HOT LOAD FOR 45-70 Gov't

[okboarhunter]

Want a hot load for my 45/70 guide gun

[270 bdl]

Try 51 grs. of rl-7 with a 350 gr. bullet. Hang on!

Another is 52gr of IMR4198 with 300gr Partition.

[DANTHEHUNTER]

54gr varget 350gr hornaday round nose sp 1950fps out of my marlin lever,1975fps out of my buffalo classic.

[eldeguello]

ORIGINAL: okboarhunter

Want a hot load for my 45/70 guide gun

Elmer Keith's old standard load of a 400-405-grain softpoint and 53 grains of IMR3031 is pretty attention-getting as well.

My MAX LOAD in a Ruger No.1 consists of 60 grains of Alliant RE 7 and a 400-grain Barnes Original semispitzer gives 2270 FPS @ 10 feet from the muzzle from MY No.1. But this load is too hot for a lever action, IMO.

Recoil of this load is 58 foot pounds. Very unpleasant. But I generally use the Keith load instead, reserving the nasty one for such things as brown bear and Cape Buffalo in the back yard.......

[okboarhunter]

I need a low grain bullet to make a hot deer load.
Then i need a hot and heavy load for hogs

[270 bdl]

The 350 gr. bullet would be a good all around one. It knocks deer like a sledge hammer.

[HEAD0001]

I have shot alot of 45-70. I have shot hot loads, light loads, heavy bullets, and light bullets. The 405 grain bullet at 1600fps is probably optimum. Alot of peopleshoot the 300 grain at 2200fps to flatten their trajectory. I do not believe it flattens the trajectry very much-some yes, but not very much. As far as performance on game-a 405 at 1600 fps will take anything you want to shoot, without the recoil punishment. You can push them faster, but their truly is no gain in "Killing Ability".

Thekey to the 45-70 is practice. The beauty of the 45-70 is how cheap it is too shoot.How well it shoots. And how easy it is to reload. Go out and buy1000 lead bullets, or better yet a pot,mold, and some lead. Then cast away. It is actually very easy. Then shoot, shoot, shoot.

I have seen alot ofshooter's wholike the Barnes 300 grain bullet. Ihave not shot this bullet. I have looked at it with interest, but when it cameright down to it, I could not justify buying them. Yes, it is ballistically better than my cast 405's. I just can not understand what it is made of that makes them so expensive(solid gold).

I shoot the 45-70 for nostalgic reasons. I like the lever's and the single shots. To me modern bullets just do not seem to fit in the 45-70.

As far as the load to use, well that is easy. Fill the case up with 3F Blackpowder, lop off the excess with a butter knife, and seat the bullet. A little crimp is alright if you shoot a lever, but not necessary in a single shot. You will not believe how many loadings you can get out of a case with a single shot, and no crimp. Especially if you have a tight chamber cut.

I like the guide gun. Is yours ported? That short. ported barrel model in SS would be a great rifle. I just might have to get one(it just seems too modern). For now I shoot my 1886's, and my 1885. I have read on the levergun site that they recommend a heavy crimp for theGuide Gun. Whenever I heavy crimp, I use a taper crimp instead of a roll crimp. I use the Redding taper crimp die, it works very well. I crimp in a separate step, I never crimp in the seating process. I believe I get a better "feel" if I use a separate step. And it allows for slight casing discrepancies(?). If you want that heavy load go with RL 7. I have also had great success with 2400. Tom.

[eldeguello]

"The 405 grain bullet at 1600fps is probably optimum. Alot of peopleshoot the 300 grain at 2200fps to flatten their trajectory."

I believe HEAD is right, the 400-405 grain bullet at 1550-1600 FPSD is probably close to as good as it gets for a .45/70. I have never gotten much accuracy out of 300-grain bullets, but in my rifle, the 350's, including the Lyman cast 457122 hollowpoint, shoot real well.

The Speer 350 is actually much tougher than their 400-grainer, and is the best Speer .45/70 bullet for really heavy game - use it on hogs, brown bear, etc.; it's too tough for much expansion on a deer......

[DANTHEHUNTER]

If you want some factory ammo around that with 350 gr. bullet, try the PMC they are about middle of the road and seem to be a great match for my levergun. I never really liked the remingtons(405gr), they seem to be really weak. Almost a cowboy round. But they were made for the older rifles so it is good to have them around.
I have shoot my reloads for about two years now and some of the brass is on it's 10th time with no signs of wear. That is making that brass seem cheap.I still like my varget for powder ,it is a good match for that old beast.I think I am going to try some of the conicle bullets to see if there is that much differnce.