45-70 Cast Boolit

[pistolman44]

If you had to pick one cast boolit which one you choose for the Marlin 45-70 Guide Gun? Gas check or not. Seems a lot of people choose 405 gr.

[Swampman]

If you had to pick one cast boolit which one you choose for the Marlin 45-70 Guide Gun? Gas check or not. Seems a lot of people choose 405 gr.


For deer I'd probably go with the 340 grain Gould bullet, Lyman 457122. The 405s tend to be very accurate.

[MT Chambers]

Right now my favorite is my newest, a 550 gr WFN gas check bruiser, from a 26" bl. on my Marlin it's travelin' 1500fps and not much can stop it. It is avail. for purchase, at least for Canadians.

[hornsurgeon]

For deer, black bear, and target I would use the ranch dog 350 or a copy of it. If that fails try the 405 one. If that fails to produce, its not the gun.

:)

[monge]

Has eneyone tried the 340pb lee ! Thanks JOE

[Nobade]

Has eneyone tried the 340pb lee ! Thanks JOE

They're usually too small unless you paper patch them. The RCBS 45-325-FN-U works great in my Marlins for light loads. It's my cowboy silhouette bullet, super accurate and not too much recoil. For hotrod hunting loads I like the RCBS 45-405-FN with a gascheck and all the 3031 that I can get into the case.

It's hard to pick a favorite 45-70 bullet, so many to choose from! At least with the Marlin you're limited to nose shape and the RCBS or the Ranch Dog bullets are made just for that rifle so I'd start there.

[stubshaft]

Either the RCBS 405 or RD 425. They are both very accurate and shoot to the same POI in both of my GG's.

[303british.com]

Another vote for a 350 grainer. I'm not fussy.

[phaessler]

BRP molds 350gn or 325gn Hammer, outstanding performance....

Pete

[MT Chambers]

BRP molds 350gn or 325gn Hammer, outstanding performance....

Pete

I agree there, that BRP 325 Hammer is exactly that, I'm glad I got that mold before they folded up. I choose a much longer bullet for full penetration on, Bear Moose, and Buffalo.

[btroj]

I have a 460420 plain base that I prefer oer everything.

[TXGunNut]

I like RD's 350, my Guide Gun likes it too. I've worked with Lyman's 457122 and 457193 a little but so far the RD does the best on paper, only boolit I've used on game.

[grubbylabs]

I don't think you will find any one that will say they dislike the RD molds, I have one for the 44 cal stuff. But I went with a 400 grain mold for 45-70 that I bought from Accurate Molds. If you email Tom and tell him what you want to use it for he will help show you what you need or help you design/come up with what you want.

I would really like to try some more RD molds but I am just not a fan of those Lee molds.

[MtGun44]

RCBS 405 GC works very well for me in Marlin GG.

Bill

[MT Gianni]

Ranch Dog 350.

[largom]

RCBS 405 GC works very well for me in Marlin GG.

Bill


Same here! The best boolit in 5 different 45-70's.

Larry

[corvette8n]

I have the RD TLC460-425-RF mold I cast a few but have not had time to try it in my Marlin 45-70 cowboy, too many other projects.

[T-Bird]

+1 for the LY457122 I've got a RCBS mold in the same wt range but with a much flatter nose, gas checked (don't remember the mold no.) but the Ly bullet drops much less at 150 yds. because of the more pointed nose. My load with IMR 4198 runs about 1400fps. I don't stoke up my 45/70 I shoot this boolet at it's original intended velocity as an "express" bullet . I only hunt whitetails and shoot paper. MY load is on at 100yds. and 6"low at 150 yds. If we had elk here, I would shoot the 405 wt range. They kick too much to suit me for pleasure shooting.

[Boerrancher]

I like the Lee 405gr Hollow Base. I can load it to nearly 458win mag loads with out any leading, and at 100 yds with the iron sights it will shoot a 3 inch 5 shot group. At 50 yards it is one nice ragged hole. which tells me it is the shooter and not the gun or the boolit. It will also shoot well at lower velocities, and as a bonus has lots of penetration for large game animals.

Best wishes,

Joe

[Doc_Stihl]

If I had to have just one, it'd be the RD 425.

[6pt-sika]

My choice would be in the following order ;

Ranch Dog 460-350GC
Ranch Dog 460-425GC
BRP 462-465GC
Ranch Dog 460-300GC
Ballisti-Cast 462-550GC

But since I have all of the above I don't need to choose :wink:

[Westwindmike]

I shoot the Lee 340 and it drops out of my mold at .459-460 with wheel weights. Plenty big for my Marlin.

[hicard]

I like both the Lyman 340 gr hp (Gould) and the RD 350 in my Marlins.

[TJF1]

Rd-350 in 5 dif. 45/70

[DLCTEX]

I cast and shoot RD 460-350, RD 460-420, and Lee 459-350. Best for me is the RD 460-350, but the others work well too. Prefer them over IMR SR 4759 powder.

[Al_sway]

My bullet of choice for deer hunting and paper is the Lee 405 grain HP. It is accurate and feeds well in my Marlin.

[zuke]

NOE 330 HP PP.
I cast up a 50 cal can last summer!

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy356/zuke_bucket/DSCF1780.jpg

[pistolman44]

Those are some good look"n Boolits you have there. What type of lube you use and what size do you size them?

[monge]

WoW thats alot of pretty boolits make me happy just looking at them , Makes me want to cast?

[zuke]

I size them to 451 then paper patch them back up to 458/459

[Snapping Twig]

NOE 460350 & NOE 460420 for me.

I admit, I couldn't decide.

For each bullet I load a trapdoor and a modern Marlin load. 1400fps for the trapdoor and 1800fps for the Marlin load. I shoot them all in an 1895 GBL.

In either case, the trapdoor load is smooth and easy, the Marlin load is... stout.

I figure the 350 is slightly easier for the general duty load either light or HV version and probably best for deer.

The 420, well, that's a can of whoopa$$.

Good luck with your search.

[WinMike]

OK, I'll admit it....I'm lazy. I sold my Lee 45-70 die many years ago, then a couple of years ago, bought a Marlin guide gun. Was trying to decide if I should cast new bullets, but when I saw Oregon Trail's 430 gr. True Shot FN GC, I had to try them.

Holy cow (or dead buffalo, bear, whatever). Big medicine. I do believe they would knock down just about anything.

http://www.laser-cast.com/trueshot.html