Bullets for my .45-70s
Man the more I keep reading up on this the more confused I get. My Pedersoli 1874 Sharps has a 32" bbl with a 1:18 twist rate and all my Marlins have a 1:20 twist rate. Everything suggests that I SHOULD be getting my best accuracy with 500 gr bullets (lead) with a velocity of around 1200-1250 fps. So far my best accuracy with my Pedersoli has been with 405 gr bullets and with the Marlins I've had good results with Hornady 300 gr HPs.
I am going to try some 340 gr cast bullets shortly in the Marlins. As for the 1874 I can use some advice. I'm all for any load suggestions, I've read that one person paper patches his 500 gr bullets to a diameter of .459". That would require me to get a custom sizing die to .453" which I may be doing anyway to try in my .45 cal muzzleloader.
Send some advice my way with their favorite .45-70 loads for their 1874s and Marlin 1895s.