Unique loads for the 45-70?

Sonny.Frechette

Sonny.Frechette

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I loaded up some test rounds of 45-70 with unique powder with a recipe I got from the Lyman cast bullet manual. However I swapped out the cast bullet with a campro 300 gr jacket bullet, and after reading around on forums decided to opt out using any filler wadding. The test rounds fired fine with great accuracy, with no pressure signs to the primers. I’ve got another 50 rounds identical loaded up, however I wanted to get some input wether this is something I should keep doing or not. It seems there’s a lot of people doing this on the internet (internet people arn’t always to be trusted), but I’m a little nervous with what I’ve read about possible detonation with small charges in large cases.
 
I love that Campro FNCP 300 grain booolit. I have been launching it with some IMR 4320 powder to around 1225 fps. And I took that load deer hunting last fall. 5 days of adventure but no deer this time. It’s All Good!

Now to try out some W231 pistol powder. I’ve been looking for recipes lately. But several years ago I used the same W231 pistol powder without any wadding material. That 300 gr JHP Hornady boooolit was surprisingly accurate at 50 yards.

Hope this helps. I did not have a chronograph back in the day so I cannot recommend anything further. These days I’ve got a LabRadar so that’s how and why I obtained an average velocity of 1225 fps (give or take). Nice and mild for my friends and me.

Cheers, Barney

Peace Be The Journey!
 
I will not be much help with your campro loads but I have used Unique behind cast bullets from 300gr to 531gr.
13gr behind the 531's, and 15gr with 350 to 400gr projectiles.
I shoot out to 200m using a Pedersoli 1885.
I think the problem that people encounter using Unique in a large case is not flashover detonation, it's a double or triple charged case.
JMHO
 
Yes, no filler.
I generally try to keep loaded rounds upright till loading in rifle.
I have read that Unique does not care about cartridge position but I like to keep the powder as close to the flash hole as I can reasonably repeat.
 
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Sonny.Frechette said:
I loaded up some test rounds of 45-70 with unique powder with a recipe I got from the Lyman cast bullet manual. However I swapped out the cast bullet with a campro 300 gr jacket bullet, and after reading around on forums decided to opt out using any filler wadding. The test rounds fired fine with great accuracy, with no pressure signs to the primers. I’ve got another 50 rounds identical loaded up, however I wanted to get some input wether this is something I should keep doing or not. It seems there’s a lot of people doing this on the internet (internet people arn’t always to be trusted), but I’m a little nervous with what I’ve read about possible detonation with small charges in large cases.
Click to expand...

having experimented with fillers in 45 70 i found in most loads with tight 1/8 in felt wad over powder gave tighter groups ....a i/2 sheet of toilet paper wad did the same ...this is for low volume powders only and serves no purpose elsewhere
 
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Sonny.Frechette said:
I loaded up some test rounds of 45-70 with unique powder with a recipe I got from the Lyman cast bullet manual. However I swapped out the cast bullet with a campro 300 gr jacket bullet, and after reading around on forums decided to opt out using any filler wadding. The test rounds fired fine with great accuracy, with no pressure signs to the primers. I’ve got another 50 rounds identical loaded up, however I wanted to get some input wether this is something I should keep doing or not. It seems there’s a lot of people doing this on the internet (internet people arn’t always to be trusted), but I’m a little nervous with what I’ve read about possible detonation with small charges in large cases.
Click to expand...

For the last 30 + years I have loaded .45-70 with 12 gr. of Unique & a Cast 385 gr. ( L. # 457124) bullet which I cast
from WW lead. Never use fillers & no problem. Accurate & safe in my Trapdoors. Use it in my Win. 1886's for a light
target load. All good.
 
my main load in an old winchester 1886 is 15.5gr behind a lee 405gr hollow base cast bullet. plinking load i drop it to 10 gr. Never used a filler. I have run into issues where using a single wad to hold powder in the bottom of the case and an air gap caused a ring in the chamber of a 44-40, have not done it since. A bit of research will show that you can run into issues ringing your chamber if you leave a cylindrical column of air above your powder. If you'd want to use a filler, foam backer rod from the hardware store works really well too. just cut it to length and fill the case. Works well in some of the big old BP cases such as the snider or martini henry as well.
 
The theory of "detonation" applies to powders much slower than Unique - more in the 4350 and slower realm.

I have found Unique to be a very versatile powder, and not one needing a filler, which I have always avoided.

Keep your loads with that bullet below 16.0 grs to remain below 25K psi for about 1400 fps, and below 18.0 grs to remain below 38K psi for about 1500 fps. As for me, I'd keep it at less than 1400 fps with Unique.

P.S. your primers won't tell you anything at these pressure except that the pressure is low i.e. when it's flattened.
 
Looking at the Lyman manual right now and this one no mention of a filler wad. Another I have mentions Dacron wads. Going to load up some with no wads now.
 
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