45-70 loads for deer.

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this year im going to be using a marlin 1895gbl 45-70 for hunting deer. I have been looking at the Barnes TSX line of bullets and found they have a 250GR bullet that sounds like it will do the job... but after playing around with the ballistics calculator and seeing how fast that bullet slows down because of its junk BC of .136 im starting to change my mind. they have a bullet in their tipped TSX line (TTSX) a 300GR bullet with a much better BC of .236 I would much rather use this bullet because the numbers that im seeing on the ballistics calculator are like night and day between the two bullets. but the only thing im worried about is, i see the length of the bullet is .318 of an inch longer... has anyone ever loaded these bullets in a 45-70 before? and will it cycle through a marlin 1895 action or will it be too long? also, im assuming the polymer tipped bullets are ok to use in a tube mag because i see hornady is selling 45-70 ammo with 325GR polymer tipped bullets... does barnes use a harder polymer or something? or do i not have to worry about this?
 
I know in my guide gun it's kinda tight for length, i use the Hornady cases for my small game ammo with the 267 gr cast. Those wouldn't chamber with normal length brass.
 
Hornady lever revolution is flex tipped. Yes its polymer tipped, but made to flex ...not set off the primer in front of it under recoil while in a tubular magazine. Using the TTSX could be disasterous for your health and ruin a perfectly good rifle.

Damn that was close, damn near lost a $400 handcart.
 
Hornady uses a special, very soft tip for their L/E bullets.
The tip on the Barnes is pretty hard, isn't it?
I don't know how much credence I give to the idea of recoil setting them off in the tube, But I guess it could happen.

Is there a reason your are looking specifically at Barnes? They're really nice and all, but a normal cup and core will work really well for anything you need out of a 45-70. The big flat nose of a cast bullet works nicely too. Pre-expanded, that flat nose will wreak havoc on anything it hits.

There isn't much benefit to having a pointed bullet, by 200 yards it's going to drop about the same as a flat nose, and by 250-300 yards they're both dropping like a safe.
 
No need to waste money on Barnes bullets in a 45-70 for deer...........just use 300gr Hornadys.........Harold
 
mbogo3 said:
No need to waste money on Barnes bullets in a 45-70 for deer...........just use 300gr Hornadys.........Harold
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^^^

...or here's the effect broadside at 50 yards of a 405 gr. paper patched Lee cast bullet (uncrimped) with 16.0 grains of Unique in my custom Handi-Rifle...went all the way through...ate down to the hole...took one leap and that was it (the deer, not me ;))

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nw mb said:
^^^

...or here's the effect broadside at 50 yards of a 405 gr. paper patched Lee cast bullet (uncrimped) with 16.0 grains of Unique in my custom Handi-Rifle...went all the way through...ate down to the hole...took one leap and that was it (the deer, not me ;))

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14 grains Unique and a 405 cast bullet is a good plinking combo in my Handi rifle as well. I always thought it would make a good 100 meter deer catcher.
 
thanks for the input guys, I guess I may be over thinking this whole thing a bit to much... I may just go and load up some regular good old fashion jacketed lead bullets and call it a day. but ill do a bit more research before I call it good enough...
 
Premium bullets are a waist of money in 45-70 get some 405 Remington's from Budget Shooter Supply or even better some 450 hard cast from The Bullet Barn run them around 1600 fps and for a low cost you can kill anything that walks.
 
'Boo said:
Handload propelled with Reloder 7. It prints 2 1/2" high at 100 yards and zero at 200.
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Thanks, Have you run those over a chrony? I need to try again with the 325gr FTX's, I'd rather run them for deer anyway.
I had mine out the other day with some 405gr cast loads. The best Varget loads were around 1600fps and were doing 2.5-3 inch groups at 100 yards and the others which I think were with H4895 (I'll have to check my log) were doing around 1800fps and were all over the page. I think 1500-1600fps is about all I'm going to aim for with the 405 grain bullets from now on.
 
bunny said:
Premium bullets are a waist of money in 45-70 get some 405 Remington's from Budget Shooter Supply or even better some 450 hard cast from The Bullet Barn run them around 1600 fps and for a low cost you can kill anything that walks.
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I use the same 405gr Rem bullets in both my Marlin and my Sharps. They perform well in both. The Sharps puts them in a 10" circle at 300 yards under most conditions.
 
Worrying about BC with the 45-70 is truly sorting gnat turds from pepper. If you load your 45-70 you can significantly flatten the trajectory. Even the anemic Remington factory load only drops 8.4" at 150 from a 100 yard zero and realistically most people won't be using a 45-70 at much over 100 yards. And if you turn the heat up under them, for example using the HSM Bear Load, they should behave quite nicely.

I have a ladder-style sight on my 1885 that allows me to take shots out to 200 yards with ease. The likelihood that I would shoot at game any further away with open sights is almost nil. My load consists of Lyman 457193 which drop from the mould weighing 418gr (BC .307) with 3031. Chony says 1950 FPS. Should give a trajectory of +0.8" (50m) 0 (100m), -4.2" (150m), -11.7" (200m) according to Hornady's nifty calculator. I've not shot it at those distances and, with those numbers, I'm not sure that I care to. Hold behind the shoulder at a sensible range and the deer will fall over dead.
 
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