45-70

[EMC45]

About to get the Lee 405 gr mold for this one and was wondering if anyone had any pet loads for this setup? I will be shooting out of a Handi and maybe a trapdoor. Thanks:-D

[bishopgrandpa]

12 gr. unique is standard and works fine in my handi.

[black44hawk]

What a coincidence. I have a Handi rifle in 45-70 and cast the Lee 405 also. After shooting loads of 45 grains of Reloader 7 I decided to try Trail Boss. This is a fast burning powder designed to take up the majority of the space in blackpowder cartridges. It can be hard to find data for this powder and most literature suggests loading it around 12grains. I continued to add more while carefully looking for signs of excessive pressure. To my surprise I was able to load it up to 18grains! Still, there was no flatened primers, sticky ejection, and the recoil is quite mild. This charge fills the cartridge up to the base of the bullet, and while I have no chronograph I have found the load to be plenty accurate for my purposes.
I have been using some type of alox/beeswax lube and cci large rifle primers.

[jonk]

I wouldn't push past 13 grains of Trail Boss for the trapdoor.

I've had the best luck with a duplex load of .5cc (around 6 gr) of IMR4759 with 60 gr of FFG blackpowder in my trapdoor. The load upsets nicely into the grooves while most smokeless loads don't.

For a modern rifle though, it's your call on whether to bother with the blackpowder though.

[Wayne Smith]

If you use BP use a crimp. The bullet is not heavy enough to create complete ignition, as is the 500gr. This is from the US Army research back in the 1880's. Crimp the 405, don't crimp the 500+ boolits.