45-70 bullet help

Hornady 350's are a good match with H4198. Recoil is quite manageable and accuracy is good. For bear I'd load the RN and drive them a little harder. They're built for .458 WM and have an interlock cannelure under the crimping cannelure that the 350 FP does not. They both have the crimping cannelure in the right spot for reliable feeding in a Marlin. Idea being the RN should hold together and penetrate better than the FP but truth be told I doubt the FP would let you down. A max load gave me 2100 FPS from the guide gun, not too shy of book velocity. No muzzle flash in daylight and doesn't knock me around too much. Work up your loads of course and don't be afraid to download for less recoil/faster follow ups. Your brass and shoulder will thank you.
 
Johnn asked what load I used for that ten shot group.
I have the Lee box of scoops, marked in CCs. I remember looking at the open box, picking up one of the smaller ones and thinking, "Ill bet that scoop full of Unique would make a good load for the 45-70!
Thus my charge was decided and somewhere in a book I will have the size of the scoop written down.
I do remember that I did not use a filler.
 
H4831 said:
Johnn asked what load I used for that ten shot group.
I have the Lee box of scoops, marked in CCs. I remember looking at the open box, picking up one of the smaller ones and thinking, "Ill bet that scoop full of Unique would make a good load for the 45-70!
Thus my charge was decided and somewhere in a book I will have the size of the scoop written down.
I do remember that I did not use a filler.
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:)I still have a good quantity of that filler on hand and especially in light loads with the likes of Unique;), I swear by it:D.
Recently, I had been giving serious consideration to 'passing' my Marlin 1895GS on to my young son in the B.C. central interior.



With all this discussion of the 45-70, cast bullets and loads;), he may have to wait a little while longer. I still 'need' it.
 
Fore those of you who are shooting gas checked, hard cast boolits in your marlin rifles with the ballard rifling are you using .458, .459, .460 dia bullets?
I hear .001 oversized for your bore with cast bullets gets better accuracy.
has anyone fire lapped their bores?
if yes did it help with accuracy or leading issues?
 
crout said:
Fore those of you who are shooting gas checked, hard cast boolits in your marlin rifles with the ballard rifling are you using .458, .459, .460 dia bullets?
I hear .001 oversized for your bore with cast bullets gets better accuracy.
has anyone fire lapped their bores?
if yes did it help with accuracy or leading issues?
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I use 459 + 460 for sure ! Just read about the fire lapping -VERY interesting ! :D RJ
 
I found Bluedot more accurate than Unique in my H&R single shot but have loaded up some more cast rounds to test for the Marlin 1895G I just picked up.
I'm using a 340gr .458" plain base with 1.3cc and 1.6cc of Unique and 1.0cc and 1.3cc of Bluedot.
 
I also have a Remlin GBL and it shoots great and functions perfectly, I would say that Remington's 405 grain bullets are the most accurate in my rifle. I usually buy mine from Henry at Budget Shooter Supply, also shoot a pile of Berry's plated 350 grain bullets which I buy from Custom Reloading Service, both dealers are supporting dealers on CGN.
 
crout said:
i do reload. I'll be using h4198 because that's what i have on hand.
where is a good source to buy reliable hard cast bullets from?
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I buy 405gr hard cast from P&D in Edmonton and 46gr of Varget under those works really nice in my Marlin (about 2 inch 5 shot groups at 100yds with a scope).
I'd have to check my log book to see if I've tried 4198 in it yet.

Hornady 325gr give me close to 1 inch groups at 100yds but I still haven't been able to duplicate them with my handloads.
 
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It totally depends on the application. I ordered my 480gr flat nose hardcast quite hard last time and I loaded them to about 1700. Might not have expanded much, but with a .40 cal metplat my deer still lost half it's blood in 20-25 yards where I found it.

That's my forest surprise load I've worked up to, not the one I thought I would shoot my deer last fall with but it worked great and didn't bloodshot too much.




Suka said:
The hornady 350's are a good performing very accurate bullet. The hornady 325gr, "lipstick load" bullets are very accurate as well; I just use them for practice. I find in my rifle the 405 rem's simply are not as accurate.(not bad, just not as good) From my own very unscientific milk jug/newspaper box tests absolutely nothing beats a 400gr hawk bullet for damage, wound channel, penetration and weight retention.

Personally I'm not a fan of hardcast. Tried some from a reputable supplier, they shot OK but when I dug one out of the dirt it was not malformed in the least; looked like I could reload it as is. Never used another one. I figure the bullet is supposed to conform to the rifle, not the other way around. Never looked at cast past that, perhaps you can purchase softer cast? I don't know. Just my personal experience.
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Well figured I may as well add my two cents. My best load to date has been 44 grains of H4895 under a 405 grain hard cast from tbe bullet barn. I ran out of H4895 and started playing with H4198 and have been getting good results at 40 grains under same 405 grain hardcast.
I may have to try some of that unique though, heard lots of good stuff at around 13-13.5 grains. Would the unique load be to much for whitetail? Dont want to hammer em with my baby and loose to much meat. Thanks
Jesse
 
gunlaker said:
The Bullet Barn is a great place to buy cast bullets from.

Chris.
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Yes. Her 405 grain hard-cast, gas-checked bullet is a very large hammer.

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The 325 FTX shoots very flat and makes the 45-70 a very honest 200 yard hunting rifle. I have found the bullet however is quite soft and is better suited to deer and black bear rather than moose or grizzly.

325FTX1.jpg
 
The high end unique loads are like factory ammo, unique is usually used for playing around with the 45/70. I make a lot of my 405gr cast bullets at 1000 fps with unique. Still hits pretty hard and you don't really even need ear muffs.

Jesse_L_B said:
Well figured I may as well add my two cents. My best load to date has been 44 grains of H4895 under a 405 grain hard cast from tbe bullet barn. I ran out of H4895 and started playing with H4198 and have been getting good results at 40 grains under same 405 grain hardcast.
I may have to try some of that unique though, heard lots of good stuff at around 13-13.5 grains. Would the unique load be to much for whitetail? Dont want to hammer em with my baby and loose to much meat. Thanks
Jesse
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My dad has a Remlin GBL. We had to go through literally a half dozen to get a good one, but we did.

I load his with a 340 grain Lee bullets I cast myself, plain based and water dropped, over a heavy dose of IMR 3031. This combination is just stupid accurate out to extremely long range.

I have an 1895 CB that I load with Lee hollow base 405's that I'm pushing to 1900+ fps, and could push harder, but don't need to. Again, no gas check, but water dropped. They group just under an honest inch at 100 yards from my scoped rifle.
 
I get cast bullet from MT Chambers in Foam Lake SK, and particularly like the 480 gr gas checked WFN, which has a short nose section favored by .45-70 shooters. I've loaded this bullet to 2200 fps from my .458 with no leading issues, and 100 yard accuracy rivaled jacketed bullets. Ben also makes a 550 gr WFN with a short nose section making it suitable for your 95 Marlin.
 
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