45-70 versatility (45 Colt??)

This cannot possibly work. A .45 Colt revolver cartridge would literally fall inside the chamber of a .45-70 rifle.

This is also the first that I've heard that you can fire .410 shells from a .45-70. Can someone verify?

The .45-70 can be very versatile if you load your own,

but I would NEVER fire other cartridges in a .45-70 rifle...The .45 Colt and
.410 slugs can be used in some handguns that are specially made for this, but in my experience that is more of a sales gimick than any real advantage...barrels that accept both do not provide accuracy for the .45 or enough velocity for the .410 to penetrate anything...
I fired .410 slugs out of my American Derringer into a lath board, and could pull them out with my fingers - they went in less than half their length.

The. 45-70 is a very usable caliber for medium and large game, can be loaded down for small game if you wish...I used a .456 lead round ball over a small load of Unique out of an 1880's trapdoor Springfield (back when they were affordable)...


mark

I think trying to shoot revolver ammo in a 45/70 would be a bad idea although I admit that I have never tried it.

I have loaded .454 sized lead bullets meant for the 45 Colt in 45/70 cases. At around 1,100 FPS they shoot well from the .457 bore.

Neither the .410cal. shotshell or .45LC will properly chamber in the .45-70. The .410 will chamber and is safe in a .45LC IF it has the chamber cut for the .410 (a la the Taurus Judge), otherwise that isn't a safe combination either. OTOH the .45-70Govt. is a very easy and rewarding cartridge to handload for. You can work up loads from powderpuff .45LC cowboy action power, up to near .458WM power (out of the right action).

Maverick is correct. You can't cross chamber but you can replicate with some creative loads. You can even work up shotshell loads using the .45" plastic shot cups to top the column off. Roundball loads also work. There's an old chestnut of a book called "Forty Years with the 45-70" by the great gun writer Paul A. Matthews that details all of this and more. It's one of the best gun books ever written IMHO.

i have sot .44mag shells out of a 410 saiga. accuracy was non-existent at 25 yards.

i have sot .44mag shells out of a 410 saiga.

Click to expand...

We're all happy your still here, but I don't believe it would be advisable to replicate that "experiment".

You can load 45-70 with cast bullets and pistol powder to get essentially 45 Colt ballistics (slightly better) if you so choose. Look here:

http://www.leverguns.com/articles/paco/small_charges.htm

The 45-70 case is tapered. Shooting .410 shells or .45LC would be A bad idea.

Blue Brick, I still don't know that I would try it. I believe that it could cause damage to the rifle (the throat and rifling) as well as the shooter (split cases due to poor chamber fit), and there is little reason to attempt it (other than a survival circumstance). Furthermore, it appears that Cartridges of the World simply stated that "it is possible", not recommended or even safe.