Do you mark your short Hornady 45-70 brass?

[Don1357]

I have about 55 pieces of the short Hornady 45-70 brass. I use it but it is annoying as hell because every time I go through my 45-70 brass I keep double and triple checking that one doesn't end up with the regular 45-70 brass. I was thinking about drilling an indent on the base or grinding a notch or two on the rim. These I only use for low power plinking rounds so it is not like they get exposed to a whole lot of pressure.

Is there a more sensible way to mark these?

[edp2k]

Take a sharp file and cut a small v notch in the rim.
Doesn't affect function, doesn't wear off like a marker/sharpie would (i.e. pin tumbling) , and can easily been seen and felt.

[FLINTNFIRE]

I would sell them unless I was loading there flex bullet in them , I am currently loading some of my 45-70 and sorting out as I go , I have some old WRA brass and that is getting set aside , all my brass is older stuff so no short hornady , having said sell it , I also find myself using some brass that has its differences as I hate to waste any of it .

[country gent]

I trade it with a friend as he loads the flex tips and dosnt want the long brass.

[The Dar]

I find both Hornady and Starline 45-70 brass at my range. I sort out the Hornady and keep it separate. I sell the brass through a local gun shop in lots of 100 pieces. I have found several hundred Starline but not a hundred of the Hornady yet. It will be interesting to see if it sells. I toss all the short Hornady 357 magnum brass in the recycle buckets. I don't have time to mess with them.

[FerricOxide]

So is all hornady brass short or just specific calibers?

[The Dar]

So is all hornady brass short or just specific calibers?

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong. I believe their LEVERevolution ammo has shorter brass. I've never used it. I haven't used factory ammo in 20 years. If you stand Hornady brass next to any other manufacturer you will clearly see the difference. Their 45 Colt was the first time I noticed it.

[Don1357]

I have seen both 45-70 hornady in regular dimension and short Leverevolution brass.

You know how it would be a bad idea to put a pointy bullet on a tubular magazine? Just imagine that point resting on the primer of the next bullet, getting violently slammed into said primer when a full load goes off... Hornady went around that problem by using a plastic/rubber tip that improves ballistic coefficient and provides a flatter trajectory. Unfortunately in order to maintain the overall length they made the case shorter.

I modified a crimping die for them and they work fine for plinking loads but it is still annoying to be paranoid about keeping them separated.

[Harter66]

You could make 45-60 brass out of them like the guys in the strait wall rifle states do cutting them on down to 1.8" ........ Or not .

I always cringe when guys want to recycle 1x brass seems like if you don't want short brass in most cases it could just be cut back to the next shorter case , like 357 to 38 or Colts to S&W

Maybe some Brass Black , Brownells I think , and dip the rim and a quarter inch or so of the bottom . That'll leave a permanent ring around the rim and head .

[The Dar]

I always cringe when guys want to recycle 1x brass seems like if you don't want short brass in most cases it could just be cut back to the next shorter case , like 357 to 38 or Colts to S&W

I understand your concern, but I'm a brass hound at a range with over 3000 members. I have no shortage of brass. I average about 2 five gallon buckets of brass each weekend. I do sell what I can through a local gun shop. But I recycle most of what I get. Down the road a bit I will be selling here on Cast Boolits.

[Intel6]

I just use them to reload the 325 flex tip bullets only. I shoot mostly my cast bullets in reglar brass so the shorter hornady cases only get loaded with the jacketed stuff.

[clintsfolly]

The 450Marlin has the same short brass for Flex tips. I just cut them to 1.8 and load 500gr rnfp to the same OAL as Standard brass. Get Great accuracy and the only thing I had to do was cut the crimp die about .375 off the bottom.

[GregLaROCHE]

I haven’t come across any 45/70 Hornady brass. Just how much shorter are they?

[cwlongshot]

I mostly just toss them away! But recently been getting allot so I save for sorting later. I dont use FTX in calibers where I need to have short brass.

CW

[iwottopq]

CUT
I modified a crimping die for them and they work fine for plinking loads

CUT

Can I view how you modified the crimp die for shorter brass?
Thanks in advance.
Ciao
Nino

[Victor N TN]

My best friend has a Sharps in 45-70 and he likes the short brass. When I have any, I give them to him.

[Frank V]

I just try to stay away from those short cases.

Victor, is your friend seating heavy bullets out farther in the short brass?

[Don1357]

CUT

Can I view how you modified the crimp die for shorter brass?
Thanks in advance.
Ciao
Nino

No great engineering feat there. Hornady brass is 2.040" regular brass is 2.10" (Don't take my word for that, double check). The bottom of the crimp die gets shortened .06". I used a belt sander and a steady hand. It takes a few minutes and works best if you have a good set of calipers to check your progress.