#1 - 45/70 came through

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Tuesday morning, I officially joined the ranks of successfull cast boolit hunters.

Yearling buck dropped to a 355gr. LBT/WFN cast ahead of 55gr of RL #7.

Sure wish I could get a bunch more critters as this encounter was very impressive, to say the least.

Hope to have loads which group a bit better by next season, but for a first year's efforts, everything and everybody came through just fine.

Have no idea how critters go down with a cast boolit at 1200fps, but they really go down fast with a 355gr WFN slug at 2290fps out of the 45/70.

Boy, it is REALLY a long time until next hunting season!!!!!!!!!

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[jgr1974]

Awseome to hear some of your efforts paid off!!! What range did you hit him at, and what type of rifle?

Was an immediate kill shoot or did you have to track him any? With the 45-70 I would assume not to far if any!

[canyon-ghost]

By #1, I bet he means a Ruger #1 single shot, very nice rifles.

[jgr1974]

Oh I see i am learning! I am wishing for one in 357 mag! Just going to have to save pennies!

[elk hunter]

CDOC,

Congratulations on bagging your buck. Nothing like a little meat in the freezer to make a man happy. Freezer training one with a home cast bullet from a single shot in a historic caliber makes it even better.

That load should have made for dramatic results to say the least. Just got to love the 45-70 for the versatility in loads it offers. From mouse to moose and even bigger it will get the job done.

[Shooter]

45/70 in a single shot rifle, makin' meat for nearly 140 years.
Congratulations!

[missionary5155]

Good morning & CONGRADULATIONS !
You could hunt any critter on our side of this planet with that load.
Any deer smacked through the shoulders or spine will belly flop with a cast boolit.
I have hit them with big and little diameter lead objects and it is always the same.
Now arrows are a whole new senerio. And I am still waiting to lance one.

[HEAD0001]

Pictures, Pictures, did someone mention pictures?? Tom.

[pls1911]

Congratulations...we all share your grins.
To say your load is stiff is an understatement, but in attempting to duplicte the Hornady Leverlution load 325 gr, 2050 fps, I've loaded a couple of boxes of Ranch Dog 340's over 52 Gr. RL-7. I should get to the range and try these on deer and pigs before the holidays, and expect nothing less than great results, but we'll see.
Toward your objective of better groups, you may just need to back down a bit on the charge.
My best groups are in the 42-45 grain range for RL-7, and depending on the boolit, you'll still be pushing 1500-1900 fps.
Normal loads for Sharps, Rolling Blocks, and Marlins are 42-45 grains RL-7 under anything from 300 gr through 405 gr gas checked heat treated boolits. ALL of them fully penetrate 30 inches of grissle, bone, and meat in a diagonal shot on tough hogs....I've never recovered one and everything hit...doesn't run.
Like Tom, I'd like to see some pictures of your success, as well as the terminal effects of your slug.
Paul

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Yep, I may need to back down a bit.

However, Have approached my 45/70 reloading same way I have for years with "J" boolit hunting load development.

Pick a load below max and start to work up from there.

Did, earlier last Spring, shoot a bunch of lower loads, so have been there and done that with some powders.

I do have some other powders to try when the weather again is reasonable for bench work, but depending on how the boolits stabilize, may be better off then I think, right now.

Need to extend my range work to the 200 and 250 yd ranges and see what groups and drop look like.

One thing I do like about my current velocity figures is, it makes "center of kill zone" holds a possibility out beyond 200yds.

WOW, what a thumper this 45/70 is proving to be!!!!!!!!

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[the other DWS]

check the twist rate of your barrel. probably 1/20 which is good for the lighter weight, 1/18 is great for stabilizing the heavyweights and for long range. Twist rate has a lot to do with accuracy potential

Out of a older 1/18 twist sporter-weight Miroku/Browning 1885 Highwall I found the 500 gr flatnose (the old nosepour Lyman/Matthews mould-457676 I think) supremely accurate with 5744 (or is it 5477--I always get confused) in loads in the mid-20 gr. I never chrono-ed it but guess in the 1200-1400 fps range. It consistently shoots 10 shot groups off the target bench about 1.5 MOA at 200 yards. It does not shoot the sub-400 grain bullets with any reasonable degree of accuracy

[Doc Highwall]

I still remember my first with cast, it was opening day and I had a S&W model 19 with a 8-3/8" barrel from a model 14 and was shooting the Lyman 358429 over 15 grains of 2400. It was raining hard and being young it didnot deter me from going out. I had left camp at 6:30 AM and started walking fast about one mile and had entered the woods about 100 yards and bang, my hunting season was over in about 35-40 minutes.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Congratulation on your hunt.

But here is something to consider in searching for a bit better accuracy.

If you observe closely I think you will find that for deer sized critters, all that that sizzling speed gets you is a little flatter trajectory, in that most 45 caliber holes through deer are sure killers. A little less speed may well produce much better accuracy.

BvT

[bigted]

cdoc...congrats on your meal hunt. very cool and id be proud of any meat i put on the table with a true home roll and singleshot to boot.

on your load...i also think its a little stiff but if your not getting leading and if the accuracy is there and....if you dont mind the shorter life the cases and rifle get with these...who are we to discourage you.

myself my old bones are being gently moved around too much as is so i load a very much milder load in my many 45/70's. i love to shoot and i like to be in one piece when im done so mine are milder by a bunch....as for accuracy...well if i cant place 5 into under an inch then its back to the loading bench to determine why as this fine old cart will and does put accuracy on the table when i do my part.

congrats again on the meat-in-tha-freezer...keep goin !!!

[9.3X62AL]

Congrats on making meat with the Poured Projectile, CDOC!

Most sources show the Ruger #1 in 45-70 to have a 1-20" twist.

Gotta say, that boolit running 2200 FPS likely "kills" on both ends. My pet load in my #1 is the Lee 405 grain plain base flatnose at 1300 FPS. I use one of the NECG rear aperture sights on my rifle, and there is enough elevation with that sight to place rounds on paper to 300 yards, even using the 1873 ballistics.

One of next year's projects will be a semi-custom mold design for this rifle, 350-375 grains. Likely to be a 2-cavity, 1 with GC and one without. I've run jacketed 350 grainers to 2100 FPS, and while EXHILARATING--I'll relegate such adventures to the "Been There/Done That/Got The T-Shirt" file.

"Freezer Training....."--I like that.

[smoked turkey]

cdoc:
Good going. I well remember my first whitetail with the Ruger No. 1 in 45-70. It was a nice buck that got wind of me, turned and very fast stepped for the nearby timber. I don't recommend what I did and I've never done it since, but I let the buck have it up the rear snout so to speak. The big 45-70 plowed the length of the buck and he piled up very dead about 50 yards away. The 45-70 is one awesome cartridge.