45/60 power!

[Dirty Brass]

I was just amazed at how much punch-power these things ('76 Win.'s) have. We set up some 12"x16" half inch thick I-beam sections at 75 yards, and consistantly knocked them OVER with 300 grain bullets loads in 45/60 cal.. I quit after five times - got tired of picking those heavy things up and resetting them on a stump! Gonna test the 45/75 w/350 grain's next time. Pretty sure I know what the 45/70 cal. Marlin or 1873 trapdoor will do

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Brass
That Trapdoor is that a rifle or carbine ? I have a HR Trapdoor Carbine and it shoot like a champ , but if you load it very heavy it will kick the snot out of you . 

[Dirty Brass]

I have a couple of carbine (cutdowns) and 3 rifles. I've shot the carbines with full BP loads, and not the reduced ones made for the carbines, and you are quite correct about kicking like a mule. Still, I never minded a sore shoulder or slight headache after shooting, so if I limit it to 6 or 8 shots and then take a break, I enjoy it. The rifles are just a sheer pleasure to shoot IMHO. The Marlin 45/70 CB has a bit of a thump to it too! 

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Brass
The Trap Door would be my 2 nd choice to hunt with . It's light to carry and very accurate not to mention it has lots of KNOCK DOWN . 

[Dirty Brass]

I haven't really sighted the trapdoor carbines in at any lengthy distance yet. Been too busy with the lever guns. Did manage nice 2 1/2" groups with the 45/60 last weekend at 95 yards. I expect that is the one I'll go with opening day. 44/40's were more in the 4"-5" range with factory Winchester cowboy loads, but with iron sights I expect that's about as good as I'll get! lol

[Rowdy Fulcher]

Brassie
The power of the 45-60 was great at the range I shot my buck at , probably 70 yards . That bullet went through the deer and on it's way managed to turn the deers heart into a mess . I know now that I didn't have to fire the second shot But when your in the field you don't won't to gamble on what if . I was going to wait until next year to hunt with black But I still have a Doe tag . Sounds like a Adventure to me .

[Dirty Brass]

I'm anticipating no problems power wise - no aiming wise with the iron sights??? That may be a good excuse later on 

Of course I'm kidding mostly - under the right conditions I think the Cimarron will perorm quite nicely. Just not sure if I'll go smokeless first and BP after that, or start out with BP. I like to see if I hit em' right away - all that smoke makes ya wait awhile! 

Go out and get that doe - good luck!

[Grapeshot]

I've got one of the Chapparel .45-60's and checked the rifling twist and found it to 1:22 inches, which is what the .45/70 Trapdoors had.  I also put a 405 grain hollow based bullet on top of 55 graing of Goex and tried them out and was able to punch a rather tight 4 inch group at 100 yards using a semi-buckhorn and a white bead front sight.  The white bead covered the old skillet I had hanging from the target hanger at the range.

I know that the 300 to 350 grain bullet was used with that cartridge, but It was all I had at the time and I wanted to shoot the gun after I got it.

[Big Muddy]

Grapeshot

I used a very similar load (425gr bullet and 50gr Goex Cartridge) to lodge a bullet in the "off" shoulder of a Bison Bull. I also noticed the twist rate was the same as my 45-70's and that heavy bullet shot very well out to 200 yards.

It definitely had all the power I needed for the buff.