Croft Barker's Christmas Surprise

A recent search for information regarding .50-70 rifles and loading has revealed much less has been written about this caliber than its little brother, the .45-70. I have Mike Venturino's books, and have occasionally been able to access a few short articles online, but I quickly discovered that the late Croft Barker wrote several books featuring the .50-70. Unfortunately, none of Mr. Barker's books are currently being printed and used examples are demanding premiums as high as $300 per paperback copy. I was lucky to be able to order "The Yellow Book of Selected Articles" for a very reasonable $28.

I received the book yesterday, and last night when I opened the cover, I was in for a shock. By the way, I have the somewhat uncommon first name, Lance. It's like it was a from beyond the grave greeting.

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I have an old book here. I looked it up. Mainly a BP cartridge but with light smokeless load it is doable. Powders still available. May need to fill the case with Kapoc fluff to keep the powder up against the primer. YMMV good luck. Post some results!

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Thx. Got that. Cartridges of the World, a great "go-to" reference. What I really need is pressure data with Hodgdon 777 FFg. I have two Swedish Rolling Blocks that I think I need to develop loads that don't exceed 20,000 psi.

Triple 7 is loaded to full case capacity, with NO COMPRESSION.

At least, that's what Hodgon says.

https://hodgdonpowderco.com/reference-data/

At Hodgdon's website click "Resources" then "Information" then "Reference data" then "Cowboy Action Data"

There isn't any data for the 50-70 specifically, but there is a note at the top of the page stating how the loads are derived (by filling the case to the bottom of bullet with no compression)

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Originally Posted by Swineherd

Triple 7 is loaded to full case capacity, with NO COMPRESSION.

At least, that's what Hodgon says.

https://hodgdonpowderco.com/reference-data/

At Hodgdon's website click "Resources" then "Information" then "Reference data" then "Cowboy Action Data"

There isn't any data for the 50-70 specifically, but there is a note at the top of the page stating how the loads are derived (by filling the case to the bottom of bullet with no compression)

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Thanks. I'd seen this before, but missed the pressure data for 777 in pistol cartridges. Too bad there isn't anything listed for rifles. I know that 777 is supposed to be able to be substituted for Ffg black powder 85% by volume (85gr 777=100 gr Ffg). So a case full, 70 gr 777 should be the equal of 80.5gr Ffg BP, but what would the pressure be? I think I need to keep pressures at/below 20,000psi in a Rolling Block.

I've had great success in the past just calling Hodgdon. They are helpful and knowledgeable folks. GF

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Originally Posted by Gray Fox

I've had great success in the past just calling Hodgdon. They are helpful and knowledgeable folks. GF

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Good idea. I'll contact them. While .50-70 support may be asking for too much, they should have pressure data for the 777 2F rifle cartridge loads they published. By comparing pressures the 777 60 grain 45-70 loads to BP loads, it will at least give a start point and not be a complete shot in the dark.

I was wondering what happened to Croft, and Cistern Publications in Floydada. That's a cool note you found!