Another 45/70 question

[ddeaton]

I just picked up a Marlin Cowboy in 45/70. Any group buys current for a good plinking boolit and what diameter and weight should I be lookiing for? My first 45/70.

[home in oz]

I will be interested in this one too.

[onondaga]

.459-.460 diameter 405 gr with a plain base is a popular plinker with light charges for plinking. For heavier hunting loads many prefer the similar weight but with a gas checked bullet. Round nose or flat nose bullets are good for plinking but the flat nosed ones hit game a lot harder.. If you are going to start casting there is a lot of choices, just keep in mind what you will be using them for. The heaviest ones can be very unpleasant to shoot holes in paper with. My personal opinion for the best 45/70 bullet molds all around is one available from member RanchDog:
http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_5_14

Good choice of weights, BIG flat nose, I prefer tumble lubed bullets and gas checks. Real killers.

Gary

[ddeaton]

Duke just turned me on to this also.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=73838

Gary, that 355 gr from Ranchdog looks good too. I would rather have the larger grease grooves though.

[fredj338]

I tried the Lee340, didn't shoot well in my GG. I bought a RCBS 325gr, casts about 340gr w/ ww alloy & shoots quite well for me, 2" groups @ 100yds w/ a 2x EER on it.

[onondaga]

The RanchDog bullet is a TL (tumble lube) design and designed to be lubed with that method . I cast several TL bullets in different calibers and really like that lube method. It requires no tools and uses Liquid Alox or the 45-45-10 mix mentioned on the board here. The 45-45-10 works great and I have no leading in my .223, .308, 30-30, .458 Win Mag and .500 S&W rifles with tumble lube even with bullets not designed for tumble lube. The advantage that Lee claims, and I find to be true , is that tumble lubing covers the whole bullet and is not just in grooves on the bullet. I even use the stuff on muzzle loader bullets with great results. If you are not familiar with tumble lubing there is instructions at the Lee website :

http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/BS2003.pdf

Really easy. If you are sizing bullets or sizing and adding gas checks as with the RanchDog Bullet, Lee says to tumble lube before and after sizing and seating gas checks. This is very simple with the 45-45-10 as it dries in a very short time. The straight Liquid Alox needs to dry overnight.

Gary

[RobS]

The diameter depends on your firearm's barrel. Knowing the true diameter would require you to slug the bore which is a relatively painless ordeal. If you are not up on slugging then a general consensus for cast boolit diameters in Marlins tend to run at .460 on the large side and will almost always chamber, however there are those few with bores that have run larger and those that have run a bit smaller as well. Smaller bore diameters are not typically an issue since the chambers will normally allow for the larger boolit diameter.

As to design, it's like many things; it will be ultimately up to your rifle. Again, generally, people shooting bullets in the 350 to 405 grain range produce good accuracy. That’s not to say that weights under or over this range don’t work well either. The heavier a boolit a person goes with directly translates to more felt recoil and the trajectory also becomes more of a rainbow effect. I designed two bullets for my Dad's 45-70 1895GBS Marlin and my brother-in-law's 45-70 1895GS. I chose a weight of 375 grains and with a meplat sized for hunting yet provides a good balance for longer shots as well.

http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt206/RobS01/46-375PB-D46-375GC-Dsmall-1.png

These two bullets are now cataloged at www.accuratemolds.com

[Shooter6br]

Ranchdog 350 is great in my Ruger NO 1 stainless with 4759 23 grains

[coford]

I have a Marlin Cowboy in 45-70. I was frustrated with the way it shot my 405 and my 410 45 caliber bullets. I was looking around for something better when a friend of mine gave me some 350 grain gas checked bullets he cast. The improvement was amazing! I went from 3-4"" groups to 1 1/2" groups. The mould was from Ranch Dog. I bought one and have never looked back. I know you are going to think this is BS but I have actually shot groups under and inch on occasion. Mind you I have a 12 power scope on the rifle for load development but I have never had a 45-70 shoot like this before. I heard that Ranch Dog was producing moulds again. Also I recently was in on a group buy for the same mould but with conventional grooves. Check on the Group Buy section and maybe some of these moulds are still available. By the way my Marlin likes things big (.460" - .4605"). I have not pushed these bullets very fast yet - only around 1300 fps but I will try them faster as soon as I can get some range time in.

[44man]

I have a Marlin Cowboy in 45-70. I was frustrated with the way it shot my 405 and my 410 45 caliber bullets. I was looking around for something better when a friend of mine gave me some 350 grain gas checked bullets he cast. The improvement was amazing! I went from 3-4"" groups to 1 1/2" groups. The mould was from Ranch Dog. I bought one and have never looked back. I know you are going to think this is BS but I have actually shot groups under and inch on occasion. Mind you I have a 12 power scope on the rifle for load development but I have never had a 45-70 shoot like this before. I heard that Ranch Dog was producing moulds again. Also I recently was in on a group buy for the same mould but with conventional grooves. Check on the Group Buy section and maybe some of these moulds are still available. By the way my Marlin likes things big (.460" - .4605"). I have not pushed these bullets very fast yet - only around 1300 fps but I will try them faster as soon as I can get some range time in.
Don't bother with faster. You are in the exact range of velocity for cast to kill anything you shoot. Accuracy is more important where you are at. Leave the best alone! :mrgreen: