45/70 for white tail deer.

Double Tap makes a nice 300 grain TSX load that I have found to be very accurate.

Also, nothing not to like about the TSX.

A quick search didn't show much in stock. You don't need grizzly loads to kill a deer. This loading has been doing it since the 1920's or so. https://www.laxammo.com/remington-p...-300-gr-core-lokt-sjhp-20-rounds-28341-detail. It'll be loaded conservatively, but should have plenty of oompa for whitetails. Looks like it comes in a neat box to hang on the wall when you're done with them.

The Remington 405gr trapdoor loads will kill just fine. they have that added benefit of being easier on your shoulder than the 325gr stuff. Availability might be better too.

s76 said:

The Remington 405gr trapdoor loads will kill just fine. they have that added benefit of being easier on your shoulder than the 325gr stuff. Availability might be better too.

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Plain lead 405 user here. As far as factory the only thing I've tried is the Hornady Leverevolution FTX. Little too explosive for my liking. The lead has much more favorable results for me.

Those core lokt rounds should do the job, and be a bit flatter shooting as well. Still won't hurt to check out the amount of drop if your going for shots over 125-150 yards.

Definitely check drop. Past 100 they are a brick

When using a 45-70 for deer, experience tells me to show the deer your rifle and it will fall over dead from fear alone. If that doesn't work, I use Hornady Leverevolution at 325 grains. I like the aerodynamics of the bullet. I reload, but make an exception for factory loads for the 45-70 when hunting. I found with my 1895G that switching from one ammo to another, my point of aim goes up and down based on the speed of the bullet. I never seems to move right to left or left to right. Hit a buck last time out, who was heading straight for me. It hit him in the base of the neck. He went down like a sack of potatoes. Found the projectile near his tail. It traveled the length of the spine. It destroyed the spinal cord at the neck. Very happy with them.

https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/45-70-government-325-gr-ftx-leverevolution#!/

No expansion bullet needed. If you do use one, do not shoot it in the front shoulders if you want any of that meat. I hunt with a 45-70 and use Federal Fusion 300 grain HP rounds for factory rounds. I also use the extreme penetration from Leighigh Defense as a reloaded round. It's simply devastating.

1500 FPS will make a 405 grain lead round penetrate through the length of the whole body of the deer!

I think you get what I am saying.

Pick a bullet that your gun shoots well and the deer will not know the difference!

Anything you pick will knock the stuffing out of any deer that ever lived. Some just shoot a little faster and or flatter.

I like lighter bullets going as fast as they can be pushed for flatter trajectory for big bore rifles on deer.

Since 300 gr is the lightest generally factory loaded round that is probably the bullet weight you would end up with going this route. Off the top of my head, Winchester loads a 300 gr JHP going 1900 FPS. That is fast enough for 200yds with a bit of holdover but there may be something faster out there.

The load @MaxP suggested is similar but with a much better constructed bullet.

A 300 gr .458 bullet going 1900 FPS is a formidable round for game much bigger than deer even so this should hit like the hammer of Thor.

The 405 gr Remington load is a nice soft shooter with a much more arcing trajectory. It will knock deer cold and not damage any meat.

I wouldn’t use a solid. Deer are particularly susceptible to fast moving, violently expanding bullets. I’ve tested the LeHigh Phillips head screwdriver bullets and they don’t do the damage their flat-noses solids do.

300gr HP or the 325gr LE rounds will work great. I shot one in the neck with a 300gr HP at about 100yards and he folded where he stood. I shot a doe with the 325gr about 50yards out and went through her shoulder and out her rear end and she folded. I have heard the LE rounds do grenade but I shot one deer with that round and seen a few others shot with that round and no grenade. I do know someone who has had the 450BM plastic tip (same bullet type as the 325gr) explode on a shoulder and I lost alot of meat on last years doe with the plastic tip after it blew the shoulder into mush. Just make sure you hold onto the rifle and make a good shot and you will be okay. That thing does rock you pretty good from a treestand.

Ive been shooting deer with a 45/70 for many years here in the lowcountry of S.C. and Hornady Leverevolution 325 grain is all I use. On hogs too!

As the guys are saying,,,,you dont need anything fancy when it comes to a 45/70.....

I have taken two elk and numerous mule deer with 405 grain bullets backed by black powder out of a 1879 vintage Trapdoor. The deer never took a step.

I have heard that the Hornady revolution shoots well in the Marlins. In the end, I really don't think the bullet design or weight will matter on a white tail, assuming you can hit a 6" target with that particular round at the range you expect to shoot at the deer. I kill them with 75 grain 223 cleanly on a regular basis, so a bullet that weighs 4x (or more) and is 2x the diameter than what I am using will do fine. People depend on 45-70 for hunting buffalo and grizzly bear defense, so I would just make sure whatever you use performs accurately through your rifle. Just try not to hit the deer in any part you plan to eat.

MaxP said:

I wouldn’t use a solid. Deer are particularly susceptible to fast moving, violently expanding bullets. I’ve tested the LeHigh Phillips head screwdriver bullets and they don’t do the damage their flat-noses solids do.

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I have shot two deer. One with the 405 large metplat hard and solid lead round. The other with the the Lehigh extreme penetration round. Both did wonderfully. I shot both in near identical locations. More damage was done using the extreme penetrator. This is just my non-scientific results. But when it comes to 45-70, I want less meat damage. Behind the shoulder in an area where there is no meat to be used is the best location. The temporary damage and expansion from the energy generated from the 45-70 round is massive and usually takes out a vital part of why the deer should be able to run or run very far at all.

With all other rounds to include something like a 30-06 in 180 grains I still shoot for the front shoulder since I don't like to track deer. I loose some meat, but nothing like if I use a 45-70 on a front shoulder. It's all gone with that round.

Hannah42 said:

I hear the Hornady LE is no good.

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Deer aren’t so hard to kill. If you’re killing deer as practice for larger animals, sure, use a true big game bullet, but when it comes to killing deer, a bullet designed for killing deer shouldn’t surprise you when it kills deer.

The Hornady Factory Leverevolution load has worked for me. Factory loaded 325FTX leaving an 18.5” stainless Guide Gun at 1795fps, ran into this buck just a few feet beyond 250 yards, laying him down within 5 yards. Getting there takes some doing, compensating for 30” of drop, but it left a beautiful trail of carnage through both lungs and the heart.





It certainly groups well enough in mine for the job I ask of it.

Telum Pisces said:

I have shot two deer. One with the 405 large metplat hard and solid lead round. The other with the the Lehigh extreme penetration round. Both did wonderfully. I shot both in near identical locations. More damage was done using the extreme penetrator. This is just my non-scientific results. But when it comes to 45-70, I want less meat damage. Behind the shoulder in an area where there is no meat to be used is the best location. The temporary damage and expansion from the energy generated from the 45-70 round is massive and usually takes out a vital part of why the deer should be able to run or run very far at all.

With all other rounds to include something like a 30-06 in 180 grains I still shoot for the front shoulder since I don't like to track deer. I loose some meat, but nothing like if I use a 45-70 on a front shoulder. It's all gone with that round.

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Too many factors that don’t match. We don’t know how big the meplat was, and how hard the bullet was, not how fast it was. I’ve tested the two LeHigh bullets side by side with all else being equal and they don’t do the same damage. There are so many factors to consider. I don’t mind meat damage as long as I can reasonably recover my deer, but that’s just me. JMHO.

The HMS 405 grain HCL Cowboy stuff works fine. It is around 1300 FPS though less from the shorter 18.5 inch barrels. I have loaded MBC 405 grain HCL at about 1500 FPS, above that the bullets need to be gas checked. And I just learned that Remington now has a "full pressure" 405 grain jacketed load, same bullet as the "safe for all rifles" 1330 FPS stuff but now loaded for 1600 FPS. These are copper jacketed bullets. Never used either as I have shot nothing but HCL (hard cast lead) ammo in my Marlin SBL.

Any cup and core bullet or lead bullet put into the vitals of a whitetail are going in one side and out the other. Short of some weird collar button gallery load, virtually any 45-70 load you can find and hit vitals with will kill a deer. Just make sure you get enough of the same ammo to practice with and be sure you can hit vitals with it.

Kill, dress and BBQ all in one.

I haven't purchased 45-70 in well over 30yrs, now prices are a little higher than then, I found some boxes of 405gr bullets and load them for hunting, deer don't travel far when hit with them, I prefer it for 100yrd or less.

MaxP said:

I wouldn’t use a solid. Deer are particularly susceptible to fast moving, violently expanding bullets.

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You mean all of them deer that fell to my pure lead, solid 225 grain, .530 diameter patched round ball from my flintlock that started out at about 1500 fps but hit them at under 1200 FPS..., were a fluke ?

I'm sorry I'm just poking fun. I don't know what you define as "fast moving".

Some folks use 2000 fps as a threshold, but let me point out that the ratings of the .45-70 with 300 grain projectiles at 2000 fps or higher are most often coming out of 24" or longer barreled rifles..., something for folks to remember as a BUNCH of the .45-70 rifles out there are barreled at under 19 inches.



LD

Loyalist Dave said:

You mean all of them deer that fell to my pure lead, solid 225 grain, .530 diameter patched round ball from my flintlock that started out at about 1500 fps but hit them at under 1200 FPS..., were a fluke ?

I'm sorry I'm just poking fun. I don't know what you define as "fast moving".

Some folks use 2000 fps as a threshold, but let me point out that the ratings of the .45-70 with 300 grain projectiles at 2000 fps or higher are most often coming out of 24" or longer barreled rifles..., something for folks to remember as a BUNCH of the .45-70 rifles out there are barreled at under 19 inches.



LD

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No, I’m talking about bullets that are designed not to distort like the LeHigh offerings discussed earlier. I’m a handgun hunter and am accustomed to lower velocity levels necessitating wise bullet choices. I have found that a violently expanding bullet just does more palpable damage.