Which caliber to buy ?

[robferg]

I'm still trying to figure out what caliber to buy for plinken and a little deer hunting. A couple of questions. Which of the calibers for the 1876 has the flattest trajectory. I know they have a rainbow arc but just wondering. Also, does any one have a picture of the calibers side by side for comparison. Or know where I can go and look. Thanks.

[ndnchf]

For plinkin and deer hunting, any of the available calibers will do fine.  IMHO, it really depends on what warms your heart. 

.40-60 - kind of an odd cartridge in my view and kind of puny for a big rifle like the 1876.  But would be fine for either of your goals.  A bit more work to load and not as many bullet choices as the .45s.

.45-60 - easiest and cheapest to load for.  Use readily available cutdown 45-70 brass.  If you are a beginning reloader, its a good choice.

.45-75 - Considered by many as THE 1876 Winchester cartridge.  Pretty close equivelent to the .45-70, but a bottleneck design to make the cartridge shorter to fit the action.  Perhaps the best of the bunch ballistically.

.50-95 - exotic, perhaps flatter shooting than the others, but more of a short range cartridge.  A bit more expensive to load, but not bad.

When I bought my Uberti a few years ago I went with the .50-95.  I just like .50s of all sorts.  I'm not a hunter, just a plinker and it does a fine job of plinking.  But if I were a hunter, here in the east, it would be fine for the typical ranges we have. 

Not much help I suppose, but the takeaway from this is pick whatever makes you happy.  I wouldn't let a few dollars difference in reloading cost drive my decision.  Once you buy the brass and dies, its all the same.

Good luck!
Steve

[shrapnel]

The 45-60 is your best bet. For all around use and enjoyment, it is the easiest to load for. I have had all the calibers but the 50 and I still have the 45-60 and the 45-75. The 45-60 will do all you want with either black or smokeless. I have shot game with them all and the puniest got the biggest. I shot a moose with the 40-60, it is not a moose caliber, but it did work...

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[robferg]

Thank you, it is nice to have more than one choice.

[wildman1]

Seriously, can you eat just one tater chip?  WM

[kwilliams1876]

WELL HERE WE GO............I LIKE MY 50-95 WITH BLACKPOWDER. BARREL SIGHTS ARE SET FOR 100 YDS, AND TANG SIGHT FOR 200. THE 400 GRAINER LEAD SLUG WORKS GREAT! NO REGRETS.

[ndnchf]

I too love my .50-95 and have no regrets.  Easy to load, holds a heck of lot of black powder, modeerate recoil, accurate at the ranges I shoot and has unbeatable style.  If I get another, it will be a NWMP carbine in .45-75.  More for social occasions you understand 

[Buck Stinson]

Just my 2 cents, but all of my 76's are original rifles and carbines.  I own, reload and shoot all four calibers.   I began reloading for and shooting a .45-75 WCF carbine about 45 years ago, so I would have to say that this is my favorite caliber.  I love my express rifles and have killed buffalo with these guns as well as the .45-75's.  The .45-60 WCF is also a great caliber, but I use it more for busting rocks than hunting.  The .40-60 WCF is a great caliber and has by far, the flatest trajectory, but with the size of the '76, this caliber feels like a pop-gun  when fired.   I load all of my ammo for all calibers with original Winchester reloading tools and cast bullets with original Winchester molds.  I use only blackpowder.

[Grapeshot]

I shoot the .45-60 WCF in my Chapparell 1876.  It does well with BP and Subs and will shoot the 405 grain bullets accurately.  That is if you like the recoil of when you touch off 55 grains of 2Fg that's been compressed so you and load a 405 grain HB Soft cast .458 slug.  I don't mind it much, but I prefer the 300 to 350 grain bullets better.  They are real accurate as well and the 350 grain Speer JSP with 35 grains of 3031 shoot real well for a smokeless load.  Cast bullets with 13 grains of Unique are rather mild, but fairly accurate as well.

[Grizzly Adams]

I have rifles in both 45-60 and 45-75.  If pressed for a favorite, I guess i would give the edge to the  45-60.  Whatever caliber you choose, you will find the 76 to be fun to shoot, and up to any task you might take on .

[Mossyrock]

I will tell you that the 45-60 is the most fun "plinking" rifle I have ever fired.  I find shooting .22s to be as boring as watching paint dry, but I can spend an entire afternoon shooting BP 45-60s downrange.