45-70 330 gr. hollow point (gould bullet)

[olfarmer]

Hi guys, do any of you cast the 45-70 330 gr. gould bullet? I just acquired a 45-70 JM 26 inch bbl ( ballard rifleing)1895 CB marlin rifle and was wanting to cast a few different bullets to see which it would perform the best with, I have the Lee .405 gr. 458 dia. hollow base to try but before I spend a 100 bucks for a 330 gr. gould bullet mold I would like to get some comments. Thanks - Olfarmer

[Ateam]

I have cast the gould for my 1895 gbl, and it works very well at slow speeds. It was designed with BP in mind, and does not work well above 1400fps (unless you are just exploding milk jugs, then it works great). I use moderate doses of unique and a 20:1 lead:tin alloy and I could hardly ask for more. Keep in mind this is a lyman mold and they dont give a **** about casting with appropriate alloy for the application, they specify Lyman #2 for everything even if no one in their right mind shoots HP's made of #2. I got lucky and my marlin slugs small and an undersized boolit works fine. So slug your barrel and buy from somewhere that will let you return an undersized mold (like midway).

Disclaimer: I have recently sworn off lyman molds due to chronically undersized boolits.

[15meter]

Got one, used in a Marlin 1895, Ruger #3, Trapdoor and a 450 N.E. Was pleased with it in all four rifles.

IIRC, lowest load was 4.4 grains Clays. Used that in the #3 and a buddies Trapdoor. Not a listed load I think I found it on Castpics---maybe you've been warned.

[lotech]

I no longer have a Marlin .45-70, but had very good luck with the Lyman Gould HP in the 1895 that I had. I used ww alloy and ran the bullets through a .461" size die, though I don't recall as-cast bullet diameter. I got good accuracy from two loads: 28 grs. SR4759 and (surprisingly) 52 grs. Varget. Both loads give a muzzle velocity of about 1475 fps. The Varget load has considerably more recoil, so I only use the 4759 load in my two remaining .45-70s, a Ruger #3 and a Shiloh Sharps, guns I seldom shoot anymore.

According to my notes, 5744, IMR4198, and Reloder 7 didn't do particularly well for me. However, my load development may have been inadequate.

[redhawk0]

I have that mold as well. I haven't had a chance to shoot any of them yet as I just got the mold cleaned up (purchased second hand from our sellin & swap forum. It took me a little while to figure out how to use an iron hollow point mold (its my first iron one)...but once I did...it casts great bullets. Mind drop at 0.4595" so I won't be sizing them for my Henry 45-70. I purchased it because I already have a Lee 340gr bullet and I'm hoping that I can find a load that will give me the same POI with both bullets.

Anyway...sorry I don't have any practical data at this point...but I am looking forward to testing out some of my latest "creations"

Oh..and my alloy is 2 parts COWW to 1 part Linotype...they drop right at 330gr (and 340gr for the LEE) with a BNH of 15.

redhawk

[Greybeard125]

Ive got that mold as well. Right now trying it out in my socom 458. Be a week or so before i can have any useful on it. Nothing but ww for my casts but they come out beautiful. Its an old lyman mold

[76 WARLOCK]

I have the same rifle as the OP and that boolit in my rifle is the most accurate I have found. I get 1 inch groups at 50 yards.