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When I was 16 years old, my Dad and I drove from Syracuse to Homer, New York. The big attraction in Homer was Jerry Crozier's Gun Shop. We were looking at the Bargain Rack and we found a sporterized 1873 Springfield Trapdoor in .45-70 Government. We asked about ammunition and Jerry broke out two 500 round cases of UMC Government Standard .45-70 ammunition for $.04 per round. The ammunition was loaded with the 500 gr Goverment Rifle bullet and King's Semi-smokeless Powder. The recoil in the carbine was ferocious. Although I was 16 years old, I was 6'1" and 210 pounds. Even with my size and weight, the recoil was hard to take from the benchrest. Not many rounds could be fired before I had to quit. The accuracy of this rifle and ammo combination was three inches at 100 yards.
The same day we bought the rifle and ammunition, Dad bought an Ideal Nutcracker Reloading Tool. This was not a Lyman product but from the original Ideal factory. There was a bullet mould on the end of the tool and a bullet sizing chamber as well. This was an excellent way to get more ammo for the Trapdoor, that would not kick your brains out. The bullet the mould cast was a 405 gr Government Carbine bullet. My Dad would not buy me smokeless powder but he did buy 4 pounds of DuPont Black Powder and 1000 large rifle primers. We had to have a NY State Powder Permit to pick up the powder.
I had to fire the UMC ammo to have empty cases to reload. I tried the bench, offhand and prone with a rifle jacket. The prone position was amazing, the rifle kicked so hard it would move me 10" to 12" to the rear on each shot. I decided the fun way to shoot the Trapdoor was offhand.
I cast bullets from wheel weights and sized them in my tong tool. The next step was to pan lube the bullets. I bought a Lyman "Cookie Cutter" that was designed to cut the bullets out of the pan melted lube and leave the lube in the grooves of the bullet. You had to set the bullets upright in a heated pan and add Lyman bullet lube until all the grease grooves were covered with lube. Let the lube cool and use the "Cookie Cutter" to cut the bullets out of the lube.
I loaded the 405 gr bullets with 55 gr FFG Powder. That was the original Government carbine load. My home brewed ammo was not quite as accurate as the UMC Factory loads but it still stayed in 4" at 100 yards.
When I went deer hunting with the Trapdoor, I used the UMC 500 gr loads as long as the supply held out. It was 1958 and the ammo was made circa 1890. Every one of the 68 year old rounds fired with only one slight hang fire. In 1959, I killed a deer at 75 yards with the rifle and the old ammo. It was struck in the shoulder and went down like a ton of bricks. I sold the old rifle years ago with the brass and Ideal tool. I often wished I had not.
Doug Bowser
The same day we bought the rifle and ammunition, Dad bought an Ideal Nutcracker Reloading Tool. This was not a Lyman product but from the original Ideal factory. There was a bullet mould on the end of the tool and a bullet sizing chamber as well. This was an excellent way to get more ammo for the Trapdoor, that would not kick your brains out. The bullet the mould cast was a 405 gr Government Carbine bullet. My Dad would not buy me smokeless powder but he did buy 4 pounds of DuPont Black Powder and 1000 large rifle primers. We had to have a NY State Powder Permit to pick up the powder.
I had to fire the UMC ammo to have empty cases to reload. I tried the bench, offhand and prone with a rifle jacket. The prone position was amazing, the rifle kicked so hard it would move me 10" to 12" to the rear on each shot. I decided the fun way to shoot the Trapdoor was offhand.
I cast bullets from wheel weights and sized them in my tong tool. The next step was to pan lube the bullets. I bought a Lyman "Cookie Cutter" that was designed to cut the bullets out of the pan melted lube and leave the lube in the grooves of the bullet. You had to set the bullets upright in a heated pan and add Lyman bullet lube until all the grease grooves were covered with lube. Let the lube cool and use the "Cookie Cutter" to cut the bullets out of the lube.
I loaded the 405 gr bullets with 55 gr FFG Powder. That was the original Government carbine load. My home brewed ammo was not quite as accurate as the UMC Factory loads but it still stayed in 4" at 100 yards.
When I went deer hunting with the Trapdoor, I used the UMC 500 gr loads as long as the supply held out. It was 1958 and the ammo was made circa 1890. Every one of the 68 year old rounds fired with only one slight hang fire. In 1959, I killed a deer at 75 yards with the rifle and the old ammo. It was struck in the shoulder and went down like a ton of bricks. I sold the old rifle years ago with the brass and Ideal tool. I often wished I had not.
Doug Bowser
