45-70 shooters?

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harmonic

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I'm considering buying a falling block rifle in 45-70 but just checked the price of ammo.

Midway has it as roughly twice the price of the other caliber I'm considering (243).

Is that your observation? It's roughly twice the price?

And yes, I reload, but when I go to a new caliber, I wait till I've run a hundred or so rounds before I buy the new dies, etc.
 
dang harmonic,, i really can't help out here,, i have 8,, 45-70s and i have never bought any factory stuff for them

i don't know this for a fact but i would bet after you get your brass there isn't or won't be much difference in the price to reload either of those two rounds

just my .02

ocharry
 
I think that's the first time I've heard 45-70 vs .243. :D

Where are you located? I've got some 45-70 ammo I'll part with, but I can't ship it.
RT
 
1895 shooter here...as to the price, thats a lot of lead and brass per round (that stuff sells by the pound ya know)

Look at it this way...cast bullets are dirt cheap (compared to most bullets), the price per round to reload and shoot the 45-70 is well worth the initial expense.
 
Most of my guns have never seen a single round of factory ammo. With a new caliber I buy dies and brass along with the gun. All ammo is pricey these days and I suspect 45/70 is particularly expensive.
 
More like a 30% difference in price if your talking standard Win Super-X or Rem Green Box loads for the two cartridges. So about $10 a box or $50 per hundo of store-bought cartridges.

I think the long term difference maker here is that you can control the long term cost of the 45-70 by using cast bullets as components and still get cartridge representative performance, which you can not do in the .243. A .459 $0.16 cast bullet, $0.13 powder and $0.16 of brass (calculated on 5 reloads of store bought brass, and that number of reloads is conservative) gives you a long range price of $0.45 per or $9 per 20.

I'd lean towards the 45-70, but I'm biased anyways.
 
Around these parts facorty (Rem, Win) 45-70 is $35.00 to $40.00 a box, (20 rnds). .243 was $18.00 to $22.00 per box. I just checked. And I reload.
 
Midway Usa has Leverlution ammo for $27 a box...

tried a box of these in my sharps and the head was a little thicker than on regular 45-70, the block stuck, had a feeling there would be a problem when I pulled the lever up it was really tight.
Gave them to a guy that has a marlin guide gun and they were fine.
 
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I don't have a .45-70 but neither my .38-55 nor my .40-65 has ever even seen a factory load since I got them. For that matter, the .38 has not smelled smokeless for at least 15 years and I have never loaded nitro in the .40.

There is no need to start with factory loads, buy some brass and dies and have at it.
 
45-70 factory ammo is very expensive, but also very easy to load your own. With cast bullets it's pretty cheap, and the brass lasts a really long time.
 
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