Need 45/70 Load Suggestions

[hylander]

Looks like I will be starting to load for the 45/70
What seems to work for you guys?
Powder and Boolit selection for mild to mid cast loads.
Since I quit casting I need a source for cast boolits as well

Rifle:
70's Marlin 1895 Texan
24" barrel

Use:
Cast silhouette match's from 50 - 300yds, steel animal sized plates to size of a Ram.

[Conditor22]

That would depend on what gun you are shooting it out of and what you want to use it for.
Do you want a soft plinking load?
a light hunting load?
do you want to kill bears?

I find that TB under a 405 boolit is a good place to start

[country gent]

More information will be helpful here. Rifle type and weight? This makes a big difference in recoil levels. Twist rate and barrel length? this determines bullet length and powder rates to be used. Use hunting plonking competition? This helps decide bullet type weight and shape.

The 45-70 is an easy to load round that has a lot of choices as to bullet type weight and shapes, a lot of powders work very well in it from Black powder to smokeless. Brass is available from many manufacturers though not a lot of once fired is available.

My main 45-70 load for my 3 rifles ( Sharps 1874 pedersoli, Shraps brochardt BRC reproduction, Remington rolling block custom built. All are 18 twist barrels 30"-34" long. Rifes are in the 12-14lb weight range) is as follows:

Starline Brass 45-70
trimmed to 2.095 deburred and chamfered. Flash holes deburred inside. Primer pockets uniformed to depth and flat.
Mouths Expanded to .461 I hand seat bullets in this cartridge
Rem Large rifle std primer seat to load anvil
OLde Ensforde powder 1 1/2F ( BLack Powder) 64 grns dropped thru 36" drop tube into case. This can be weighed or volume.
one .060 napa rubber fiber wad, 2 tracing paper wads. the heavy wad protects base of bullet the tracing paper wads insure consistent release.
compressed to depth with a compression die so bullets base sits on wads snugly.
Old West 547 grn Silhouette bullet cast 20-1 lubed with SPG or Emmett's improved. as cast and pan lubed. Hand seated onto wads
Use sizing die body ( no decapping rod) to just tension bullet You want to be able to spin bullet but not fall out.
no crimp in the single shots.

I deprime cases with a hand tool between groups at the range. Brass goes in to dish soap water after decapping. This keeps powder salts from working on brass. Cases are annealed every other loading. I rinse brass 3-4 times in hot tap water dry and clean in corn cobs with nufinish and iosso brass polish. When cleaned lightly brush insides with 50 cal nylon brush and your ready to load.
The above load in my rifles gives extreme spread of around 10-12 fps and a standard deviation for 10 rounds of 3.?. It is around 1200 fps. In my rifles recoil isn't heavy but in a 8-9 lb rifle it is stout. I find the recoil with the BP loads to be more a push than a sharp kick.

[hylander]

Updated first post with more info.

[FullTang]

For this application, I like a 300 gr coated bullet over 15 gr of Unique or Universal (Herco would probably work just as well.) These are the smaller 45-70 cast bullets sold by most of the online companies like Missouri Bullet or SNS Casting. A case full of Trail Boss will yield a little milder and somewhat less accurate round, but this is relatively flat shooting and low recoil, which I think is important for silhouette shooting at various ranges. Still has plenty of oomph to knock over the targets, yet virtually no recoil out of a heavy Sharps repro rifle. Should still be fine out of a Marlin, as this is running around 1400-1450 fps.

[hylander]

For this application, I like a 300 gr coated bullet over 15 gr of Unique or Universal (Herco would probably work just as well.) These are the smaller 45-70 cast bullets sold by most of the online companies like Missouri Bullet or SNS Casting. A case full of Trail Boss will yield a little milder and somewhat less accurate round, but this is relatively flat shooting and low recoil, which I think is important for silhouette shooting at various ranges. Still has plenty of oomph to knock over the targets, yet virtually no recoil out of a heavy Sharps repro rifle. Should still be fine out of a Marlin, as this is running around 1400-1450 fps.

Thank you,
I do have Unique powder.
Have you tried 2400, Use it in my 30-06 and 30-30 for cast

[FullTang]

Thank you,
I do have Unique powder.
Have you tried 2400, Use it in my 30-06 and 30-30 for cast

I haven't used 2400 in 45-70, because I've always needed to save my supply for other stuff. Lyman 44th says 23-24 gr of 2400 should be about the same velocity as 15 gr of Unique, so I'm sure that would work well, too (just not as economical.)

[Norske]

My first reloading manual is the 1967 Lyman, their first manual where all loads were pressure tested. It contains "factory equivalent" loads. The 45-70 factory equivalent is a 400 gr cast bullet and 38.5 grains IMR 3031 powder. It does group right with Remington CoreLoks over-the-counter cartridges and is just as gentle on the shoulder. When I buy cast bullets, I buy from Missouri Bullets in Montana. Great product, excellent service, and they ship priority mail.

[dlbarr]

For this application, I like a 300 gr coated bullet over 15 gr of Unique or Universal (Herco would probably work just as well.) These are the smaller 45-70 cast bullets sold by most of the online companies like Missouri Bullet or SNS Casting. A case full of Trail Boss will yield a little milder and somewhat less accurate round, but this is relatively flat shooting and low recoil, which I think is important for silhouette shooting at various ranges. Still has plenty of oomph to knock over the targets, yet virtually no recoil out of a heavy Sharps repro rifle. Should still be fine out of a Marlin, as this is running around 1400-1450 fps.

I 2nd the motion on this one. That load is my practice load so I've shot more of it than anything else. It is also highly recommended by the late Doug Matthews, author of Forty Years with the 45/70. That's where I got the load originally for my use...although I pan lube mine rather than powder-coat.

[wallacem]

My load for what you are doing is 405 gr cast bullet sized to .460 dia, 35.3 gr IMR 3031, magnum primer, taper crimped. Wallace in Ga

[odette]

I have several 45-70's, each has it's favorite powder, but bullets vary from different manufacture and home cast. All prefer 400 gn to 426 gn, Speer 400 gn JFN are the favorite bullet in all of them. My 3 Marlins (2 1895S and 1 1895LTD) hate 350 gn. No matter what powder, all 350 gn go high and to the right and spread out. I use IMR3031, H332, IMR4198, AA5744 with excellent results, especially in my Sharps #1 Business Rifle. I also have some loads with W748, Re7, Blue Dot and Unique.
Each rifle has different tastes, all 3 Marlins are pre Remington, the 2 1895S's do not use the same powder. One works best with IMR3031 the other H322. The LTD likes either IMR4198 or AA5744. My Sharps is the least fussy and handles 3031, H322, 4198 the best, 5744 may not burn complete enough to be accurate in a lighter load.
All the W748, Re7, Unique and Blue Dot loads are with 300 gn JHP and are dated 1983. They do not do well in any of my rifles listed. Will try them in T/C Contender and Rem Rolling Block.