anyone load the 45-70 325gr FTX?

[Axis II]

I found a nice load for my marlin with IMR 4198 and 300gr HP but now i cant find bullets to save my life and gun opener is a week away so seeing how all i can find are 325gr FTX i think ill have to deal with them. I currently have the shortened brass for them and factory shoots pretty well but i'm wondering how good my powder is for that bullet and how well it performs. I have shot on deer with factory loads and dropped her in her tracks on a quartering too shot and popped out the back leg but ive also heard horror stories about that bullet fragmenting or not expanding.

 

[Varminterror]

I've never had problems with the FTX effectively killing game, and never noticed any failure to expand. The tips are fragile, but they are also incredibly large. Rapid expansion is the entire design goal of any tipped bullet, it has a "driver" which starts the expansion by translating meplat contact into expansion - especially in the FTX design where the rubberized tip squishes outward, translating axial impact into radial expansion by elastic deformation. Bottom line, they open up, and they kill deer. Even if you somehow did get a failure, they'll kill just as well as a hardcast, which kills very well, as proven by almost 150 years of field use.

I honestly don't believe folks talking about "fragmenting" of the 325FTX, unless they ran it out of a much larger case than the .45-70. I do believe the bullet will shed weight, meaning it'll lose most of the mass off of the tip/ogive, and I could be convinced someone could hit something hard enough to cause a jacket separation, although I have NEVER seen evidence of it. The tip sheds long before it starts peeling the shank, so I don't think jacket separation is real for that bullet in the .45-70 either. Even if it separates, you're talking about a massive core, a lead slug, so it's still going to kill and still going to penetrate. Since the tip is rubberized, it doesn't drive straight back and compromise the core like a poly tipped bullet, and the core is too massive to simply be ruptured and fragmented. It's kinda like trying to crush a bank building with a semi-truck - you don't have to worry whether the fenders and side mirrors survive, remember, you're sending an 84,000lb hunk of steel at your target. The 325 FTX will kill deer cleanly if you place it well.

Also remember, for a guy to have an actual claim about bullet failure, either failing to expand, or fragmentation, they have to have recovered the animal - meaning the bullet did its job, and now the guy is still whining... most bullet failure threads I have seen end up with the guy admitting they didn't recover the animal, and only speculate it was a bullet failure, because they swear they make a good shot...

4198 has been my go to powder, it and varget, for the 45-70 for many moons, including loads for the 325 FTX. I've been satisfied with their leverevolution powder as well, but since it's a rather limited application powder for me, I usually load 4198 instead.

 

[redbullitt]

Those bullets will do just fine! I use mostly 4198 in my 45 70, and it is very accurate with the 325s. You will like them. Put the bullet where it should go and pick up your deer!

 

[Axis II]

I got home last night and checked Hodgdon data for that bullet and all they listed was H322 so i checked my Hornady manual and the first powder was IMR 4198. I am a bit relieved i actually have data for it.

Looks like i have some work to do tonight and tomorrow in loading some of these 325gr. I hate that i cant find the 300gr now. My local reloading shop carried the 300gr and are reasonably priced but they were out and not sure when they would arrive so i checked cabelas (not a fan of my local cabelas) and all they have are the 325gr so i have to swallow some pride and shop cabelas. I guess its good the reloading shop was out as they are 30min one way and cabelas 10min one way.