45-70 case differing length thoughts

[Bullseye]

OK so I have all kinds of head stamps to load. Most are pretty much the same length except of course, the Hornady Leverevolution empties are significantly shorter.
So I got to thinking about it not really being an issue in a Marlin Lever guide gun while thinking about how a lever 44 Mag can shoot 44 spl cases. A 357 mag can shoot .38 spl etc.
The mags are certainly longer than specials.

The only issue I encounter in handloading here is that the dies need to be adjusted back and forth when flaring, seating depth to cannelure and crimp.

So can I assume that this is all there is to it?
I think that Hornady had some reason for the Leverevolution bullets to be set back some.
But I have reloaded lead hollow points in both cases without any issues and intend to load some JSP 405 gr. in the near future. Probably in the Hornady cases.

Now I just load all the longer cases first and the Hornadys after die adjustments. No big deal right?
Maybe there is just the slightest bit more pressure using same powder amounts in the Hornady cases?

 

[rcmodel]

Hornday had a perfectly good reason.
The rubber-tip FTX Spitzer bullet they use is much longer then any other bullet ever used in tube-fed lever-action rifles.

They had to shorten the case to get them to 4-F.
(Feed - Fire - & Function Freely)

Certain types of 45-70 lever-guns are severely limited by the Max cartridge OAL of 2.255".
Anything longer will not feed.

Shorter may not feed either, or miss the cartridge stop and double-feed.

Longer, and you may not be able to eject a loaded round if you don't shoot it.

Sort the brass, or if you don't want to fool with that?

Trim it all to the same length as your short cases!

rc

 

[WonderDavid!]

Do you need a special crimp die for the short brass? I heard that the regular crimp dies wouldn't crimp and that you needed a lee factory crimp die, but I don't know.

 

[Bullseye]

As usual, RC thanks for the good info, my Marlin 1895 Guide Gun rifle seems to be feeding and ejecting both cases so far without problem.

A loaded Hornady case with my lead hollowpoint 325 gr bullets
is 2.500 and a R - P with the same is 2.525
My Lyman 49th book in the 1886 Winchester and 1895 Marlin ONLY section gives a max OAL of 2.550 so I am good to go there.

Wonder ... I have a Hornady series ll die set #546566 and I seat and crimp at the same stroke with the seating die. Being it is a Hornady, I assume they had their shorter cases in mind, however it also does crimp longer cases.
I forget my thinking when I bought the set but I was sitting on 100 factory rounds of Leverevolution when I did. I since bought a few lots of other cases. I have not bought the loose bullets that are used in Leverevolution ( yet ) to use them in reloading.

 

[Jim Watson]

I don't call the rubbernose bullet a perfectly good reason for shorter cases because I don't think they are a whale of a big advantage in the shooting. And the odd brass just confuses reloaders.

I must confess that my only contact with them was to equip a friend whose rifle had been stolen. About all that proves is that a rubbernose .30-30 will kill a deer.

 

[stubbicatt]

I don't know. I just bought 100 Starline brass. They are all the same length. Very resilient too near as I can tell. Not terribly expensive either.

 

[Don McDowell]

You'll also find a difference in case capacity and weight amongst the different brands of brass, especially between Remington and Winchester.
Unless you have a large amount of those Leverevolution brass I'ld suggest just setting those back for posterity. With those being shorter you would need to readjust your seating and crimping die every time you load them.
Also the old saw about different brands of brass giving different pressure,velocity and accuracy results holds true even with the 45-70.
Sort your brass , and let the rifle tell you it's favored brand, you'll both be happier in the long run.