45-70 ammo, best value?

Uisge

Uisge

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Just got a chaippa ridge runner in 45-70, what's the best value for 45-70 ammo these days? I'm new to the big bore and just getting some ammo to shoot it and have fun, not worried about hunting but do plan to reload once I have some brass built up. It's an 1886 action, not sure if that's as strong as the guide gun etc. looks pretty beefy to me. Have seen the 300gr federal for a little over 40$, is this decent, is there better? Any body have some insight into what to feed my new rifle? It has the 12" barrel, would have preferred the 18.5" blued version but it's still pretty awesome, if someone has the 18.5" and would rather the 12" PM me. I bought a box of 250gr leverevolution on a whim but am now realizing the brass is shorter? Oh well I'll throw it at some steel and move on. Thanks for any info or insults lol.
 
I've always liked the rem 405 gr fnsp express line. Great bullet for plinking or hunting. Proper brass too. Tighter than Winchester or star line
I use Winchester brass for reloading. Hornady brass sucks for reloading unless you plan to use their flex tip bullets

For general plinking any standard loading will do fine and then you can just buy better brass for reloading

Get into reloading fast if you like to shoot. It will save you a lot in the long run
 
Whatever is cheapest, shoot it, save the brass, reload, repeat as necessary. Reloading is THE way to go for .45-70, no matter what power level loads you are planning on.
 
saskcop said:
Whatever is cheapest, shoot it, save the brass, reload, repeat as necessary. Reloading is THE way to go for .45-70, no matter what power level loads you are planning on.
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He's right. My home cast plinkers are 350's or 405's at about 1200 and they cost me somewhere around 10 bucks to load 50. Dominion primers and unique or trailboss. For my heavy hunting rounds I buy hard cast gas checked from Jet or Ben for 30-50 cents a bullet.

I think my favourite brass are my R&P Remington. I've loaded them a lot of times... I've lost track. I'd buy 5 boxes of green box remington and keep those as a set.
 
I found that it was actually cheaper to buy a couple hundred rounds of starline brass and lead bullets separately than buying loaded ammo
 
Great advice, I'll keep an eye for the Rem 405gr. I already reload but haven't purchased dies yet. It would seem my ol standby IMR 4895 isn't any good for 45-70 as well, any suggestions. I could just buy brass but where's the fun in that lol. Nothing like buying a couple boxes and needing to empty them out for the bench!
 
Uisge said:
Great advice, I'll keep an eye for the Rem 405gr. I already reload but haven't purchased dies yet. It would seem my ol standby IMR 4895 isn't any good for 45-70 as well, any suggestions. I could just buy brass but where's the fun in that lol. Nothing like buying a couple boxes and needing to empty them out for the bench!
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3031, rel 7, either 4198 are good powders to start with. Unique is fun with 8-16gr for plinkers.

I suggest 3031. It's kind of nice because a good load is a case full and it's hard to put too much in. That's handy for new reloaders. 50gr behind a rem 405gr is a 103% compressed load and about 34k pressure. A little over the 28k psi factory ammo limit, but safe in a Marlin and I would bet safe in your Chiappa. Quickload says it's 1867 fps and 3135ft/lbs. Find me something that needs more killing than that.

Factory 405 ammo is 1330fps and 1590ft/lbs. QuickTarget says this 3031 load will be going 1330fps at 230 yards.

Anyways, it's a fun round to load for. I go everywhere from shot shells, single 140gr round ball to garrison loads with 3, and 300 gr to 540 gr lead cast.
 
I use 49 grs varget under a 405 gr lazer cast silver alloy bullet and Rem 405 gr fnsp in my double rifle. 1550/1600 fps and little recoil keeps me on target for that second shot if ever needed
 
Winchester 45-70 brass preferred (slightly more volume than other brands) if you can find it. Heard good things about Starline brass but have never used it. You can handload 45-70 hunting ammo for 1/2 the cost of factory loads.

Cost to handload 405gr jacketed bullet rounds -

405gr PRVI bullet: $0.94
Brass: $0.72 each / say 6 reloads for each = $0.12
Powder: ~50 grains x 1 lb/7000 grains x $45/lb = $0.32
Primer: $4/100 = $0.04

Total: $1.42 + gst = $1.50 per round, or $30 per box

Factory loads: Remington 45-70 405gr ammo is listed at $62.99 + gst = $66.14 per box

http://store.prophetriver.com/remington-2/

https://www.budgetshootersupply.ca/product/starline-brass-45-70-govt-unprimed-50bag/

https://www.budgetshootersupply.ca/product/prvi-45-70-bullet-457-405gr-sjsp-20bag/
 
This is great, I had no idea there were so many different loadings for the 45-70, might have to try some of garrison loads etc. I'll grab a bottle of 3031, I heard varget mentioned, anyone tried IMR4895? It my favorite for everything else, Didn't see any loads for it when I was looking around and figured it probably wasn't suitable but it's not far from varget in burn rate so now I'm curious.
 
I knew this was going to turn into a "reloading the .45-70" thread - and rightfully so. It is the only way to go for such cartridges (also the .444 and so on).
 
An even cheaper option is to use Unique powder. It can be used in most pistol and shotgun loads. So it will keep the costs down when buying powder. 12gr will keep you around 1000fps(405gr cast), it is accurate and will keep the lead fouling down.
 
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