45-70 loads for Deer

[bpost1958]

Going to use the 45-70 this year for deer in Ohio. The max distance would be 210 yards from blind to forest edge.

My new mold is the LEE 457 405.

Any recommendations for powder, loads or tricks for the 45-70? Would prefer accuracy over speed. Experience has taught me holes through the lungs and heart kill quickly and cleanly. Impact velocity has little to do with it.

[Starvnhuntr]

40. gr. re-7

[triggerhappy243]

I dont shoot a 45-70, but your shot placement thoughts are right on track. A bullet that heavy has a tremendous amount of energy behind it. but if you cant put it into the vitals... it all goes to waste.

[jhalcott]

I have a 15" TC Contender and a 24" Bolt action in 45-70. Neither will shoot the same loads accurately. Several friends and I bought 45-70 rifles for a club shoot and all are Siamese Mausers. Few of them would shoot the same loads to the same accuracy, close, but not quite! My brother bought a mule kicking 45-70 lever gun. It needed different loads too. Since there are several strength actions around YOU will have to test the powders/ loads on YOUR gun.ed4rs
RX7, 3031 and 4759 are listed for all the actions. A 1/2 grain of Dacron Polyester is recommended when using 4759.

[aspangler]

My 45-70 load is the Lee 457-405f in front of 25 gr 2400. 24" barrel bolt action. 1450 fps 6 es. Shoots cloverleafs at 100 for me. YMMV

[NSB]

Start out by slugging your barrel. Your bullet size may be so far off that no load will shoot well out of the gun. Once you get a bullet to match your barrel, you'll find that the 45-70 isn't that hard to get shooting well. I've tried a lot of different loads (I mean a LOT) and most shoot pretty good. All of my loads are "trapdoor" level loads and the last seven deer I shot with them dropped pretty close to where they were hit.....all within eye sight. All were shot through the heart/lung area.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

What gun are you shooting them in?

[NSB]

My 45-70 load is the Lee 457-405f in front of 25 gr 2400. 24" barrel bolt action. 1450 fps 6 es. Shoots cloverleafs at 100 for me. YMMV
One of my favorite loads too.

[EMC45]

I use that same bullet in a Handi 45-70. 405gr. bullet over 15gr. Unique standard large rifle primer. Shoots well, accurate. 3 deer have given their lives to this bullet and combo. Kicks like a 20ga. trap load.

[Kevinakaq]

I use that same bullet in a Handi 45-70. 405gr. bullet over 15gr. Unique standard large rifle primer. Shoots well, accurate. 3 deer have given their lives to this bullet and combo. Kicks like a 20ga. trap load.

I think i will load up some boolits right now with that same load. I have been creeping up from 10 grains Unique in my Handi pushing a 340 and 405 gr Lee and have had good results on paper. Currently up to 12.5 and got a .980 three shot group at 90 yards (90 yards is in the shade of an old Oak and 100 is in the sun - easy choice here in Florida) during the last test. Need to do more testing but what is not to like? Had planned to deer hunt with my Handi as well this year and think i will make the jump straight to 15 and test out. Will report back...

[rexherring]

Also try about 24-26 grs of AA5744, safe in Trapdoors and accurate powder

[EMC45]

BTW I have never recovered a bullet with this combo. It is devastating.

[bpost1958]

What gun are you shooting them in?

Sorry for the delay, I will be using an ENCORE.

[dh2]

I have good luck with IMR4198 in my marlin , I have a new mould coming from NOE so I will be trying a 405gr. HP pushed by IMR4198 out of my marlin 45/70 for this year, I think it will do the job, what ever comes in front of me deer, bear , or hog, Ithink it will do the job well at two hundred yards or less.

[TCLouis]

I would get some velocity/BC info on your chosen load and then run it through the calculator found here

http://www.handloads.com/calc/ Close but no prize this link has been changed

Then do some field proofing of the trajectory as calculated.

Try this new one

http://www.handloads.com/calc/index.html

[Nrut]

I would get some velocity/BC info on your chosen load and then run it through the calculator found here

http://www.handloads.com/calc/

Then do some field proofing of the trajectory as calculated.
check your link TC Louis..
appears to be hacked..

[aspangler]

check your link TC Louis..
appears to be hacked..
Funny. It worked for me.

[Nrut]

Yes, and now it works for me also..
And what was the question again?
LOL

[Reg]

Don't mean to hijack the thread but do have a question.
The Lee 457-405 mentioned, has anyone had any luck with it in the Rugar Number 1 ?
Have thought of getting this mould but on the Lee site it is mentioned that it may or may not chamber. Something about a lack of throat ??

[TJF1]

rd 460-350 with 25 gr 4759

[Rufus Krile]

Reg... Seated to 2.625" OAL that bullet just engraves the rifling in my '85 Winchester. Settled on 27.0gr of AA5744 to turn 1400fps and shoots well. Runs through a friends '86 Winchester with no problem, and chronographs just about the same from his rifle.

[Kevinakaq]

I think i will load up some boolits right now with that same load. I have been creeping up from 10 grains Unique in my Handi pushing a 340 and 405 gr Lee and have had good results on paper. Currently up to 12.5 and got a .980 three shot group at 90 yards (90 yards is in the shade of an old Oak and 100 is in the sun - easy choice here in Florida) during the last test. Need to do more testing but what is not to like? Had planned to deer hunt with my Handi as well this year and think i will make the jump straight to 15 and test out. Will report back...

I tested 14 and 15 grains of Unique today pushing the Lee 340gr. bullet in my Handi rifle using a 4x Tasco. I only fired three shots each (was testing other rifles as well) and had good results at 85 yards. These shots were fired fairly rapidly and reflect pretty darn accurate results considering. I didn't adjust the scope any during the shoot and the high shots reflect that. Recoil was very mild and quite frankly I enjoyed the shoot immensely. It always feels great when you get good results from a new load. Details are on the pics for those interested.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/67729401/2014-08-22%2012.36.32.jpghttps://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/67729401/2014-08-22%2012.36.39.jpg

I will run the 15 grains over the chronograph and get back with some results. I will also test out the 405gr. bullet as that addresses the op question and I would just like to know as well. I do think I have found my deer load for this rifle with the 340gr. if the groups hold over further testing.

[1Shirt]

I like 24-25 gr. of 2400 w/dac filler, under the old Gould HP (about 330).
1Shirt!

[Huntsman]

My Marlin Guide Gun likes 38grs IMR 4198 with the Lee 405gr cast/tumble lubed. Avg velocity 1434fps
Here's my grouping @100yds;
http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/i375/Jamie_MG/39grsIMR4198_zps9a2ef7ed.jpg (http://s1090.photobucket.com/user/Jamie_MG/media/39grsIMR4198_zps9a2ef7ed.jpg.html)

[JesterGrin_1]

Going to use the 45-70 this year for deer in Ohio. The max distance would be 210 yards from blind to forest edge.

My new mold is the LEE 457 405.

Any recommendations for powder, loads or tricks for the 45-70? Would prefer accuracy over speed. Experience has taught me holes through the lungs and heart kill quickly and cleanly. Impact velocity has little to do with it.


Sorry for the delay, I will be using an ENCORE.

I do not know enough about the Encore to give an honest reference as to loadings and or Boolit Diameter needed for your bore.

So as others have said Slug Your bore to see where you are at then size your bullets .001 to .002 over bore diameter.

Also what Brass are you going to use? I would stay away from Hornady Brass as it is shorter than standard. If you are going to get Brass I would suggest either Remington or Starline Brass. Starline you can get direct from the manufacturer for a good price and it is Nice brass to boot.

As for Loads it would greatly help knowing what powders you have on hand and or are able to purchase.

But I also feel as mentioned that it would be hard to beat Unique for powder as a little goes a long way and there is something to be said for that in this day and age.

I would also suggest a decent reloading book such as the Lyman 49th and you can also use the Hodgdon reloading data center http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/rifle.

Have Fun

[monge]

RD 460 350gr with 39grs of 4227 guide gun 1800 fps 200yards and beyond heavy slow boolits tend to drop a lot!

[samwithacolt]

I'm liking 38 gr RL7 under the lee 405. Tried hotter loads and I'm not ashamed to admit that they were more than I was comfortable with(I'm not a big guy and my chiropractor is'nt cheap). At 38 gr of RL7, I find it stout but manageable. And in the 1580fps range, it's capable of flattening anything that walks.

[home in oz]

Recommend you move your blind to get closer to the area the deer approach from-JMO. Then practice on 100 yd or less shots....

[fifty4]

I shoot 26 gr. 5744 under a lee 340 .(mine drop at 360 gr.) at 75 yards it shoots under 1 1/4 inch 3 shoot groups very mild load but works

[siamese4570]

I'm a big 45-70 fan but one thing you have to account for is the bullet drop. You mentioned that you'll be shooting out to 200 yards, those loads going 1300-1400 fps will drop between 12-18" at 200 yards with a 100 yard zero. This makes range estimation critical. One thing that I figured out with mine is that if sighted about 2" high at 100, then you can use the point where the verticle crosshair tapers from fat to thin (the lower one) as a 200 yd aiming point. shoots about 2-3" low at 200 yd. It's just something you gotta play with. I shoot 330 gr gould hp at about 1350 fps.

siamese4570

[MBTcustom]

24 grains of 2400 under a 360gr RD boolit.

With my guide gun, I zero full bead at 100 yards, at 300 I set the entire front sight on the rear sight like a chess pawn. At 200 yards I put the bead and a certain amount of the post above the notch. Hard to describe, but if you shoot several hundred at distance, you can get dialed in.