45/70 brass

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I purchased a bunch of used 45/70 brass that just came out of my tumbler and I'm a little concerned about the length of said brass.....I measured up a tray of 50 and am averaging ~2.068.....does this seem a little short?...or should I stop being paranoid, load em up and blast away like I've read on here so many times....:confused:
I'm using an 1895 Marlin with Win & Rem brass and cast 325 & 420 gc bullets.......
Please tell me this brass is OK...:D
 
If the brass is short of O.A.L I would think it would be fine.Start at a mild load and go from there.
 
The oply critical item is to trim them to a common length. This is especially important if you are using them in a lever action, as you want to crimp the bulllets, and a common case length ensures an equal crimp on all cartridges.
 
Watch out for Hornady Leverevolution brass. It is shorter than the standard 45/70 Govt brass as they use a proprietary bullet...kinda
dB
 
The Trim-to-length is 2.095" according to the lyman manual! Loading these short brass, crimping in the crimp groove or canalure with starting loads is a guess at best & I wouldn't do it! Even if you load them to OAL how will you be sure of a good crimp?
I would be concerned about bullet setback in a lever action rifle,....hense an overload!

Myself, I would discard it & purchase new brass. For $38./50 brass it's not worth the worry....

Play it safe!:) JMHO.
 
The Trim-to-length is 2.095" according to the lyman manual! Loading these short brass, crimping in the crimp groove or canalure with starting loads is a guess at best & I wouldn't do it! Even if you load them to OAL how will you be sure of a good crimp?
I would be concerned about bullet setback in a lever action rifle,....hense an overload!

Myself, I would discard it & purchase new brass. For $38./50 brass it's not worth the worry....

Play it safe!:) JMHO.
 
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I have a quick question about 45/70 brass, I plan to load Hornady 350grain FP bullets here. I am just getting into reloading at the moment, got a few books and someone familiar with reloading to help me who also just got a 45/70.
My question is ... Can I use Remington brass instead of Winchester, The Hornady book says Winchester brass, I have a bag of Remington...I really don't want to buy another bag and I don't see how it could matter either but I just want to make sure. Also I cannot get Winchester primers here locally, I can just use Federal correct? I didn't buy any primers or powder yet. I am loading these for my new 1895GS.
 
scar2112 said:
I have a quick question about 45/70 brass, I plan to load Hornady 350grain FP bullets here. I am just getting into reloading at the moment, got a few books and someone familiar with reloading to help me who also just got a 45/70.
My question is ... Can I use Remington brass instead of Winchester, The Hornady book says Winchester brass, I have a bag of Remington...I really don't want to buy another bag and I don't see how it could matter either but I just want to make sure. Also I cannot get Winchester primers here locally, I can just use Federal correct? I didn't buy any primers or powder yet. I am loading these for my new 1895GS.
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No problem.

Just don't develop an 'on the edge' max load and then switch brass or other components without dropping the charge down and working up again.
 
silver 55 said:
I wouldnt be afraid of using brass that is .030 short, it shouldnt take too many firing/sizing cycles to bring them up to standard.
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While that would be true with a bottle-necked case it's been my experience that straight-walled cases do not stretch, ever.

The 45/70 actually does have a bit of bottle neck but not enough to matter. I would guess that this brass will never reach a length where it needs to be trimmed.
 
TwoTone said:
While that would be true with a bottle-necked case it's been my experience that straight-walled cases do not stretch, ever.

The 45/70 actually does have a bit of bottle neck but not enough to matter. I would guess that this brass will never reach a length where it needs to be trimmed.
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The .45-70 does not have a BN per se but it DOES have some taper. WRT the short brass, think about this - if you crimp at the bottom of the canellure or the top, what's the difference (measured)?? Probably about 20-30 thou. Load and rest easy.

I'm thinking that there are a LOT of folks out there reloading who don't have much of a grasp of basic physics, especially based on some of the advice handed out...


blake
 
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