.45-70 again.

[Rick R]

This Tuesday was the second day of our combined buck and antlerless season. I was sitting in the blind at 9:30AM when four deer bounce into view. One older doe with two fawns barely out of spots and a middlin’ sized doe.
When that lone doe stopped at 41 yards I put the crosshair of the 2.5x Leupold Compact mounted on my T/C Katahdin.45-70 on her shoulder and loosed a 350gr NOE flat point boolit at 1,950fps. She jumped straight up and hit the ground running. I found her 25 yards away, 1/2” entry, 1” exit and heart reduced to a handful of burger.
That makes about six deer over the years with NOE’s copy of Ranch Dog’s bullet and it is boring. One and half inch groups at 100 yards from several rifles and venison in the freezer when you pull the trigger. I can live with “boring” at my age

[500Linebaughbuck]

congratulations!!!!

[james nicholson]

I bet 1950fps makes a lot of recoil in a 45-70, good job there. Where in West By God are you located?

[Rick R]

We’ve chrono’d my load in a couple Guide Guns and it’ll give you a notification when the primer works.

I’m north of Charleston in Kanawha County.

[Brad Cayton]

Congratulations to a fellow hillbilly and 45/70 user! Today was the first day I could hunt this year and my 45/70 laid a big ole doe down this afternoon. She hit the ground and kicked a few times. I used the 340 Gould at 1500. The grand old 45/70 is still getting it done. Good going!

[sharpsguy]

The 45-70 works so well on so much that I can't figure out why anyone would use anything else.

[Rick R]

sharpsguy,
I once saw a qoute to the effect that cartridge development could have ended with the 8x57mm Mauser and we would have everything we needed. From the Sharps rifle to Dr. Gatling’s invention to Marlin leverguns the .45-70 covers a lot on “need”.

[725]

Wonderfully boring !! I push mine way slower but get the same end result. Bon appetite!

[sharpsguy]

I like a 480 grain hardcast FN or a 500 to 510 grain 20/1 RN at 1250 fps. I rarely recover the 480 grain bullet, and have never recovered the 500 grainer. These bullets and velocities are PROVEN, and an animal hit with either of them forward of the diaphragm simply goes down and doesn't get back up.

The funny thing is, you can take a 45-70 and load it with 70 grains of black powder and a 520 grain Lyman 457125 Govt. bullet and shoot all the way through a bison lengthwise, from his chest to out his ham at the back. I have seen this done, not once, but twice. The majority of modern rifles won't begin to do this, and those few that will produce so much recoil most people can't shoot them. There is a lot to be said for the heavy, slow lead bullet on game, and the 45-70 delivers it better and easier than any caliber I know of.

[richhodg66]

Congratulations!

I used a .45-70 last month during our two day early antlerless segment. Used one of my Dad's cast bullets that weighed about 330 grains and was in front of 30 grains of 5744. Light load, but went through that doe almost lengthwise and put her down in about two or three seconds. The .45-70 is a pretty awesome round.