I just received a Martini-Henry carbine that appears to have been made in 1885 by BSA and converted in 1897 to fire the 303 British cartridge and then rebarreled for 45-70. I have been hand loading for many years, but never for 45-70, until now. I have 500 bullets coming that are Berry 45-70 (.458) 350 gr. Round Shoulder w/cann. I also have various propellents on hand. The one that I am looking at as a start load would be 51gr. IMR4350 or IMR4064. But I do have IMR4198 and IMR3031 on hand.
My question is : Do I need to use wads with these loads? The barrel is 22" and the twist appears to be 1 in 19" and it looks like there are six grooves, but that is hard to tell. My caliper reads across the lands at .453". Here is a link to a photo of the carbine. http://s101.photobucket.com/albums/m78/roysclockgun/?action=view¤t=IMG_5519.jpg
Best,
Steven