Questions about casting for the 45/70

[chaos]

Im thinking of purchasing a big bore marlin. have yet to decide between the .444 and 45/70. leaning towards the govt. round.

I will be casting straight WW's as in my 44 and using GC bullets.

1. will the javalenia 50/50 that Im using for my 44's works on the rifle as well?

2. Where in the heck can I find data for my specific weight of bullet? My molds do not throuw a 240 gr or 250 grain with wheel weights, but rather a bit heavier. I dont have a chrony, so its all just a guess how fast they are clocking. makes me a bit nervous to be pulling charges out of my ass with rifle rounds. I've satyed relative light with the 44's so far.

3. Any mold recommendations for the 45/70? I've read a bit about ranch dog, but I dont have any lee handles etc... Can the ranch dog stuff be run through my lyman lubrisizer?


Thanks
Chaos

[compass will]

Good question, I am thinking of what to buy for my H&R Buffalo Classic 45-70, and what to load for my friends marlin 45-70. so i will second the question.

I have bought lead 405 grain hollow base, they worked real nice but I was just learning about the 45-70 and only had 100 so I don't have any records of how good they really did shoot.

Then I was buying 405 grain normal lead from a friend at the club, they shot good I guess, I am able to hit a steal turkey at 400 meters with peep sights. I was doing around 2" at 100 yards using my shooting bag as a wrest, but was having gun problems (It kept popping open every time I fired it).

I have around 25 500 grain lead boolets sitting here waiting for me to get around to trying them. I was thinking of buying the 405 grain hollow base that lee sells. All I do is shoot steal or paper. Now in my neighbors marlin, he wants to try it to shoot cowboy silhouette.

But to be honest, never had any thought of shooting something as small as 250 grain, that just don't sound right to me :-P

[High Desert Hunter]

What bullet weight do you want? With the 45-70 you can cast from 300 to over 500 grain bullets. My personal favorites at this point are a GC RCBS mould that throws a 415gr bullet from straight wheel weights, and the RCBS 325 Universal bullet which drops at 345gr from my mould. I size mine to .459, and have never had any leading problems in my Marlin. I am hoping to get in on this group buy, http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=29062 .

Dave Beeman

[Lloyd Smale]

the rcbs bullet is a good one but if i were you id go to the group buy section of this fourm and jump on the group buy bullet there taking orders for. That is a great bullet so far in my guns. javalina is a good lube and will work in your rifle too.

[Wayne Smith]

One of several 405 gr. boolit molds, the Lyman 458122(?) Gould hollowpoint mold (330gr), cast both hollowpoint and with a lead roundball in the nose (without the HP pin!), and I've ordered the NEI 322C Collar Button 150gr boolit as well, just to play. I doubt you want to go as heavy as 500+ gr with a lever action. Boolits get long at that weight.

[chaos]

What bullet weight do you want? With the 45-70 you can cast from 300 to over 500 grain bullets. My personal favorites at this point are a GC RCBS mould that throws a 415gr bullet from straight wheel weights, and the RCBS 325 Universal bullet which drops at 345gr from my mould. I size mine to .459, and have never had any leading problems in my Marlin. I am hoping to get in on this group buy, http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=29062 .

Dave Beeman


Which mold does this? I'm looking for something around 405 gr

[Dale53]

I have a modern Marlin 45/70 with Ballard Rifling. i have only tried two bullets in my Marlin. One, was the Lyman 457643 which was designed for the Marlin. It did NOT do well in my rifle.

The other was the Lee 457-340-F. This is a nominally 340 gr bullet with flat nose. It shot very well right out of the box. I use a book charge of RL-7. RL-7 seems to work really well in the old black powder cases (also my choice for heavy loads in the 25/20) and burns well. You can reach a performance level in the Marlin that will give you all the recoil you need, or conversely, use relatively mild loads that are a pleasure to shoot. My Marlin routinely gives me 1.5" five shot groups at 100 yards with a scope. I lubed my bullets with NRA Alox 50/50. My lubricant of choice these days is LARS Red Carnauba (scroll down this page and click on Lar45 for lubricant).

Dale53

[chaos]

My personal favorites at this point are a GC RCBS mould that throws a 415gr bullet from straight wheel weights .

Dave Beeman


Which mould is this?

[Down South]

Probably the RCBS 405-FN (82053). Mine throws a 420Gr Boolit from WW and a little tin. I also have the 325 mould but haven't tried it yet.

[cohutt]

Probably the RCBS 405-FN (82053). Mine throws a 420Gr Boolit from WW and a little tin. I also have the 325 mould but haven't tried it yet.

The "405" Ohaus predecessor to that one drops them at 440g (alloy is about 40%ww/60%pure)

That RCBS 325 in similar alloy hits about 330 for me

the 440g 405s:

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m284/cohutt/bullet%20porn/misc004.jpg

[chaos]

Where do you find recipes for these "Off weight bullets"? Make educated guesses to start with?

[Down South]

Dang Cohutt, those are purty boolits. I do see a few wrinkles in some of them though. I ran pretty high temps on my RCBS 405 mould and mine are frosty.

[High Desert Hunter]

Which mould is this?

It is the RCBS 405-FN (82053). I was looking for a good elk bullet, and Dan from the Bull Shop recommended it as a good bullet, especially for the Marlin.

Dave

[cohutt]

Dang Cohutt, those are purty boolits. I do see a few wrinkles in some of them though. I ran pretty high temps on my RCBS 405 mould and mine are frosty.

yeah i debated whether to post it or not but figured since it was slightly out of focus i might not get busted.

Good eye.

IIRC, that wasn't my best casting session ever....... got cocky and impatient, didn't prep well and look at what i ended up with.

The two piles are "keep" and "re-melt"; I think i ended up scrutinizing the "keep" pile again and culling it down some more.

My casting doesn't usually suck this bad, you guys taught me better :smile:

Some better ones stored for loading:
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m284/cohutt/bullet%20porn/misc020.jpg

[cohutt]

Where do you find recipes for these "Off weight bullets"? Make educated guesses to start with?

I use the start data for the next heaviest weight and work up from there SLOWLY.

I only plink with these - I don't look for self mutilation loads with 45-70; i generally keep the loads at the trap-door/lever action dividing line TOPS. I have a lot of respect for the pain tolerance of the guys here that do big 45-70s @ the top end.

[Wayne Smith]

It's quite safe to use data for condom bullets with cast, the cast have less resistance in the barrel and this results in lower pressure. I agree with Cohutt but realize that you have quite a large safe area in which to experiment. Using max loads of the next largest size is safe, if your shoulder can handle it.

[chaos]

I'll try that mold first and thanks for the loading tips
Chaos

[MtGun44]

If you are worrying about the pressure difference between a book load
for a "405 grain" boolit and your actual "415 grain" boolit, you are measuring
firewood with a micrometer.

There is MUCH larger variation in pressure due to differences in:

1 - bore diameter
2 - chamber diameter
3 - throat length and diameter
4 - powder lot variation
5 - inaccurage powder scales
6 - etc, etc, etc

If the variation in weight is less than 5%, ignore it totally. If it is 10% or
so, use a small change in the charge in the 'correct direction' - less powder
if the bullet is 10% heavier, more is 10% lighter.

NOW - the most important part of reloading -

********* START LOW AND WORK UP ************

because I can nearly guarantee that some of the variables above are different
between any two guns.

Have fun and be very careful, but you can get yourself into a "headlock"
over some of the fine details.

Bill