Light load for .45/70

[jednorris]

I have a Browning Traditional Hunter in .45/70 that I would like to loan to people to shoot. I shoot only Black, but am looking for a light Smokeless load. It might be used for Deer hunting but also by females and 15 year old. I have a variety of IMR powders, any suggestions ?.

[shortlegs]

10 to 12 gr of unique under a 300 gr boolit is soft shooting. Its good for deer under 100 yds too. 405 boolit with same has more thump for hunting.

[725]

Those of slight frame or tender years might enjoy plinking with the .45-70 by using 9 grains of Unique and a .457 round ball pushed into the mouth of the cartridge. Care should be taken as to not touching the primer when pushing the RB in over a load of powder. Rather quiet and almost no recoil.

[NSB]

I really like the 45-70 cartridge and I have the same gun you have. In my opinion, there is no soft shooting light load for beginner/youth/female shooters using this cartridge. There are loads that are significantly lighter than the trapdoor type loads I use for hunting, but the reality is that new shooters probably aren't going to like any of them. They'd be a lot better off with a light .243 load or something similar for deer hunting......just my opinion.

[Kraschenbirn]

+1 on Unique. 13.5 gr. Unique under a Lyman 457124 (404 gr. from my alloy) duplicates the .45-55-405 load in my trapdoor carbine and is a real 'powder puff' fired from my 30" Highwall. Good accuracy, too...doesn't quite match up to the 500 gr. "Gov't" boolit but will hold under 2 MOA out to 200yds.

Bill

[RedlegEd]

Hi.
For what you're asking, I use a cat sneeze load shared by Larry Gibson. It's 8.0gr Bullseye under an Accurate 46-275R (Rapine 460250 clone) (I PC mine) with no filler and either LPP or LRP. The small amount of BE isn't position sensitive and works very well. I've used this in Trapdoors, Rollers, 1885s, and Sharps '74 with great success. My club has 200 yd gong shoots every month, and I'm competitive with this load. While not quite as accurate as the heavier 405gr-530gr slugs, they sure are a lot of fun to shoot, and still ring steel at 200 yds with authority. PM me your address, and I'll be happy to send you some to try. My only caution is you must be absolutely precise in your reloading technique so as not to double charge a load. I've found it best to charge the case, and immediately seat the bullet so there's no chance of double charging it. Hope this helps. Ed

[Edward]

I really like the 45-70 cartridge and I have the same gun you have. In my opinion, there is no soft shooting light load for beginner/youth/female shooters using this cartridge. There are loads that are significantly lighter than the trapdoor type loads I use for hunting, but the reality is that new shooters probably aren't going to like any of them. They'd be a lot better off with a light .243 load or something similar for deer hunting......just my opinion.

My 12 yr old grand daughter 65 LBs (maybe) shoots my little H+R single shot with my favorite 25 grains of 2400 under a 1/2 grain dacron to push a PB NOE 350 gr-460 sized to 459 FN with no problem . She hits steel @100 yds and grandpa (ME) kills deer @ 186 yds (furthest to date ) this year ! And I can say for certain my H+R ways less than what your shooting ,it"s all what you feed it ,and I weigh maybe 146 LBS on a bad day/Ed

[rfd]

12 grains of trail boss and a lee 457340f cast bullet. a mouse sneeze load that's fairly accurate to 200 yards or more.

[Duckiller]

Minimum loads of Trailboss makes good light loads. I use 400+/- and 330+/- cast boolits. Slightly more recoil than a 22LR but not going to bruise a shoulder for anyone.

[NSB]

My 12 yr old grand daughter 65 LBs (maybe) shoots my little H+R single shot with my favorite 25 grains of 2400 under a 1/2 grain dacron to push a PB NOE 350 gr-460 sized to 459 FN with no problem . She hits steel @100 yds and grandpa (ME) kills deer @ 186 yds (furthest to date ) this year ! And I can say for certain my H+R ways less than what your shooting ,it"s all what you feed it ,and I weigh maybe 146 LBS on a bad day/Ed

Like I said, it's my opinion. I've trained a lot of shooters over the years and I've seen very few new/younger shooters who enjoy recoil. I've seen a lot of them flinch and shy away from even 20ga shotguns and medium recoiling rifles.

[EDG]

It may be your opinion but a 300 grn 45-70 bullet weighs less than a 7/8 oz (382 grains) 20 ga load and with 10 grains to 12 grains of Unique is slower. Plus the 45-70 is not pushing the weight of a 20 ga plastic wad in addition to the weight of the bullet.

Like I said, it's my opinion. I've trained a lot of shooters over the years and I've seen very few new/younger shooters who enjoy recoil. I've seen a lot of them flinch and shy away from even 20ga shotguns and medium recoiling rifles.

[15meter]

There's a 4 grains of Clays under a Lyman 457122 floating around in one of the sticks. I upped it all the way to 4.4 grains.

Just make sure they clear the barrel after every shot.

[Lead pot]

I would suggest that you spend a little time and read this. http://reloadammo.com/liteload.htm Just because you reduce a load in a large capacity case thinking that a light load won't hurt.
My first rifle was a .43 Spanish and I was a young pup and a full load of black powder got my attention so I got out a old lyman manual that had reduced cast bullet loads and I thought I could get a softer load then they listed with lighter smokeless pistol loads, well that was the end of the Roller .43 It split the chamber.

[dh2]

I would look at trap door loads and lean toward IMR4198