45-70 bullet choices
 

i was wondering if anybody reloaded 45-70. i was wondering if there was any way you could reload smaller than 300 grain bullets, i'm shooting a marlin guide gun. right now i shooting the winchester 300 grain hollow point. for some reason i dont think i'm getting the expansion i would like. i already thought about the hornady leveralution but didnt wont to waste the money if i could just reload my own.

RE: 45-70 bullet choices
 

Barnes is about the only people who makes a bullet less than 300gr. I shoot nosler partitions kicked up to 2100fps and they are devastating. I also shoot 300gr sierra Hollow point and they too are good on deer. I just can't afford the noslers anymore. I also am working up a 350gr hornady which I plan to use this year. I wasn't getting the accuracy I wanted with 300gr.

RE: 45-70 bullet choices
 

Aren't getting enough expansion on what size animal?

A friend of mine shot a brown bear with 400 Speers... Expanded waaaay to fast with poor penetration... He also shot a brown bear with the 350 Hornandys, not enough penetration even though they didn't expand too fast.

If your talking smaller animals, your either going to have to speed your 45/70 up quite a bit and live with the recoil and muzzle blast, or use soft bullets like "pistol" bullets, and not over speed them...

DM

RE: 45-70 bullet choices
 

BigCountry mentioned the Nosler Partitions and that's what I shoot. I use the .458 300 grain bullets. Heck, I also shoot them in my muzzleloader.

RE: 45-70 bullet choices
 

Expansion trouble could be solved by shooting the same bullets at a higher velocity, or using a softer bullet. IMO, it would be a mistake to use a lighter than 300-grain bullet in the .45/70! The 300 is actually a little on the light side for that caliber.

I use 400-grain Speer flatnoses and Barnes Originals. If you loaded the 400-grain Speer flatnose or even the Remington commercial 405 grainer up to 1800 FPS, it will more than make a big hole in things! 53 grains of IMR 3031 with either of these bullets is plenty, even for Grizzly bears!

The .45 caliber rifle bullet is one which is sufficiently large, it does not need to expand at all to make a large wound channel through game animals.

RE: 45-70 bullet choices
 

BC, if you ever ghet into casting bullets, get yourself a mould for the Lyman/Gould .457122HP bullet. Mine comes out at 342 grains cast from wheelweights. It wasone devastating bullet in 1890, and it still is for the .45/70 or .45/90. Even with black powder!

RE: 45-70 bullet choices
 

The 45/70 is a blast to reload for there are so many options from light plinking loads to tooth shaking ones! I use a 350 grain hornady flat point on top of 56 grains of 3031 in my guide gun drops moose like a semi truck!!

RE: 45-70 bullet choices
 

I don't think pistyol bullets are an option forthe .45-cal. rifles, as the rifles need .458" bullets, while handguns use smaller ones (.451"-452"). I believe it would be difficult to get the needed accuracy from the pistol slugs...

RE: 45-70 bullet choices
 

My Guide gun shoot the 300 gr Sierra HP well and with good results. My load is 51 gr of H4198. I've taken 3 black bear with this load with as many shots. For the larger bears though, I would go with a FP and/or a heavier bullet like a 405 gr hard cast.

RE: 45-70 bullet choices
 

Thats a hefty load. I got horrible results and still do with 51gr. Only can go up to 46gr. But still getting 1950fps or more with 300gr.

Thinking of getting a new guide gun and trying.

RE: 45-70 bullet choices
 

You bet BC - You definately know when this load goes off in that little guide gun. But you can't argue with the results. I sure wouldn't want to use it in an old trapdoor. But it is accurate and it is within the "safety zone" of the Marlin. I'm thinking of getting the 1895 in the Cowboy edition (with the longer barrel) or maybe even a Ruger #1.

RE: 45-70 bullet choices
 

The 300 grain Hornady hollow point expands very quickley and dumps enery quickley. One of the fellows in our camp usedone on a doe last year with devastating results. This recommendation is for deer sized game. See a link with a picture of the bullet.

https://www.hornady.com/shop/?ps_session=ce25d0f38e9eb7f676ca2564d6046340&p age=shop%2Fbrowse&category_id=af5deec836f85b2d a637a81825e37bab

Contrary to what many hunters believe, pushing rounds faster will actually reduce penetration with expanding bullets. So I would try to speed them up as others have suggested.

RE: 45-70 bullet choices
 

thanks for all your info. i've got some good ideas

RE: 45-70 bullet choices
 

Look at this 45-70 Marlin rifle

RE: 45-70 bullet choices
 

What do you guys recommend for the 350 Hornady FP with H4198? I've got some loaded up, but haven't had the chance to shoot them yet. I started at 42.0 and loaded up to 44.0. just doesn't look like enough powder in the case to me. Loaded in 1/2 gr. increments. Just doesn't look like enough powder in the case to me....made me a little nervous, but I've rechecked several souces, and it's supposed to be OK. I want to get up to around 46.0, but just haven't had the time.......

RE: 45-70 bullet choices
 

I haven't found anything that will not shoot in my Marlin 1895 except Lazer Cast bullets, and if I could get them cast .460 I bet they would shoot well to.
The Speer 400 gr will shoot into near 1" for three shots, and it is soft enough to expand even at trapdoor volicity. The Remington 405 jacketed bullets are a little harder than the Speer but will expand well if you launch them at a reasonably fast pace, I like 1700-1800 fps.
I have killed one deer with the Federal 300 gr factory load and it darn near ruined the deer, hit him square in the chest and the bullet lodged under the skin in one hind quarter. The expansion was huge and the penetration was awsome, I just didn't like the excess loss of meat.
My new favorite bullet is the Beartooth Piledriver Jr. sized 460, with 44.5 gr of Varget a CCI 200 primer and Win brass. Just today I got a .444" group from 100 yds off the bench. When I moved the windage adjustment and fired two more rounds they went into the same hole. These bullets don't depend on expansion for killing power and don't worry about inspecting recovered bullets cause you will not find any.