What do you feed a 45-70?

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NailGun

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I rescued a Marlin 1895 CB last Saturday. The poor thing was being tortured on "the rack" between two r-word guns...ffffp. Anyway, it is clean, warm and happy now. Um..now I got to feed it.

I got it a box of Black Hills 405 gr. lead "cowboy" rounds, which it seemed to like. However, at $27. a box, it may have to stay long and skinny for a while.

I'm going to order up a die set and other items so I can reload for it.

Question is... What are some loads that work good in this rifle?

Lead or jacketed booolits?

A little bit of "fast" powder, or a full case of Trail Boss? Or GOEX?

Any ideas would be appreciated, Thanks.
NailGun
 
there are several loads that work nicely...I prefer jacketed bullets just because they keep the barrel a little cleaner, but if you are willing to scrub the lead out, save yourself a few dollars and go with the lead bullets
 
Try some paper patched bullets, keep your bore clean and shoot lead. You will be the only one on your block, I betcha.:)

Actually, with a little load work you can shoot lead with no real problems. Trailboss should work great for reduced loads. I bet folks will chime in with some specific loads for you to try.:)
 
Get into reloading less then 50 cents a round

Barrel should be a Ballard match grade barrel perfit for hard cast bullets.

Brass is 32 cents a casing from http://www.starlinebrass.com/

Hard cast bullets are 45/70 405GR .458 RNFP at 12 cents each

you would use a magunum rifle primer 1 1/2 cents

and powder to get 1200 feet per second.

I suggest a card stock between bullet and powder to reduce melding lead in barrel.

Get into reloading.
 
I like 14 grains of Trail Boss behind a 405 grain RNFP. I've just started casting my own and once I get a sizer I'll be shooting these new jewels. . .you save ALOT by loading your own, casting your own makes it dirt cheap to shoot.

I throw a couple of "hot" jacket rounds in the box and shoot them after the powderpuff cowboy loads . .barrel cleanup is a piece of cake. (my hot jacketed loads aren't even near max . .but they thump you alot compared to the jacketed stuff moving at 1200fps)

I really like pulling the trigger on these and then after a delay hearing the steel clang or the thump of the bullet plowing into the berm.

Have a good one,
Dave
 
Thanks for the response, guys.

I got my dies, trimmer, and brass on the way! :)
Forgot to order the booolit mold though...:banghead: Oh well.

405 gr. lead seems to be everyone's slug of choice, as far as I can tell from other threads. This should be a fun gun! (the wife really likes to shoot it :D )

Now, I suppose I will have to create a purpose for having it.....lets see now....squirrels? Prairie dogs? Guess I could post on Cabela's forum to see if the experts there believe that a 45-70 is "enough gun" for small game. (Someone there had posted that it was NOT powerful enough for elk....) This could be a hoot. :D
NailGun
 
Nailgun;
For information overload, go to www.marlinowners.com/forums
I've found that the RCBS 300gr FNGC is my bullet of choice for my GG.
I have had good success with the Lee 340grFN as well as the Lee 405gr HBFN. If you will cast these from wheelweights and lube with SPG lube, you'll be able to load the 405gr up to 1,800fps over IMR4064, RL-15, H4895, or Varget with full case loads of powder (48-55gr depending on powder choice). These are sufficient for anything that walks the planet.

If you will size to .459" and use the SPG powder, you'll probably not have to remove any lead from your barrel. With the 300grFNGC (mine casts to 318gr ith Hornady GasCheck and lubed) I get 1,950fps over 47.0gr of H4198. This is NOT a hot load for the 1895G, but is about all I care to shoot. It shoots flat (about like the .22mag rim fire), and flattens deer with authority. It also groups as tight at 100yds as my Rem. M700 in .22-250.

A good "cheap" load avoiding the necessity to gas-check the bullet is to pan-lube ( or hand lube; you remember how to "color" with crayons in kindergarden?) the 405grHB and run through a Lee .459" sizer (special order from Lee, the .458" is the standard size, but the .459" gives me much better accuracy from 4 different rifles- one a microgroove Marlin, two Ballard rifled Marlins, and a Sharps Reproduction in .45/90). I've had good luck with BlueDot and Alliant#2400 (and when it was Hercules, too!) About 20gr of BlueDot or 25.0gr of #2400 and you won't need to use a filler. If you choose to use a filler, use dacron pillow stuffing and fill the airspace. (dacron is the inert binder used in manufacturing the powder and is consumed in the combustion process and won't cause "buldges" in your barrel like some non conbustable fillers can.) You may even be able to get by without sizing the bullets if you do a neat and clean job on the casting and don't have large flashings on the sides of the bullets. Go easy with you Lee dies and they'll last a long time. I'm still using a Lee .309-150grFNGC that I bought in the mid-70s when they first started making bullet moulds. It still casts MOA capable bullets 30+ yrs later.)

Good luck with your .45/70.
And btw, nah, they ain't enough for elk,;) but it did wipe out the bison! And with black powder at that.
 
I used heavy bullets for years in a Marlin. As I got older and realized I wasn't actually hunting with it anyway, I found that lighter bullets were more fun to shoot...I've had an original Springfield carbine, a Ruger number one and a marlin and the marlin was the worst to beat up the shooter...by far! The Ruger was pleasant even with heavy loads. Were I to do it again I would shoot lighter bullets to keep the recoil down.

My Marlin liked IMR4198 as I remember...heavy gas checked cast bullet (450g)
 
I love to load for this cartridge. I have shot loads from a 200swc over bullseye to 500gr kick your but, able kill a dinasoar loads.
 
Yup, looks like the 45-70 is going to be a good and fun round to reload.

We are primarily going to use this gun for targets and plinking. I doubt we will hunt with it, but hey, ya never know.

Thank You all for your suggestions. Walkalong, I am going to look into those paper patched bullets. I had not even considered that.

GooseGestapo, I am most likely going to start loading with Oregon Trail Lasercast over Blue Dot, 2400, Unique and Trail Boss. By the time I get a box of 500 used up, I should have figured out how to pour my own. :) Question: do all cast bullets need to be run through a "sizer" or does that depend on what size the mold throws em? I figured I would get a Lee mold.

The guys on the MarlinOwners forum make some bold claims about accuracy. I hope what they say is true.

Thanks again All! :)
NailGun.
 
With the Lee bullets, probably not. However, the little sizer kit they make only runs about $12.00 and includes a 4oz hollow tube of 50/50 Alox-beeswax lube. The lube itself runs about $3.00 so the little pan,the sizer sleeve, cutter sleeve, and punch are a bargain. You melt some lube in the pan, and stand the bullets up in the lube in the pan. After allowing the lube to melt, you then use a cutter-sleeve to remove the bullets from the pan. You then insert the bullets nose first in the sizer die and punch out with the punch.

Some of those accuracy claims are no bull. My 1895G shot several sub-1" groups while developing a hunting load, particularily with the 300gr FN-GC, and the 405gr HB.

If you shoot anything heavier than the 1,100fps-1,400fps loads using the powders you mentioned, you'll want to get one of the Kick-Eezz recoil pads. Like another poster stated, these little Marlins come back with a big gun recoil.
 
I have 2 45/70 rifles and I use either a 500 or 520 gr cast bullet with either IMR 3031 or AA XMP 5744. If you cast your own bullets the amount of tin in the alloy will affect the diameter of our bullets. I use Saeco mould blocks and I use a 1 in 20 mix 1 lb of tin to 20 lbs of lead (I use tin solder for this} My Saeco blocks drops them at .459 and 518-520 gr. This bullet is too big to fit in the Marlin 405-
450 gr should fit nicely
 
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