I can't wait to get the range report on this one- and when you take it to your "getaway" to shoot with the long range guys, that'll be worth hearing about, too. Dang, that's nice. 
My wife wouldn't say a word either- for days.

Oh my.....stunning.  Congrats sir.

Thanks!
Here's a little comparison of some calibers I have in Ballards:

L to R.
.38-55-255 gr.
.45-70-500 gr.
,40-70-400 gr. Ballard
.44-100-475 gr. Ballard

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SgtDog0311 wrote on Aug 16^th, 2016 at 2:46pm:


Thanks John! You were a willing and eager participant! Most guys are once they've looked a Ballard over closely!

Slugged the bore today, and it's a larger .4515", vs. the .446" that COTW suggests. Great looking bore, so guessing it's just larger than what is "expected" on the .44-100 Ballard.
So I'm going to run several different weight .45-70 bullets through my .452" sizing die, and try some various weight bullets from 360 gr., .395 gr., 405 gr. 425 gr. and 500 gr. Should let me know what bullet weight, and charge gives the best accuracy, and not beat me to death also!

marlinguy wrote on Aug 18^th, 2016 at 6:06pm:

Good luck with that. When I shot Tom's 44-100 Hepburn Creedmoor I only shot two (2) rounds (think they were 400gr with 90gr of BP). First shot at a pig (300m) was a close miss (new to me trigger, etc.), but the second knocked the pig flying with authority. When I got my shirt off that evening and looked in the mirror I had a noticeable bruise exactly where the shotgun butt fit. Something I've never had with my 40-65 Hepburn (even with the 439gr/65gr load). Of course, my rifle also weighs ~13# with the scope on it and the Hepburn Creedmoor meets the old 10# weight limit of its day. Have fun.

Val: Its is my experience that the 44-90 Sharps and Remington are .451 and the Marlin Ballard in 44-100 also. My Lyman .446 molds for Sharps 44-77 casts at .451 so its worth taking a look at them.
Don