By Mike Nesbitt | Contributing Editor
Any conversation about reloading for the .45-90 must begin with some history and description of the cartridge, or cartridges, because there are two of them.
To get things covered properly, we’ll talk about the .45-90 Winchester first and then the .45-90 Sharps.
This cartridge was introduced by Winchester for their fantastic rifle, the Model of 1886, often referred to as the slickest working lever action of them all. While I’m tempted to talk more about the rifle, we’ll concentrate on the cartridge and the .45-90 W.C.F. (Winchester Center Fire) had a 2.4-inch-long case which was loaded with 90 grains of powder under a 300-grain bullet. That was an “express load” which featured the rather light bullet over a hefty powder charge, giving it a rather high velocity for black powder standards. The intention was to give this cartridge very ample knockdown power for thin skinned game, which could certainly include elk.
Some of the newer or re-introduced versions of the Model 1886 Winchester have been made in .45-90 caliber, so we should certainly include some good comments for loading the cartridges needed for those guns.
One characteristic about this cartridge is the size makes it rather versatile and Winchester also loaded the same length cartridge as the .45-85 with a 350-grain bullet as well as the .45-82 when loaded with a 405-grain slug. Rifles for these cartridges should have been barreled with different rates of twist for those heavier bullets but they could certainly all be fired in the standard .45-90 Winchester chamber.
The .45-90 Winchester did transition into the smokeless powder era, at least a little. When it was loaded with smokeless propellants and jacketed bullets, even high velocity loads, what we’ll talk about here is a duplication of the old original black powder loading. That, of course, used 90 grains of black powder and a 300-grain cast or swaged lead bullet. For several years Lyman offered their version of that bullet as #457191, a bullet weighing about 290 grains. However, that bullet is no longer on Lyman’s list of available molds.
A good shooting version of that Lyman mold is made currently by Accurate Molds, their #46-292L. This bullet, as stated in Accurate’s on-line catalog, was inspired by the Lyman bullet and it is made for the .45-90 or as a good lighter-weight bullet for the .45-70. I personally have not tried this bullet but I do use a lot of molds from Accurate and recommend them highly. To see #46-292L or other offering from Accurate Molds, visit their web-site at accuratemolds.com.
Good brass for reloading is always needed and the best that I’ll recommend is made by Starline. Those cases are the right length, 2 4/10ths inches, and they are properly head-stamped. While these cases are not in stock everywhere, they are currently available, in both plain brass or nickel plated, from Graf & Sons. Visit their web-site at www.grafs.com.
In addition to that, brass can be ordered directly from Starline. It is easy to visit their web-site to see what is available and what is not. Buying from Starline is rather handy, especially if you intend to order in quantity. Right now, the .45-90 brass is listed as backordered but to keep an eye on the availability for those cases, visit the web-site at www.starlinebrass.com.
Rifles for the .45-90 Winchester should also be mentioned. Some 1886 rifles made by Miroku were chambered for the .45-90 about thirty years ago along with some of the new Highwalls that were also being made. However, I am not aware of any new repeating rifles currently being chambered for .45-90 W.C.F. It is a good cartridge and, naturally, needs some good rifles to go with it.
This brings us to the .45-90 Sharps which is a completely different subject even though it does use the very same 2.4-inch-long case. Sharps never referred to this cartridge as a .45-90, that is what we call it today as a more simplified reference. Officially, it was tagged as the .45-2.4” Sharps, with the indications of the caliber and the case length. And Sharps never loaded this cartridge with less than 100 grains of powder.
The .45-2.4-inch Sharps was a long-range target cartridge, designed especially for 1,000-yard or similar distances while shooting in competition. It was developed from the .45-2.6-inch Sharps which used the very same loading. With 100 grains of powder in the 2.4-inch cases, the 550-grain paper patched bullets were just barely seated into the mouth of the case and had to be handled carefully. The rifles which used this ammunition were some of the 1874 Sharps target rifles, the 1877 versions, and the 1878 Sharps Borchardt.
What makes the Sharps cartridges un-usable for the Winchester repeaters is the overall cartridge length. They are simply too long to use in the repeaters. Perhaps the Sharps cartridges could be fired in a repeating rifle by loading the rounds one at a time directly into the chamber. But then the rifle would have to be fired in order to “empty” the gun because the loaded rounds would be too long to eject. That was one reason why on the old cartridge boxes, for Sharps ammunition, the line “Especially for Sharps Rifles” was often seen.
Today we call the .45-2.4-inch Sharps the .45-90 Sharps, and the 2.6-inch cartridge is called the .45-100. To continue, the .45-2 7/8ths-inch cartridge is called the .45-110, although that was originally loaded with from 90 grains of powder all the way up to 120 grains. And, finally, the long .45-3 ¼-inch cartridge is called the .45-120 and that was introduced after Sharps had closed their doors. Perhaps today’s “nicknames” for those cartridges are easier for identification.
One thing that today’s black powder cartridge shooters like about the .45-90 Sharps is how versatile it is for loads.
For instance, my favorite loading includes a 550-grain bullet cast from a Hoch mold over just 70 grains of Swiss 1 ½ Fg powder. Instead of just barely seating the bullet in the mouth of the case, I prefer to seat the grease-groove bullets all the way down so all lube grooves are inside the case. While using 70 grains of powder, that is very easy to do and some compression of the powder is still required.
Those Hoch bullet molds are no longer available but if a similar bullet is desired, a quick trip back to Accurate Molds is probably a good idea. Accurate’s #46-550S looks inviting. Another good place to look for black powder cartridge bullet molds is Steve Brooks “Tru-Bore” bullet molds. Steve offers several designs in both nose pour and base pour, made to the dimensions you order. Check out Steve’s offerings on his web-site at: brooksmoulds.com.
Another very good place to get bullet molds or just bullets, already sized and lubed, is Buffalo Arms. They sell molds from makers such as Lyman, RCBS and Saeco, plus their own designs, many of which are not available elsewhere. Also, you can get just the bullets which means you can try a bullet style before you buy it, already lubed with SPG black powder lube. That can be very advantageous if you’re trying to decide on what bullets to get. Take a look at their offerings and their bullet molds by going to the Buffalo Arms Company web-site at: buffaloarms.com.
Now, to talk about my load in the .45-90 Sharps some more, the 70 grains of Swiss 1 ½ Fg powder gives the 550-grain bullet a velocity of 1200 feet per second out of the 30-inch barrel on my heavy Sharps from C. Sharps Arms (csharpsarms.com). That rifle weighs 14 ½ pounds, including the MVA 6X scope (Montana Vintage Arms, montanavintagearms.com), and a lighter rifle would be simply more punishing because of recoil. And the load performs. It gave me ten hits on chickens at the recent Icicle Match, where the chickens were put on the pig line at 300 meters (330 yards). And those chickens were not shot at from the offhand position.
That Icicle Match, by the way, saw my best ever score at silhouettes. I got 30 hits out of the 40 shots for score. That gave me second place among scope shooters, just one hit behind Beth Morris who placed first in the scope class with 31 hits. I wanted to throw that out there to show more of how well the big .45-90 was working for me.
Another example of how the .45-90 is working is in a group I fired with that rifle, using the same loads, on a target at 100 yards. On the morning the group was shot, it was 35 degrees, which to me is rather chilly. One target was posted at 100 yards and then two fouling shots were taken, just shooting into the berm. After that, five shots were fired for the group without spotting the shots, so I don’t know which was first or last. The “double” must be the largest bullet hole, on the 8/9 line at the right. If that had been shot for score instead of for a group, I most likely would have made a sight adjustment to make the hits more centered. As it is, I’m very pleased, the group measures less than the length of the 2.4-inch cartridge case and that is what I wanted to show.
My plan is to continue using that rifle with the 70-grain load for more shooting, more matches.
One more load for the .45-90 needs to be talked about before concluding this article and that is with paper patched bullets. The loading I have used the most with the .45-90 has a 500-grain bullet cast from a Tom Ballard mold (again, no longer available) which is a tapered bullet having a cupped base. (Molds for similar bullets can be ordered from Steve Brooks and Buffalo Arms.) This bullet is seated over 90 grains of compressed Swiss or Olde Eynsford 1 ½ F powder with a “lube cookie” between the over powder wad and the base of the bullet.
That’s a load I’ve used previously, but not lately, and it is a load I’d try again, especially if any hunting with the .45-90 Sharps was being contemplated. The bullet should be cast with a fairly soft lead/tin alloy, perhaps 30-1, to encourage expansion as part of its terminal ballistics. And, I must add, the paper patched bullet loads are the most authentic for the .45-90 Sharps, looking more like a load from the 1870s than the loads with grease-groove bullets.
Our club has an annual Paper Patched Bullet Match and I just might work a little with my .45-90, using the paper patched load I just described, and give it a good try in that match. If I do that, I’ve got about four months to prepare.
Okay, that’s my rundown on loading and liking the .45-90 Sharps cartridge. Of course, I had to mention the .45-90 Winchester because both the Winchester and the Sharps cartridges use the same brass casing but other than that, they are certainly far different. And all of the shooting I’ve done was with the .45-90 Sharps. I like the .45-90 Sharps and it looks like I’ll continue to use it.
