My bad ... I know better too. It was late.. It's a 1994 JM stamped Marlin 1895G, ported.
Yeah there is some 4895 data in the Sierra book and some data in the Hogdgon app ... but strictly for bonded jacketed projectiles, I cannot find anything for these hard cast hi-tek coated boolits and I know I can get better results from them than the data I am finding in the Lee's and Lymans (which appears to me to-be toned-waaaay down for trapdoors.)
I've not had any 5744 in years but I have a bucketload of 4895 in all flavors that I want to put to good use this year. I've got 11 pounds of IMR 4895, 16 pounds of RG 4895 (Radway Green) and two pounds of H4895. I used to use a lot of it in my service rifles back in the day but ... that's another story.
I'm hoping to come up with a good 45-70 load for this Marlin using the 4895s and these 300 grain hard cast hi-tek coated boolits Inwas given. I normally use 3031 or 4198 for this rifle and I still will for my hunting loads ... but I was hoping to put these Rushmores (500 of them) to good use and then I can find a good mold and start casting and coating myself for this rifle.
(I've got a couple two or three hundred pounds of various powders on hand but I wanted to use up some of these 4895s if possible. I don't want to let it go to waste and I figured if I could find a good load for these boolits Inwas given ....)
I know it's gotta be somewhere between 34-64 grains, I would think, based upon what I've found so far .... lol, that's a little wide of a parameter for me and I am having brain block as-to how I should deal with these at .459 and coated with this Hi-tek Supercoat boolits? Can I treat these like jacketed even in this diameter? If I get the velocity up on these using a 4895 will I need a gas check? I'm assuming this coating mitigates all of the old cast boolit rules, correct?
Anyways, thanks for the input men, much appreciated.
Okay, that helps. I used to have a pair of trapdoors, an H&R 1873 and a Pedersoli 22" carbine, along with a Marlin 1895, and a Ruger No.1. I loaded different loads for each based on pressure, accuracy and comfort. I'm down to ONE .45Govt now, the Marlin, because it just wasn't working for me having so many loads when the only rifle I really enjoyed shooting was the Marlin. Here's the thing: the Pedersoli carbine is light and easy to manage - but it's BRUTAL with anything like a full power load. The H&R was strictly black powder and WAY too valuable to be trucking out into the dense swamps. The Ruger was light and easy to carry, and way stronger than my shoulder. The Marlin has some weight to it and carries good. All-around good rifle.
So, with that said, I did try my beloved 405gr. cast thumpers in the Marlin, sized to .459" for the Ballard type rifling, with IMR 4895 when I had it in abundance, and as I recall it did ... meh. I don't have my loading data with me but it's in the book and I'll check when I get home but I'm pretty sure it was around 50gr. +/- 1 gr. Pretty mild but still rolls anything it hits. I also tried 300gr. Sierra JHC with IMR 3031, 4227 and 4895 and that combo - Sierra jacketed with IMR 4895 - did much better but I always preferred IMR 4227. Frankly, there's not much a Marlin in .444 can't do that a 1895 in .45-70 can. That .444 is just a wicked bad round!
I have not tried coated or plated at all. I actually gave up on reloading .45-70 a while back - a few years back - but might get back into it. Not sure yet.
Upshot, I used listed Lymans 46th max loads for the 1873 as starting loads for the Marlin and ended up using max loads that were way short of listed max for the '86/'95. Action strength isn't everything - shoulder strength matters, too - and accuracy rules the day. The recoil with that 405gr. cast was just not worth the extra punch and the 300gr. jacketed bullet rolled anything it hit but shot so much easier. I dropped back to a 300gr. cast once and it shot nicely enough but I didn't stick with it. I don't recall the loads, unfortunately, but I ended up using mostly IMR 4227 and jacketed heavies because the faster powder seems to work better in my older Marlin. I also used Birchwood-Casey brass black to distinguish my cases from each other. Dropping a 405gr. full-boat Ruger load into the H&R would have been a disaster. Don't do that, by the way. It ruined all of my brass for shooting.
Rambling... hope it helps.
