What commercial ammo for a .45-70 Trapdoor Springfield

[Trebor]

A friend of mine has a Trapdoor Springfield in .45-70 he inherited.

The rifle is at a gunsmith getting a new mainspring and generally getting checked out to make sure it's safe to fire.

My buddy has asked me to find out what commercial .45-70 ammo he should use for the rifle.

*He does not reload. I do not reload, so I do not want reloading data. *

He's probably going to fire a box of ammo through the gun and then put it back on the wall.

So, what commercial .45-70 ammo is recommended for the Trapdoor Springfield? Any leads on good deals would also be appreciated.

 

[Onmilo]

http://www.tenxammo.com/tenx_ammo_B.html
Ten X produces safe to shoot in a Trapdoor ammo in both smokeless and blackpowder loadings.

Remington produces a low pressure 405 grain jacketed soft point smokeless load that is safe to shoot in blackpowder rifles.
I am not going to link to the Remington site because it is a jumble.

There are no super deals on .45/70 now. Figure about two bucks a round to get him shooting.HTH

 

[MATT .45-70]

is it an 1873 or an 1884

 

[Trebor]

is it an 1873 or an 1884

I don't know. I do know it was a purpose built rifle and not a conversion.

I found the Ten X stuff for a decent price on this site:

http://usarmorment.com/black-hill-4570-405-grain-government-p-1934.html

That's what I'm probably going to steer him towards.

Thanks for the help.

 

[MATT .45-70]

The black hills ammunition should work okay for your friend. just make sure whatever ammo you do buy says for all firearms in good condition, not something like for high pressure or anything like that. stay with lead bullets
some guys for some reason will only shoot black powder in an 1873, and both black powder and smokeless in an 1884 im not to sure why. I have an idea, but not exactly sure, Im not an expert on trapdoors i mostly stay with the sharps rifles of this caliber. A trapdoor certainly is an interesting firearm though.
good luck and have fun with it

 

[StrawHat]

Winchester and Remington make ammo that is acceptable in the old Trapdoors. SOme others may make it also but those two for sure. Some company makes heavier loads but I believe it is stated up front "Not for Trapdoors" or similar wording. Trapdoors are a lot of fun and decent shooters. Factory ammo will not bring out the best accuracy as the bullet/bore relation is usually not good with factory stuff. Loaded with ammo they like, the Trapdoor is a very accurate rifle and one that will bring lots of satisfaction. I load .460 bullets in one of mine to bring out the best it can offer.

 

[SHR970]

Standard 45-70 loads from Win, Rem, Fed., etc. are all down loaded in pressure for the trapdoors. SAAMI MAP for this caliber is 28,000 CUP, but the majors all load down around 18,000.

Stay well clear of Buffalo Bore, Garret Hammerheads and the like. These are the ones marked "Not for Trapdoor".