Loading .45-70

The .45-70 requires a .458 bullet.
Now I have some .451 left and wonder if that would still work or is that getting too dangerus?
I am loading those for a Marlin Level Action Guide Gun rifle.

Accuracy might be a bit iffy.

Since those would be range rounds (30-50 yards) for "plinking" I would be not that worried about accuracy.
I am worried if they might get stuck and produce this way an overpressure!

Your .451" diameter bullets will rattle down the barrel and provide no accuracy whatsoever. Marlin barrels have a tendency to run on the large side, anyway, and using a bullet that's .007" too small to start with wouldn't be worth the effort and a waste of good .45 acp bullets. You would also have to excessively crimp the bullets into place in the .45-70 case, just to keep them from falling into the case.

A better option would be to buy some bulk bullets and load them for use in the .45-70, or maybe cast bullets. I cast a couple different bullets for my .45-70's and I consider that a much better option.

Hope this helps.

Fred

They won't get stuck, but they might fall out on the ground!

They are so far under-sized, case neck tension will not keep them in place if you load them with standard 45-70 dies.

Even an excessive amount of crimp may not either, and that would surely shorten your case life considerably.

rcmodel

The other guys have pretty much covered why this is basically a poor idea.

Treat your 1895G right and feed it some .459 or even better some .460 cast.

Get some fairly heavy paper and patch the things.

Correct bullets are ordered from Midway.
I don't like lead (too much smoke and too dirty) so the three different kind I ordered are jacketed bullets.
Thanks for all the answers!!

I had those .451 bullets for like 5 years now and got them for .45 Win Mag.
They are 260 grain and a little light for .45-70 anyway.
I guess they will be here for a long time!!