Rechamber Buff Classic

[doeroller]

Just a thought. I think it would be a great economical project to rechamber a 45-70 Buff to one to the classic English nitro express cartriges, say 450 nitro or 450 #2. Can this be done? This would be the only way I could afford a rifle that fired one of these cartriges. Just think, a 500 gr bullet @ 2100 out of a Buff!

[quickdtoo]

I have a .45-120-3¼" Sharps Straight in a BC, and with a little load work using an 85% load density of  H414, it's quite possible to meet or exceed that load and stay within Ruger level pressures. Even using existing published data, over 1800fps is doable with just 60gr of H4895 at just 28kcup, but entering into the "more power realm" would be on my own hook as there is no data available, but it could be done in either cartridge, I'm sure, with the only reason for it being, just cuz I wanted to!!

Tim



The puny "little" cartridge on the left is a .45-70 round!

[doeroller]

Hey Quick, can a Buff be rechambered to a Nitro Express round?

[quickdtoo]

Seems to me Tanoose asked the same question one time, I think it could be done, but whether you'd want to shoot it a lot would be a  question to ask yourself, the recoil would be substantially more than most folks would want in such a light rifle even with weight added to the stock, but probably more importantly, how long would the underlug last if you shot full pressure loads. I can't find a cartridge drawing of it, so I don't know how much larger the case head is, but it's probably considerably bigger than the .45-70,  and I don't know what pressures it operates at.

Before you get too excited about it, find out how much brass and dies cost for it, the .45-120 is an awesome round if you want the shock and awe factor, brass is about $2 each,  a die set is less than $40. The only brass I've seen for the 450NE is $72 for 20, never seen a die set, but the 450-400 NE RCBS die set is $265.

Tim

[handirifle]

I'd wonder what the pressure levels of the "Nitro" round were.  Make sure they don't go above what the reload manuals say are for the Marlin levels of pressure of the 45-70.  If they are near 458 Win Mag levels, I'd say no.  But that is just me.

[knight0334]

From memory:

The case dimensions of the 3.25" 450 NE is nearly identical to the 45-120.  Case capacity is nearly the same as well.  I do believe the working max pressure for the 450NE is about 37K CUP or less, which makes it a little hotter than the 45-120.  I've read somewhere that the 45-120 cases really start expanding and sticking in the +28K PSI(??) range.

Brass is a turd to find just like the 45-120, and there are a couple if not more types of 450Nitro Express's.  #1, #2, etc..  dimensionally different I think..

The BC's barrel will handle the Nitro, the recoil and thrust may peen the underlug and loosen up the action after awhile though.  The Handi's and BC will take the pressures(rated for 65K PSI in some cartridges), but the recoil and barrel/receiver thrust tend to have it's toll on our favorite little guns.

[Smokin Joe]

The .45-based Nitros shouldn't be a problem as long as you remember that they're loaded to around 16 tons (long) pressure and don't need to be hotrodded to perform. Watch out for the differing rim thickness.

Kynoch Data:

.450 Nitro....17 tons
.450 #2......13 tons

Brass:

http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,5759.htm

http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,375.htm

[quickdtoo]

Geez, Joe!!! I thought my prices were bad, those are enought to scare anyone off!!  FWIW, according to the folks at Bufflao Arms, Bell 45-120 brass will handle upwards of 60kpsi, I've pushed pressure well above Hodgdon's data and never had a stuck case.

Tim

[Smokin Joe]

If you think that's bad, try 14.00 a pop for Kynoch ammo!   

P.S. I AINT pullin the trigger on no 60K .45-120!!! Vioxx was taken off the market, remember?

 

[quickdtoo]

Me neither, that's too much just for fun!!

Tim

[Smokin Joe]

Fun like this?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElmlIyOtf1Q

[quickdtoo]

Looks like he made 2 hits with one shot!!!