45-70 Marlin lever action bullet

[soonerfan66]

I have a friend who picked up a Marlin lever action 45-70 and he asked me after buying 2 boxes of ammo for it if I could reload him some ammo after he shoots it up . I reload for a Springfield Trapdoor and cast my own bullets for it .463 . I shoot black powder loads only . Book shows .458 " , for lever guns . I am not set up to try sizing down my cast bullets . Any suggestions for a bullet mold or would he be better off buying some bullets , fmj or cast . I do not know about if there would be a leading problem or not with cast bullets in these higher pressure loads .

 

[Scooter22]

Whats he want to use it for? Hunting or just plinking? Theres lots of bullets out there for it. If he just wants to shoot targets look at some of the plated or powder coated cast boolits.

 

[Obturation]

I like a 405 grain rnfp over trailboss for plinking- still pretty powerful and very pleasant to shoot and I use the same bullet over imr4198 that thumps pretty hard and between those 2 I don't need anything else from that rifle. Does the rifle have microgroove rifling?

 

[mrawesome22-250]

Leading won't be an issue if the proper diameter cast bullet is used (largest diameter the throat will allow).

NOE makes great moulds, but if you aren't setup to lube/size you'd have to aquire one.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

I cast and powder coat or Alox 405 grain bullets for my Marlin. My mold drops a ,460 bullet with about 20-1 lead-tin. With Aloxed bullets I get a small amount of leading near the end of the barrel, easily removed. No leading with powder coated. I have a .458 sizing die but .460 bullets are more accurate, a little larger may be even better in my rifle.
About 30 grains of IMR 4198 is a nice load.

 

[Charlie98]

Leading won't be an issue if the proper diameter cast bullet is used (largest diameter the throat will allow).

That ^^^ I loaded .459" cast bullets when I had my 1895 and got decent accuracy, I still load the same for my single-shot Pedersoli. I don't cast... I get my bullets from Oregon Trail or Montana Bullet. Depending on how much he plans to shoot, you might be better off just buying 500 bullets rather than tooling up for casting, unless you just want to.

Faster powders are better for lower velocity loads... IMR4198 is my favorite; a good substitute would be AA5744, and IMR3031 will work as well. Once you go past that (IMR4895 and slower) you are going to see more velocity... but more recoil. For sure... and even with 350grn bullets, etc.

My standard load is any 350grn-405grn bullet over IMR4198, target velocity is 1300-1500fps and is good to 700yds... so far.

I'm not a big fan of pistol powders in the big .45-70 case, I have witnessed a case blowout with 15grn Unique under a 405grn cast bullet... a classic loading. It's just a factor I don't have to fool with, so I don't. I have loaded it, and it certainly works, but, again, I don't have to. TrailBoss might be a caveat... it's bulky to help soak up some of that case volume, but I have no direct experience with it. 2400 might be another.