Cast 45-70 lee bullet mould?

My Uberti replica High Wall likes that bullet a lot - even with plinking loads of 30gr of 4198. Last wednesday over open sights I tore a two-inch twenty-shot hole near the middle of an 8" shoot-n-see. I use a lube mix of 80/20 bees wax and Neat's foot oil, and a wadge of kitchen paper towel as a gap filler. It's a gentle load, even with the crescent butt.

tac
 
tacfoley said:
My Uberti replica High Wall likes that bullet a lot - even with plinking loads of 30gr of 4198. Last wednesday over open sights I tore a two-inch twenty-shot hole near the middle of an 8" shoot-n-see. I use a lube mix of 80/20 bees wax and Neat's foot oil, and a wadge of kitchen paper towel as a gap filler. It's a gentle load, even with the crescent butt.

tac
Click to expand...

Lyman (457658)
 
Slug your bore, measure twist rate and tell us what you want to do with it... i.e.: hunting big game, targets to 300 yd, silhouettes to 500 or silhouettes to 1000 yd., etc.
 
Ok I should have been more specific.I have an Armi Sport Sharps Cavalry Carbine.So max pressures should be around 28000PSI.I want as close as possible to the original 45/70 BP round nose lead bullet as possible.How heavy should the bullet be BP charge ect.The Suggested Lyman 457132 is a round nose bullet looks great but is 535Gr is that right?I would like to be able to use my Lee loader set up &I want to cast my own bullets and use BP.Any help would be great.Dave
 
405 grain bullet is correct for the carbine load.
Lee 405 grain 45 caliber mould has a hollow base making it expandable to larger bore diameters. It also has generous grease grooves.
I am looking forward to trying this bullet in my B78 Browning 45-70 which likes generous grease grooves.
 
saskbooknut is right...a 405 grain bullet is correct for carbine loads in the 45-70. Lee mold: 90268...405 gr. hollow base mold, is a good choice for black powder loads. Also: Lee 90374...405 gr. Solid base bullet. Some other suggested molds...all appropriate for your needs and work well with black powder: Lyman 457124...385 gr. Lyman: 457193*...405 gr. *This is a classic bullet for the 45-70. Have used this bullet with both black powder and smokeless loads in the 45-70, for years. Best with black powder. Some of these molds feature round noses, some are flat nosed. I wouldn't get too hung up on bullet nose shape. All will deliver good downrange accuracy and performance. There is no point in going to a 500-plus grain bullet in your carbine. The punishing recoil that resulted from using those heavy bullets was the reason why the US Cavalry switched to the 405 grain bullet for carbine use.
You don't mention whether you have any previous experience shooting blackpowder cartridges. if not, may I suggest these two books by Paul Matthews: "Loading Black Powder Rifle Cartridges",and: "Shooting Black Powder Cartridge Rifles." Whether a novice, or experienced blackpowder shooter, there is a wealth of knowledge in these two books.
 
I would chose a Loverin style bullet if you can find one. Loverin used a number of narrow grooves in the bullet as opposed to Keith who preferred a smaller number of wider grooves. If you are shooting black powder, I would also suggest using soft bullets of about 95% lead and 5% antimony. That should allow better casting than pure lead. Also if shooting black powder I would use a soft lube like SPG or home made of 1/2 beeswax and 1/2 animal (fat) grease (such as lard). I suspect that would be softer than Tac's mixture. For smokeless RCBS lube with alox would be one choice

cheers mooncoon
 
The 500+ grain cast bullets are intended for long range silhouette shooting and are brutal for recoil in any gun less than about 10 lb, in my experience. The 405 gr slug is the traditional 45-70 bullet.
 
If you're building BP loads, it's my understanding that the original load was dropped to 55 grains to reduce the recoil from a carbine.
 
55 grains of black powder under a 405 grain, hollow base bullet was the original loading for Springfield Cavalry carbines. Ffg granulation and Lee 405 grain bullet, (SKU: 90268) should be ideal for your needs. Hope this helps.
 
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