45-70 reloading

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mardig88

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Hello folks!

ive been staring at the photo of a marlin 1895 in 45 70 and contemplating buying one

just wanted to ask you about the availability of the components like brass and bullets

and approximately how mch does it cost per round of reloaded ammo with plinking loads?

thanks
 
.45/70

The Marlin Guide gun in .45/70 is an excellent choice and will deal with darn near anything in N. America......you can load this cartridge to superior performance...
I developed a load with 3031 powder and a Remington 405 gr. SP bullet that is a real pounder.
Hornady now makes the Leverevolution ammo....a pointed bullet of 325 grains useable in a tube magazine...
Lots of companies make cast lead bullets for reduced loads...and brass will generally run you about $1 each and is readily available...
 
mardig88 said:
Hello folks!

ive been staring at the photo of a marlin 1895 in 45 70 and contemplating buying one

just wanted to ask you about the availability of the components like brass and bullets

and approximately how mch does it cost per round of reloaded ammo with plinking loads?

thanks
Click to expand...

*sigh* A lot of disinformation in this thread.

the 450 Marlin is not a "stronger case," it is a lawyered up 45-70 that is reloaded to the same pressure as a lever 45-70. It actually has less water capacity and will provide less velocity in the same gun.

Marlin changed the receiver thread design when they introduced the 450Marlin. These threads are triangular rather than square in profile. All marlin 1895s of this newer vintage use the stronger receiver.

Availability of components is good if you know where to look. For plinking I cast my own (lee 405 gr) Lyman makes a nice gas check mold. Or you can buy cactus plain cast 405s (no gas check) at wholesalesports for 250/$65~

457122 HP is a great mold for subsonic plinking

7-12 grains of blue dot under a 340gr cast bullet is fantastic for subsonic plinking. Up to 1015fps or so at your altitude. 7gr of bullseye works well too. You can paper patch pistol bullets cast in soft lead if you want cheaper lighter bullets. There are templates online for paper patching a .460 diameter bullet. They can be speedily applied by wetting the paper with 20:1 white glue and using a cigarette rolling machine.

Plinking brass lasts forever if you only barely size it (20+ rounds). I've never had feeding problems with only part way sizing. Starline and Winchester last the longest. Even full house loads you can get 8 trips to the range out of a brass.

My costs for plinking loads works out to about 20c/round. If you purchase bullets and prefer 1700fps, it still works out to 50c/round. If you want to shoot leverevolution at 2250fps all day, it'll cost about $1.20/round.
 
If 450 brass is the same outside, except for the belt, yet it has less capacity(inside dimensions) does it not reason that the brass must be thicker? How else do you explain the decrease in capacity of the 450 vs 45-70? Not thicker at the mouth of the case but at the base. I think the 450vs45-70 is more of a personal thing, you wouldn't go wrong either way but read on the Ranch Dog forum and get his point. I will say that of the many 1000's of rounds I've loaded for the 450 I've not lost even 1 case (due to reloading) and most cases have been loaded more than 10X. I stopped counting(yes I kept a log of #of times loaded) when I got past 10 reloads years ago so a lot of the cases have been loaded close to or beyond the 20X mark.
 
Standard 45-70 brass I have has been reloaded so many times the head stamps are getting hard to read. More than 25 times for sure.
That's in a custom 1886 Winchester with a Douglas barrel.
Mostly full power loads.
The real advantage it has over the 450 Marlin, is that the 45-70 will never die.
The 450, is an unknown.
 
We had pressure testing done a few years ago by Accurate Arms before they were sold and they echoed others that said that 45/70 brass was tested to over 70K PSI and nary a problem. The only way I loose brass is at the mouth of the case from always flaring and crimping, and that happens with Lapua brass as well. I see no purpose for the .450 Marlin, instead they should have gone .450 Alaskan.IMHO
 
I recently purchased a Marlin 1895GS 45-70 and was looking for reloading supplies. Henry Nierychlo who is a CGN Dealer has great prices on brass and bullets including the Hornady FTX bullets (to make LEVERevolution reloads). Check his posts in the Ammo and Reloading section on EE
 
John Y Cannuck said:
Standard 45-70 brass I have has been reloaded so many times the head stamps are getting hard to read. More than 25 times for sure.
That's in a custom 1886 Winchester with a Douglas barrel.
Mostly full power loads.
The real advantage it has over the 450 Marlin, is that the 45-70 will never die.
The 450, is an unknown.
Click to expand...
I sit right in between here.
With my 458 American, it's certainly closer to the 450 Marlin, but I convert scrounged H&H brass at the range, with a little time, patience & tools.
While I cannot buy my brass over the counter, but this is the big plus is the cost savings.
I bet you I've reloaded some of these older casings at least 15 times.
 
I have New Remington 45/70 brass in stock & just received 4000 Remington Jacketed SP bullets for stock. I also have Berry’s 45-70 (.458) 350gr CMJRN w/cannalure. I'll update my WTS list pretty soon.
I have the Hornady 45/70 FTX 325gr Lever Revolution bullets on order.
Check out my WTS Post link below for what I have in stock.
Regards, Henry
 
thebigslide said:
*sigh* A lot of disinformation in this thread.

the 450 Marlin is not a "stronger case," it is a lawyered up 45-70 that is reloaded to the same pressure as a lever 45-70. It actually has less water capacity and will provide less velocity in the same gun.

Availability of components is good if you know where to look.
(/QUOTE]



What he said. The 45-70 is a classic, already well over 100 years old and growing in popularity every day. I have shot some of my brass well over 20 times with full power loads and only ever neck size them for my Marlin Lever. I have used it mostly for Bear control in Bee Hives and oat fields and it has taken many bears. Some nights over 8 bear from one location.

I have used a large selection of cartridges for Bear but keep going back to the 45-70. Its effect on bear and moose has to be seen to be believed. I used to believe small bullet going fast to very fast was king, and for long distance it is still hard to beat, but for big and dangerous under 200 yards, I now believe large, heavy bullet, even if not as fast is a way better deal.
Click to expand...
 
I owned a '95 Marlin .45/70 before it became stylish to have one, this was the earlier version with the straight stock, plastic butt plate, 22" barrel with micro-groove rifling, nice wood, etc. The only problem I had with that rifle was the light hammer strikes wouldn't reliably set of CCI primers. Although I've heard that problem doesn't exist with newer guns, shimming the hammer spring solved the problem.

In those days I stuck pretty much with 3031 and Remington 405 gr bullets. When I tried heavy cast bullet for the .458 the long nose meant that the bullet had to be seated very deeply to for the cartridge to cycle properly and the soft lead alloy of the bullets I tried quickly fouled the micro-groove bore requiring frequent cleaning. The 405s therefore became my bullet of choice, they expanded well at .45/70 velocities and I don't recall that any shed their cores. It took quite some time before I was again willing to try cast bullets at rifle velocities, but of course now I'm an advocate.

If I was loading .45/70 today I would build a load around MT Chambers 480 gr WFN gas checked, hard cast bullet. Brass availability for the .45/70 shouldn't be any different that any other cartridge, as it is currently riding a wave of popularity. Powder selection is up to the individual, but I am prejudiced by my previous success with 3031. I think though that I might be tempted to try and work up a load with Winchester 748. Ya I know, its not recommended . . . anywhere, but based on the success I had with it in the .458 I would try it just to see.
 
Everybody should have a lever .45-70. My XLR is hands down the most fun thing to shoot of all the guns I own, and I have a bunch. With full throttle loads it can handle anything on this continent and most of the others as well. We figured out how to use a 500 gr Barnes solid, trimmed to fit for OAL and now weighs 465 grs, with a max load that literally makes black bears puff right up when you hit them - like you jammed an air hose into them, and they don't even twitch. You also don't get your bullet back - bullet will do a complete pass through end to end pretty well no matter what it hits. Standard load is a 350 grain Hornady loaded to the teeth and at around 2100 fps stopped a bull moose facing me at about 150 yards like he'd been struck by lightning. He just collapsed stone dead. A fantastic old round that ain't ever gonna die - it's just too much fun to shoot.
 
Cast bullets are easy to make and can be loaded to exceed factory loads almost double. The big heavy bullets can rattle the bones a bit, but fans of that may be interested in the next in my series of "HAMMERS", the 500 gr.LFN plain base. Once tested,free samples will be sent to folks that request them, price for these should be easy on the wallet as there is no gas check. The series: 325gr wfn gc,420gr.lfn gc, 480gr. wfn gc,500gr.lfn gc., something for everyone.
 
450 marlin or 45-70, can’t really go wrong with any of them.
Like other said before me on this thread, start casting and you will have a blast.
Can cast from 300 grainers to over 500 grain bullets, can even shoot ball and i know some people that have even shot 410 shot shells in their 45-70
These cartridges are very versatile.
You can make the bullets go real slow or so fast and heard that will make your head hurt from the recoil.
Powder choices is BIG, many options.
Go for it, take the plunge and enjoy.
 
I was at a toss up between a 30-30 and a 45/70 but ended up with 45/70 and love it. I also have and older model 1895 but with 405gr soft points and H4895 at 1700fps I have a better self defence round for when out in the bush scouting than any defender shotgun. Its light, affordable peace of mind that really throws a knockout punch. 100% a winner in my books.
 
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