Mould question .45-70

[Groundpounder17]

I’m completely new to casting and just received my first mould, a .460 diameter 400 gr LFN profile mould from Veral Smith at LBT. I’ll be feeding this through a Marlin 1895. Now I’m wanting to pick up a second mould from Veral before he retires and am wanting something heavier for the second mould, maybe around 500 to 540 gr. Can someone recommend which profile I should go with? WFN, LFN? I’m wanting something extremely accurate up to 300 yards. I’ll shoot it past that as I’m a long range shooter but for hunting most shots will be 200 yards or less

[swamp]

The heavy boolits sometimes will not feed in a lever gun. My SBL will not feed the 500gr. RN.
swamp

[Themoose]

Swamp is right on about the lever gun cycling limitations... I was looking at getting a 45-70 lever and hoped to use the Lyman Postell in it... I took a dummy round to the gunshop to try how they fed.... gunsmith did the feeding and was started taking the action apart to get the round out(was too long to eject) ... until I told him I only slip fit the bullet with a piece of paper in it...just pull the bullet from the brass by hand... but learned that the mould would not work for me in the rifle on anything but a single shot.... the 400 gr should work fine out to 300 yds if it fits your rifle well..

[masscaster]

Hi Groundpounder17,
I would simply have him cut a longer boolit with the same same crimp groove and nose profile as your existing one that cycles. Adding another grease groove, driving band, and base band to get the weight up. I would recommend a GC for the heavier boolit also.
Ideal/Lyman did this with a lot of 45/70 and other rifle boolit designs.
The Lyman #457483 - 378 gr. RN - GC and the #457403 - 480 gr. RN - GC are good examples. These are the same crimp groove to boolit tip, just longer from the crimp groove to base/GC. These are 2 that i use.
This also means zero seating/crimping adjustments needed when reloading. Perhaps a click if not exact.
Hope this helps.........

masscaster

[Groundpounder17]

Thanks everyone. The mould I have now is for a GC. I wondering if I should change the profile, instead of LFN to maybe a WLN. I believe that is what the profile is for Beartooth bullets 525 gr piledriver and Garrett 540 gr. I’ve heard they both cycle without issue. I’m not really sure how much difference the slightly wider meplat would make. I would rather have the most accurate profile

[smkummer]

Why so heavy? My should hurts from reading. Love my Lyman 350 gr. In my marlin 1895 SS.

[oconeedan]

Make sure your bullet will fit, you may want to do a chamber casting. I haven't tried anything other than Lee 405 in my rifle (no need to).
But my 444, the gun has almost no throat. When loading with a large meplat design bullet, the bullet has to be seated deeply in order for the round to chamber and the lever close.
Dan

[Bird]

Your marlin should have a 1 in 20'' twist, which may not be enough for best accuracy with the 500+grn bullets.
I tried them in the 1886 winchester, and it did not like them. Good accuracy, but all keyholes.
My opinion, for what its worth, is don't go over 420grn bullet weight.
Take a look over on the marlin owners forum and see what they think.

[Groundpounder17]

I’m also on Marlin owners site. There are a lot of Beartooth bullet pile driver fans over there. I will primarily be shooting the 400 gr but would like the heavier grain for a safari I plan on taking

[Stephen Cohen]

I would go with a lighter bullet like the RCBS 300gr f/n g/c. The 400gr will kill anything that walks or crawls and a 300gr would be good for hogs deer and better for those who are sensitive to recoil like kids and women. A rifle that is not a reliable feeder is not one I want to bet my life on. Regards Stephen

[Groundpounder17]

I’ve shot multiple rounds of 405 grain and found the recoil not to be an issue at all and actually was surprised how mild it is

[dubber123]

If you can contact Veral as I have in the past, ask his opinion. As Masscaster noted, you basically just need to keep the same nose profile and nose to crimp length as your existing mold, and just add weight below, at this point it will feed and function exactly the way your existing boolit does. Veral makes excellent molds, I commend your choice in equipment.

[Groundpounder17]

If you can contact Veral as I have in the past, ask his opinion. As Masscaster noted, you basically just need to keep the same nose profile and nose to crimp length as your existing mold, and just add weight below, at this point it will feed and function exactly the way your existing boolit does. Veral makes excellent molds, I commend your choice in equipment.

I’ve talked to Veral in the past and he was the one that sold me on the 400 grain LFN, but for some reason most everyone else seems to be a fan of the wider nosed profiles like the WLN profile with the wider meplat. I just want to be sure before I order my second mould but I will likely stay with LFN profile. The WLN has a .370 meplat with a .460 diameter body while the LFN has a .335 meplat