horrible vertical stringing with 45-70 with RCBS 45-300-fn

[41 mag fan]

3031 behind that rcbs mold for my rifle

[Hickok]

Change powder to see what happens. I had pressure and velocity excursions all over the map with 4198, acts like 4227.
Try 3031.
I also agree with .460".

I had the same experience with Imr 4198 and a 405 gr boolit in my Marlin 45/70. I had a hang fire, with this powder and decided not to use any more of it.

[Toymaker]

To be honest, I'd step up to a 405 grain bullet, .459 diameter, 30:1 (BHN 10) and Accurate 5744. Probably something around 23.5 grains. IMR 4759 would be my first choice, but it's being discontinued. Recoil is a non-issue.

[44man]

To be honest, I'd step up to a 405 grain bullet, .459 diameter, 30:1 (BHN 10) and Accurate 5744. Probably something around 23.5 grains. IMR 4759 would be my first choice, but it's being discontinued. Recoil is a non-issue.

I never got 5744 to work but Varget was an eye opener. 4759 is great and I just bought 16# of it to add to my stash. I will stay with 3031 in the rifle.

[Hickok]

I never got 5744 to work but Varget was an eye opener. 4759 is great and I just bought 16# of it to add to my stash. I will stay with 3031 in the rifle.

44man you have picked a winner, as I believe that 3031 was Paul Mathews favorite powder listed in his book, "40 years with the 45-70."

[44man]

3031 is also proving to be the powder in the 30-30 with cast too. I had IMR 4895 working well but H4895 sent it to pot. Seems faster then IMR.
With about any caliber, I found 4198 did not live up to expectations. It seemed OK with jacketed in the 45-70 but not with cast because of reduced friction, seems the powder needs held back more.
Now 3031 does not all burn in my 10" 45-70 revolver but accuracy was still good. It is great in a rifle and actually has less recoil then 4198.

[Larry Gibson]

3031, 4895 and slower powders work well with 400+ gr cast bullets in the 45-70 at velocities over 1400 fps. However, the OP is asking about 300 gr cast bullets. Cast bullets of 350 gr or less just do not have the mass given the expansion ratio of the 45-70 to cause enough psi for those powders to ignite and burn efficiently at 1400 fps or less. Even the "slower" fast powders such as 2400, 4227, 4759, 4198 and 5744 will not burn efficiently under 300 gr or less cast bullets even with a Dacron filler. Unique has proven the best powder for cast bullets of 250 - 300 gr for velocities in the 1200 - 1500 fps range in the 45-70.

Larry Gibson

[pls1911]

Don't kid yourself.
At your normal snap shooting distances, that sweet Unique load will body-slam those porkers in the dirt!
The load is easy on you and the gun, but hell on pigs.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I have an RCBS 45-300FNGC mould that they made for me that drops at .461-2. The mould I complained about dropped at .458 with wheel weights. This is too small for a .458 bore. It seems that RCBS spec'd dimensions of all their moulds around the shrink rate of Linotype.

My new boolits drop at 325 gr and are slightly longer than my original mould, I size to.460. 25 gr of 5744 is my go to load for this gun (Marlin 1895 CB 26" bbl.)

One thing that had not been talked about on this thread is removing ALL the Copper from the barrel before shooting cast. I has been talked about extensively on this site.

I had never thought this mattered a whole lot however after fighting my Enfield #4 Mk1 for a couple of months. I finally got serious about cleaning the barrel.

I used 4 different bore cleaners, brushes and many patches before I finally got the bore clean. This took nearly 1 hour to accomplish! It made all the difference in the world! the gun went from being a 3-4" gun at 50 yards with my Cast Loads to a 1" gun. (iron sights)

If you are trying to shoot cast and jacketed interchangeably you probably are not going to see the best accuracy from your gun. You can shoot jacketed after cast with no big change, however it doesn't seem to work the other way.

Something else for you to consider in your quest for the one hole group.

Randy

[jhunter77]

Thank you. A kind member sent me some 460 sized ammo to try. I will report back with the results

[dlbarr]

+1 on Unique with the 45-300-FN.

That bullet with 16gr Unique shoots great out of both my HR & 1895.

[44man]

+1 on Unique with the 45-300-FN.

That bullet with 16gr Unique shoots great out of both my HR & 1895.

Not me, case is too large for a shotgun powder. Can't even make it work in my revolver. 4759 in the revolver and 3031 in the rifle.Attachment 135843 All the boolits I shoot from the revolver 45-70, notice i had 3/16" groups at 50 yards. 10 shots at about 1".

[stubert]

49 grains 3031, Win. cases rcbs 45-300gcfp youll like that.

[grouch]

I agree with the previous poster who suggested a softer alloy. My Rolling Block shows a decided preference for 18:1 lead and tin over the wheel weights + 2% tin - maybe bumping up?
Grouch

[44man]

Rolling block with 1 to 20 and 3031 was amazing. I love soft lead when it works.

[jhunter77]

well The Ranch dog mold was the ticket sized at .460 I tried a friends RCBS and casted a few and sized them 460 but the mold only threw them out a 459 . I belive it has to do more with the size. Using straight WW's it takes something like unique to bump them up quickly. 4198 is just too slow. The RD mold is about 25 grains heavier and also is properly sized for the bore. I hope to drop to 50 50 clip on to sticky ww's but will have to wait and see if I can find a mold for sale.

[44man]

I refuse to believe in "bump up". Fit will be where it is at.
I have never had unique work in a large case.
I want to know who says the gas pressure is even at the base when powder is laying on the bottom of a huge case? Can the boolit be "cocked off center"? I am too stupid to understand this. Every gas molecule must fly to the center of the boolit.

[Doc Highwall]

I have used IMR-3031, 48-53 grains with a 385 grain cast bullet in my 1895 and have gotten great results. A 400 grain lead bullet with 24-25 grains of 2400 powder is very close to a 70 grain charge of black powder and does not require a filler. A member here just recently posted about his wife shooting a 225 lb bore with a 1895 Marlin with a load something like this.