45/70 405gr load needed

[hornsurgeon]

i just picked up a aib sharps replica in 45/70 and am looking for load suggestions using the lee 405 flat base bullet. i have red dot, unique, trail boss, sr4750, varget, re22, h4831sc. i have heard good things about 3031 and am thinking of trying that. just looking for a target load for now.

[Bent Ramrod]

hornsurgeon,

I use 13.5 gr Unique behind the Lyman 457124 in my Garrett Arms Sharps carbine. A very mild target/plinking load but the boolit lands with considerable authority.

[Maineboy]

I've shot your boolit a lot in my Marlin 1895. There is alot of published data out there you can tap into. These loads are from my shooting log and noted as pretty accurate using that boolit, which for me weighs 415 grains when cast from wheel weights. I tumble lube these boolits and do not size them as they drop from my mould at a bit under .459.
For a light load using Unique, try 10 grains for 945 fps.
23 grains of SR4759 is pretty accurate in my gun but I haven't chronographed it.
13 grains of Red Dot is not quite as good as the first two loads and again not chronographed.
3031 is a great powder for the 45-70 If you do try it, I'd start with 45 grains and that gives me a bit over 1300 fps. You can go as low as 36 grains to start, but in my gun, accuracy was off at that loading. My hunting load is 50 grains of 3031 and that chronographs at 1625 fps.
Now I don't know if these loads are safe in your Sharps replica, but they're fine in my Marlin.
Good shooting.

[jlchucker]

I've had really good luck with AA5744 and that bullet, cast with ww mixed with 10 percent pure lead. Same alloy works really well with the Lee 405 Gr hollow-base bullet, but the latter is a bit different and is not really configured for leverguns. It should work well in a single-shot, though.

[Freightman]

I have had good luck with the LEE 405 gr HB boolit with 54 gr of WC860 on top of a .3cc kicker of AA1680 cronographs at 1460-1480 fps from my 34" barrel Sharps and have good accuracy also. Does about the same in my M1867 RB, be sure you fit the slug to the bore the Sharps has a much tighter chamber and I have to size it to.458 the 1867 well lets say that I shoot them as cast.462.
The Unique does well also that was sugested crno at abut 1000FPS and is good for thoes who don't care for recoil. Very accurate also.

[NickSS]

One of my favorit loads for a 405 gr lee bullet is 42 gr of 3031 I always get great accuracy with it. Also 25 gr of AA 5744 works just as well. Your IAB sharps rifle is not as strong as some makes (I know as I have one) I would not load anything hotter than what is recommended for a trapdoor load in it. That is if you want to keep on having all your pieces in one piece. Another good plinking load is that boolit and 14 gr of Unique or 12 gr of red dot. You can also use a black powder lube and load a case full of black or substitute black powder in it.

[Lead melter]

I use 27-30 grains of AA-5744 or 14-16 grains Unique behind a 405 grainer of just about any make from my Handi. They all shoot to about the same point of aim at a hundred long paces and the recoil of any is not terrible.

Just as a side note, a now deceased friend had a favorite load for his Marlin 1895. A 440 grain gas check in front of 54 grains IMR-3031!!! He said the slug left the barrel at about 1800 fps. I never shot one of his "home rolled" dragon slayers...I just couldn't bring myself to desire that much pain in a lever gun. A Ruger No.1 might be different, as could be your replica. I would be VERY cautious in approaching that level of performance if I were you.

[gtim88]

A friend gave me this load. 43gr of imr4064, 405gr lee bullet seated and light crimp at the riffling. muzzel velocity avg 1375 fps. My handi rifle placed five of them inside five inches this afternoon at 150 yds. Imr 4064 is very close to varget on the burn rate chart.

[freedom475]

Varget is my favorite smokeless powder in my Sharps. I shoot 40-45grs. behind my 405 cast with great results:...very little recoil and good accuracy. Some unburnt powder but doesn't seem to hurt anything. I used 40grs.Varget behind a 500gr. JSP to shoot a buffalo, hit a rib on the way in and broke the shoulder on the way out....still shot through him like he was made of paper.

I go up to 50-55 in my 86 Browning but the recoil takes a lot of the fun out of it.

[Sniper Chief]

Gentlemen HELP Please. I am shooting a .45-70, .45 Colt, .38/.357 Mag cast reloads in several different boolit weights. I have found sitting in a gun shop, two 4 lb cans of WW-AA - Lite shotgun powder that is priced real nice. Does anyone know of any load data for this shotgun powder for any of the four calibers listed above. I shoot mostly heavy in .45-70 and .45 Colt (but some plinking loads) and everything from 105 gr to 200 grain in the .38/.357. ANY HELP AND ADVICE WOULD BE DEEPLY APPRECIATED. Thank you in advance. Chief.

[jjamna]

i just picked up a aib sharps replica in 45/70 and am looking for load suggestions using the lee 405 flat base bullet. i have red dot, unique, trail boss, sr4750, varget, re22, h4831sc. i have heard good things about 3031 and am thinking of trying that. just looking for a target load for now.

I use 36 gr of IMR 3031. Get less than 1 inch groups at 100yds with a Ranch Dog 350 gr cast boolet in a Marlin 1895 Cowboy. I use the same load on the Lee 405 Hollow base but the groups are not as good. Maybe 2 to 2 1/2 inch. The Trail boss Shoot pretty good but they are SLOW, very Light loads I can check the IMR book for the loads for it if you want me to. I have used Unique and it shoots pretty good but the best load I have found is the 3031 that is all I load anymore.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

The 405 grain bullet in any configuration, by any of the current mold makers can be accurate and potent. Many different powders can be adjusted to work well. I have used IMR 3031 with success for years. Using a load of around 40-45 grains will produce velocity in the 1200-1300+ range, but when you up the ante and get into the 1400,1500+ brackets, the recoil starts to be more noticeable. An old NRA recommended load of 53 grains of 3031 is somewhere in the 1700+fps range. It kicks like a blue mule, delivers around a ton and a half at the muzzle and in the hunting world will ventilate just about anything regardless of size that is found in the western hemisphere. This type of performance is not intended for, or at all safe for any trap door; it is for 1886's in good shape or more modern actions. 3031 burns well and clean. Bullets with any degree of meplat are generally considered better/safer for guns with tubular magazines. Good shooting. LLS

[357tex]

sniperchief
start a new thread to ask about your powder.So others can see it.