Another 45-70 Bullet Thread

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Bluffton Bill

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TSX Lovers need not apply.:D

Apparently, I drank some of the same Kool-ade. Would up with a new Marlin 1895 (original recipe not the GG). Seems like a lot of you like the Bullet Barn cast bullets.

I bought mine for the sole purpose of hunting upon the realization that 90% of all my game harvested has been under 80 yards. I'm kind of a minimalist so what ever I plink/target shoot with, has to be the same as what I'm going to hunt with

What is the end result of a cast lead bullet vs. a jacketed bullet on medium sized game? Not much at 45-70 velocities I'm thinking. Should you take a close range raking shot on a large elk or moose?

What do you guys think about the 350 grain Hornady?

The Bullet Barn is certainly more economical. Should I be going with the gas checks to reduce leading?

Ok that's likely too many questions. Just interested.

I really liked the comments and loads in the previous thread.
 
Bluffton Bill said:
TSX Lovers need not apply.:D

Apparently, I drank some of the same Kool-ade. Would up with a new Marlin 1895 (original recipe not the GG). Seems like a lot of you like the Bullet Barn cast bullets.

I bought mine for the sole purpose of hunting upon the realization that 90% of all my game harvested has been under 80 yards. I'm kind of a minimalist so what ever I plink/target shoot with, has to be the same as what I'm going to hunt with

What is the end result of a cast lead bullet vs. a jacketed bullet on medium sized game? Not much at 45-70 velocities I'm thinking. Should you take a close range raking shot on a large elk or moose?

What do you guys think about the 350 grain Hornady?

The Bullet Barn is certainly more economical. Should I be going with the gas checks to reduce leading?

Ok that's likely too many questions. Just interested.

I really liked the comments and loads in the previous thread.
Click to expand...


I haven't shot any game with my cast bullet loads but I'm guess you or the animal would never know the difference. 1000's off buffalo fell to cast bullets and a slow black powder load for century or so.
 
I cast 405 grain 20:1 lead and load it to about 1400 fps. That is plenty fast and it will do the job. It is also not a shoulder thumper. I don't think even a moose would survive a hit. Unfortunately the only deer I saw this year I missed, with a 30-06.
 
I can't speak from experience as I haven't taken game with my 45-70...but I wouldn't hesitate to take any shot your sure you can make. They aren't going to expand much, but they don't need to, a half inch hole is a half inch hole no matter how it got there:D As far as leading goes, I found it started to get bad in the high 1500's, maybe 1600fts. Going faster then that and the gascheck seemed to be needed. I shoot mostly the plain base bullets as they're cheap, easy to get and have all the thump I need. I save the CG's for the bear thumpers.
 
Thanks for the tips. I'm reading a book right now and the author was casting bullets that were 16:1 and unless I misunderstood they were about a 9 BHN (Brinell Hardness Number???), I think the Bullet Barn's were around a 26 BHN (or did I misread that)

So what is better for big game shot at under 50 yards with a cast bullet? Really soft or really hard?

I'm a total neo-phyte on this cast bullet business.
 
I shoot a Ruger #3, I like a 405 gas checked at 1700 fps out of the short barrel. I also have a 1895 but have yet to work up a good load. I have a few boxes of jacketed but have never loaded them :( A secont note a 500gr out of my 50/70 kills game well, this at only 1100 fps. good luck AJ
 
I've only shot one moose with my Browning SRC .45-70 using the Speer 350 grainer (started @ 1800 fps) at about 30 yards and the bullet penetrated well with only slight damage to the bullet nose. The bull moose went right down. With that kind of performance I've considered switching to cast as well. I hear that MT Chambers sells great cast bullets that are of suitable hardness (not too hard) for good shooting and hunting use. Try him. Many of the commercially cast bullets are very hard, which is not always the best.

I had a friend cast me some 405 grain bullets to try from an old Winchester .45-70 mould that I own. Straight wheel weights were used. I keep intending to try a load @ 1500 fps. This bullet has a nice metplat and should be a good performer. I would not chose a round nose bullet for hunting.

The attraction for me of using rounds like the .45-70 and either the Browning or '86 Winchesters is reminder of simpler times. People used these rounds to feed thier families, often using home cast bullets and cases full of black powder. I like and use modern rounds often and I've tried some fairly stiff .45-70 loads but really enjoy the basics. To each thier own. I'm sure that the .45-70 and your Marlin will take care of almost any job that needs to be done with almost any commercially available bullet. It is a well proven combination.
 
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BHN 26 is very hard, too hard, and if it hits some big bone it could actually fracture. Even with that hardness, if the bullet isn't a good fit, you can still get leading in the barrel. For 45/70 bullets at higher velocities then factory, BHN 19 is as hard as i would go for any kind of expansion, this is up to 1800 fps or so. For lower vel. you can/should go softer, down to BHN 8or so for 1200 fps. You must remember that commercial casters use the same mix for all bullets usually, not sure how that would work with BP bullets that should be 30-1 or pure lead.
 
I shot 2 moose in the 1980's with my Ruger #1 and 350 Hornady round noses @ 1850 fps.
Bullet whizzed right through both moose lungs. Both Moose ran close to 75-100yards before falling down.
Bullets just drilled .45 cal holes through the lungs. Not a fast killer. Luckily there was enough snow on both hunts to track and retrieve the moose in ther thick alders.
The 350 grain hornady round nose in those days was designed for the .458 Win.
Was my mistake.
Better to use a softer bullet that will expand.
 
Bluffton Bill said:
TSX Lovers need not apply.:D

Apparently, I drank some of the same Kool-ade. Would up with a new Marlin 1895 (original recipe not the GG). Seems like a lot of you like the Bullet Barn cast bullets.

I bought mine for the sole purpose of hunting upon the realization that 90% of all my game harvested has been under 80 yards. I'm kind of a minimalist so what ever I plink/target shoot with, has to be the same as what I'm going to hunt with

What is the end result of a cast lead bullet vs. a jacketed bullet on medium sized game? Not much at 45-70 velocities I'm thinking. Should you take a close range raking shot on a large elk or moose?

What do you guys think about the 350 grain Hornady?

The Bullet Barn is certainly more economical. Should I be going with the gas checks to reduce leading?

Ok that's likely too many questions. Just interested.

I really liked the comments and loads in the previous thread.
Click to expand...

I personally do not like the 350gr Hornady FN for hunting, I am a TSX user in other hunter guns because of the blood shot issues that are faced with the lead.

GC'ing is not just to eliminate leading, it is to up the velocity that the bullet can be pushed. The non-gc'ed 405 from bullet barn will start leading around 1650fps, were the GC'ed ones will not lead untill you blow the copper check off, and that is defiantly not recommended.

the beauty of the 45-70 is, because of the size of bullet you are flinging through the air, you will have alot of energy hitting at any distance. I would not be concerned with taking a 200yd shot with a cast bullet or a 10 yrd shot... the result will be the same, a dead animal with limited to no meat damage.

I shot a doe with the 350gr hornady and yes it did fully penetrate, but there was the lead splatter on the exit side that made it a little messy. The shot was solid double lung, and did the job very well, but with the Bullet Barn's 405gr GC bullets, you get through and through penetration with no "lead splatter" on the exit. With the same deadly outcome but you can eat right up to the exit hole with the hardcasts.

The Bullet Barn uses almost the exact same lead/antimony and other metals to get their Brindle around the 21-23, which is the same as Jae-Bok Young, or your Beartooth hard casts and the accuracy is very very similar, if not identical.

I am going to disagree with 8 brindle for a slower moving bullet. The fact that a bullet is moving slower has nothing to do with is fracture speed. The object of a hard cast is not to expand and not to fracture on massive impact of the bone. This is a fine balance and is achieved somewhere between 20-23 Brindle and from cast date of the Bullet, the bullets will be reduced 1-2 Brindle after sitting on the shelf for one year or more. The big thing with cast bullets is the Meplat, or the width of the front nose. This is what will create a larger would channel or not.

The gun that I am shooting is a Marlin 1895 Guide Gun.

Hope this Helps.

NwG Dutchie
 
.45/70 bullets

Cast bullets in the 350-405 gr. range really hit hard on game. Watch semi wadcutter bullets in lever guns as some with a sharp shoulder will not feed well. Recommend round nose or flat nose with rounded shoulders. Ten X bullets out of Lake Cowichan sells them.
 
I think it depends on what your hunting, taylor you loads to the desired game. IF all you going to hunt is deer a 300gr Hornady, or similar is all you'll need and will put deer down quick. I've used the 350gr rn and fn and seem to get a little more expansion with the fn, on deer, bears and moose. Right now I'm playing with some hawk bullets (400gr 0.035 jacket) that shoot well in my 1895G and will hopefully get a chance to pop a bear in the spring with them. hardcast is great for big game when bone is encoutered, with a big wide flat nose and pushed to sufficant speed will create decent wound channels. 400gr rem or speer if not pushed too fast are great killers. And as for tsx guys, I've heard nothing but great reviews on barnes 300gr tsx fn .458, penetrates very well.
 
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