Hey all, new here. BFR questions

[Handshaker]

Hi everyone, i am a newbie at reloading and have a question. I have a BFR 45/70 10" on the way to my ffl dealer and also dies ect for my lee turret press. What diameter bullets can be used in the bfr 45/70 ? I ordered some .458 from one vendor and more from sportsmans warehouse, but SW sent me .459. Can i use 458 and 459 or should i return the 459?
thanks

[rintinglen]

Keep the .459! you will most likely find the larger boolits shoot more accurately. My own 45/70 usage has been confined to Marlin Rifles, but .459 works better than .458 for me there. Those huge revolvers are a little over the top for this old man. Hope you have fun.

[ReloaderFred]

Welcome to the forum.

You can shoot the .459" bullets in your .45-70, and like rintinglen says, you'll probably get the best accuracy from them, though each and every firearm is different. You'll just have to experiment and find out which size your new revolver prefers.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Handshaker]

Keep the .459! you will most likely find the larger boolits shoot more accurately. My own 45/70 usage has been confined to Marlin Rifles, but .459 works better than .458 for me there. Those huge revolver are a little over the top for this old man. Hope tou have fun.

Thanks for the info, I'll keep both. The 458 i ordered are 300gr nosler ballistic tips and the 459 are HSM Bullets 459 Cal 405gr Flat Point Lead

[Potsy]

Might to a little searching around for some older threads. Used to be a fellow named .44Man (think he got banned) that had a BFR .45-70 and posted about it on occasion. Not that I always agreed with everything he wrote, but he seemed to know what he was about.

[Handshaker]

I have a fair amount of h335 but this from nosler seems like a bit much powder to me???

[ReloaderFred]

I believe you're going to be best served by starting with some Trapdoor loads and then possibly work up to the Marlin loads. Starting out with the top end loads doesn't appear to me to be a good plan for this new revolver.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Handshaker]

Considering i have a few bottles of h335 as i stated, what gr would you load these at to start off with h335? The above nosler sheet says 67gr max. Should i start at maybe 50gr?
thanks

[Eagle59]

Might to a little searching around for some older threads. Used to be a fellow named .44Man (think he got banned) that had a BFR .45-70 and posted about it on occasion. Not that I always agreed with everything he wrote, but he seemed to know what he was about.

He shot a 500 JRH not 45-70 best of my recollection.


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[lar45]

Considering i have a few bottles of h335 as i stated, what gr would you load these at to start off with h335? The above nosler sheet says 67gr max. Should i start at maybe 50gr?
thanks

Noooo, please don't load less than the minimum load listed.
You would be well served to do some reading on detonation events caused by loading too light with a slow powder.

[lar45]

He shot a 500 JRH not 45-70 best of my recollection.


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44 Man / BFRshooter had a 500 JRH and a 45-70 BFR, and I believe a 475 Linebaugh. He said his 45-70 would shoot like a laser.
I have a few BFRs, including a 10" 45-70, I've pushed 405s to 1750 fps. It's no longer fun to shoot at that level,but I could still hold 1.5" groups at 50yds. I was loading 4227, but 44man suggested 4759 which was very easy to load accurate ammo with.
I would suggest that you start with published lower velocity loads until you get comfortable with your new beast. Then if you want to, start working your way up to published higher velocity loads until you find a load that you are comfortable with and can shoot accurately.

[Handshaker]

thanks for all the help. another question, i bought these from Sportsmans warehose, https://www.sportsmans.com/shooting/...wsTabComponent
and got load data from here http://www.mountainstatesammo.com/v/...-Load-Data.pdf, hopefully its correct, but on my box of bullets is says hard cast bullets, why do they recommend such a low load for HC bullets? And what is cannelure?
thanks

[William Yanda]

Google is your friend.

Cannelure | Definition of Cannelure by Merriam-Webster
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cannelure

2 a: a groove around the cylinder of an elongated bullet for small arms to contain a lubricant. b: a groove around a bullet into which the edge of the cartridge case is crimped. c: a groove around the rotating band of a gun projectile to lessen the resistance offered to the rifling. d: a groove around the base of a cartridge where the extractor takes hold

[Handshaker]

I over think everything, lol. OK will do, thanks for the help.

[Handshaker]

Ok all I have had fun shooting my new BFR in 45-70 and have loaded about 300 rounds with 405gr had cast hsm bullets and have shot about 100. I want to load some nosler 300gr ballistic tip spitzer bullets i bought but am having a hard time finding load data. Can anyone help? Or should i just load as per a jacketed bullets?
thanks

[Bfr taday]

I have use ones that measure 460 they worked great 458 is good for jacketed not so much cast. It is to bad they banned 44man I really love to pick his brain he seemed to be the leading expert on reloading the bfr 45-70 among other guns he was in a lot of post and seemed to have a lot of knowledge. Anyone have a way to get a hold have him?

[rkcohen]

and while you're doing all the black magik to shoot your 45/70 bfr, you may wish to alter your favorite shooting hat with the addition of a sufficiently thick (1/8" or better) brow pad...

not saying you'll bounce the front sight off of your noggin' - just a "better safe than sorry" sorta thing....

[Handshaker]

Well since i couldn't find any info on the 300gr nosler ballistic tips(correction, load data for trapdoor power levels) I loaded them to the trapdoor levels for the hornady 325ftx bullets, figuring i would be safe at those levels but a little faster with a 25gr lighter bullet. I dont like shooting full power loads just for paper and plinking. I have a split finger from that a couple weekends ago, lol.
I loaded them with 25gr of Accurate 5744. I just went out back to shoot it since the rain finally stopped. Its a good moderate load.I can build from here after i get out my chrono and see what the fps are. But i do prefer, as i stated before mild to moderate loads for plinking, so i wont stray far from the path, maybe up to 30gr.
I also tried something new for case lube. I bought some crisco non stick cooking spray,sprayed it on a old piece of tshirt and then roll the brass in it. Works like a charm and i dont get any thick build up like i was getting with the hornady case lube. I will use this from now on and at 2 bucks a can, its super cheap.