marlin 1895 guide gun ,ne in 45/70 with ballard rifling what do you feed yours?

[badbob454]

what weight , boolit and over all length do you use that feeds well and shoots accurately ? , my first 45/70 in a lever, i preffer 260-420 gr boolits and have 4198 powder to use.

[upr45]

Most loads shoot accurately in my 1895's. I usually use GC cast 405's (mold similar to RCBS). Usually use a springfield level (mild) of Reloader 7. For the high power loads I use H335, H322 or H4198, where 4198 puts out more pain than I usually need. In Marlin's you will run into an OAL issue about 2.55" for feeding from the tube. I did have lots of unburned powder with H4895, that's about the only load that I would not use again, have been happy with most of the rest. A good recoil pad is advised if you want to see how much you can get out of it!

[Keyston44]

I use the Lee 457-405-F and the Ranch Dog 425gr gas checked. I use Unique and H322 for powder. Both shoot extremely accurate out of my Guide Gun.

Key

[Scharfschuetze]

My Marlin special edition rifle has always shot any of the 405 grain weight boolits sized to .459 or .460 best. Some loads with this weight will shoot 2 MOA all day long when measured by a 10 shot group standard. I've never been able to get lighter boolits to shoot as well.

[osteodoc08]

Accurate 460-400L with a full charge of Varget crimped in the crimp groove. MOA at 100 yards out of my 1895GS. It wears a 2-7x32 Burris and is a fantastic woods gun.

[badbob454]

sounds like the 400-405 grainers shoot best from what i have so far . im gonna start light and report back thinking of 43 gr of 4198 oal of 2.50'' and a 265 gr boolit for the light stuff and 38 gr of 4198 witha 405 gr boolit next . ill let you know...

[crabo]

42 grains of 3031, with a tuft of dacron, behind a 460420 goes 1480 fps. nice pleasant load that doesn't kill ya.

[stubert]

49 grains of 3031 under an RCBS 45-300 gc. win. cases.

[TXGunNut]

Mine loves the RD 460-350, Michael told me it would do for the critters we hunt here in TX and he's been right. I load to a bit over "Springfield" loads and use a low-powered VX-3 to allow for my presbyopia. It's my go-to hunting rifle and goes along every time I want something for the freezer.

[badbob454]

ok i loaded some and shot today loaded a little differently 43 grains 4198 powder with a 264 grain .458 diameter boolit with a plain base . kicked a little hard and not very accurate ,.. @ 1 foot at 100 yds next i shot a 36 grain 4198 powder and a 353 weight boolit in .3595 diameter gas checked this was a much nicer push , instead of a kick to the shoulder . and accuracy was for open sights @ 5 '' no rest standing at 100 yds , next ill try some heavier boolits , i think the wider boolit engaged the rifling better so gave better accuracy

[knifemaker]

Badbob454, the dia. size of your boolits may be your problem. I have a Marlin 1895 with Ballard rifling and that rifle will shoot groups of 1 inch day in and day out. I am using a Ranch Dog 360 mold that drops the boolits at .462 and I size at .460 and use 43 gr. of IMR-4198 powder. I have several friends with the guide gun and each of them stated their best accuracy has been with boolits sized to .460 and poorer accuracy with anything sized .458-.459.

[badbob454]

yes i have read that , i'm gonna open up a few molds to get a larger boolit i'm aiming for 460 diameter or better ...
perhaps it has something to do with the deep groove Ballard rifling .

[CLAYPOOL]

I took the first Cow Boy .45-70 back to the new gun range pit the other evening. It was shooting low, so I clicked it up about 2 inches. Leupold shot gun scope, bold cross hairs. Had something white they had dug up with the track hoe on the new dirt bank. Wham with HSM cow boys. flew up 44 feet or son. HMmmmnnn the "Good Taste" of a Marlin Cow Boy .45-70. Shot a few dirt clods for fun...

[badbob454]

anyone using 1680 for the 4570 i would like a starting point for load development i saw load data has some loads but im not subscribed to it

[High Desert Hunter]

H322 sized .459. Typical 50 yard group ,get about these same groups from m Marlin 1895GS or Ruger #1.

[badbob454]

nice group !!

[High Desert Hunter]

badbob you have a PM.

[GooseGestapo]

We're fresh out of wooly mammoths, mastodons, and our pigs are much smaller than hogzilla.
the one I smoked a ham from this afternoon was average at ~175lbs. Bullets of decent alloy lighter than 400gr are preferred.

I have a number of molds, but my favorite is the RCBS 300gr FNGC. Mine casts to 322gr. My favorite load is 30gr of #2400. Gets 1,650fps from my 1895GG.
For flatter trajectory, I use 43.0gr of 4198 for 1,950fps. I can imagine the accuracy with a non-gc bullet would be pretty bad. This is top speed for accuracyin my gun with a medium hardness bullet WITH a gas check.
I tried lighter loads of 4198 but got hang fires, and I don't care for fooling with fillers.
I get much better accuracy sizing to .460".

[Norske]

I've had poor accuracy from commercial cast bullets with their beveled bases. My Lee mold bullets are as accurate as jacketed bullets. A Lyman reloading manual from 1967 (my first loading manual) lists a factory equivalent load of 38.5 grains IMR 3031 under a 400gra cast bullet. It groups with Remington factory core locks, and is pleasant to shoot.

[beemer]

Lyman 457643, a 400 gr. bullet that I believe Ed Harris designed for the Marlin. It crimps at the proper length and feeds well. The RCBS 45-405-FN that I tried also shot well but I didn't need the GS for 1300-1400 fps.so I ordered the Lyman. I usually use AA5744 and shoot the bullet as cast with WW and 50-50 lube.

Dave