpowder and the crimp is just to hold the bullet on.

I have handloaded a lot of blackpowder .44 WCF shells.

The Adobe walls "battle" was a group of buffalo hide hunters who were attacked in an Adobe building that was a shop/store out in the middle of Indian country that was attacked by Indians. (Comanches?) It lasted for a while, but they beat the Indians off with their buffalo guns.
A buffalo hunter named Billy Dixon borrowed a Sharps big .50 rifle and shot an Indian off his horse at a measured mile. No one knows if the man was killed or just fell off his horse because a big peice of lead bounced off his chest...anyway the shot became famous and has been measured a couple of times.

(The widow of the man who owned the rifle (killed in the battle) had to track Billy Dixon down to get her dead husbands rifle back seven years later. Apparently in the rosy glow of making a fine shot he forgot he didn't own the rifle and walked off with it. A good Sharpes in those days was worth about as much as a car is today. )
The moral of the story is that its better to be a lucky hunter than a good hunter.