45-70 ammo, best value?

[Garand]

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!

My Shilo Sharps #3 Sporting Rifle, in .45-70 loves IMR 4895 and Bullet Barn 405 grain GC bullets for taking down steel rams at 500 yards.

 

[saskgunowner101]

A very nice cartridge to load for, mild to wild. My favorite plinking load is 14 grains Unique with a 405 grain cast bullet. I think it would be a great deer stand or 125 m or less load. Runs right around 1,175 fps. BlueDot, 2400, IMR 4227 all work for a little more punch than that. Keep in mind these are faster powders that tend to pressure up quickly. IMR-4198 is a good jack of all trades powder as well. Reloader 7 seems to be peppy stuff.

 

[Papaclaude]

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. I use powder coated 405 gr. HP from a Lee mould, so you're talking more in the neighbourhood of $11/box, and they will drop anything in North America. They're not as accurate as 325 LeverEvolutions in my GG, but still much better than minute-of-deer. To be honest, though, I haven't tried tons of loads to find the most accurate. With the Hornady stuff, the rifle is MOA or slightly better out to 200 yds, but any hunting I've done was boar at under 50, so ...