how hot for ruger #1 45-70 cast

[Bullshop]

Going back a few issues in the Speer book I think it must be about #10 as I recall they show their 405gn bullet with 62gn Re#7 for 2200 fps in the #1 45/70.
Might want to check before trying as I am going on memory.

[badbob454]

tear your sholder off ...... feels good , love a good kick . mine is a handi rifle loaded hot, spelled ouch ...!!! man how do they hold up with that much recoil loaded to ruger no 1 maximum velocity 500 gr boolit if i remember right @ 1600fps . like a mule kicking you , i like it , it clears up my arthritus in my sholders , for a week or two

[Leadmelter]

I have a Ruger #3 in 45/70 and it is a real piece of work off the bench. I used to shoot 405 RCBS with GC over 2400 for a pleasent experience.
Nothing like loobing an ounce of lead over 200 yards and hit what he aimed at .
Gerry

[Artful]

Well, I have Marlin 45-70 because the Ruger #3 tried to hurt me in .45-70 - but it's not bad in 375 big bore - I favor 5744 for either caliber - second favorite is 3031 but as I get older I like softer kicking guns.

[Freightman]

tear your sholder off ...... feels good , love a good kick . mine is a handi rifle loaded hot, spelled ouch ...!!! man how do they hold up with that much recoil loaded to ruger no 1 maximum velocity 500 gr boolit if i remember right @ 1600fps . like a mule kicking you , i like it , it clears up my arthritus in my sholders , for a week or two

That is kinda like a fellow who had a tooth ache and was complaining to a fellow worker, the other guy got tired of the complaining so he dropped a steel weight on the fellows toe. Ouch! that hurt bad! he said. How is your tooth he ask? I do not know as my toe hurts to much. You hurt your shoddier enough and you will forget your arthritis hurt.

[steg]

redneckdan, after wiping the coffee off the screen, and darn near choking form laughing after reading that, all I can say is I've done that"ONCE" I pulled the rest of the boolits and had a long sit down on figguring what load I was going to try next, and that was before I had the limbsaver installed, I can't recomend them high enough, she just bounces off my shoulder now instead of beating me up.

BTW someone asked what a J word was I don't remember uf anyone answered it or not, it's just a quick term for Jacketed bullets, or sometimes referrred to as condoms, I like that one, LOL...............steg

[lkydvl]

I have some loaded that are quite the trick. So Far I have not found ANYONE willing to shoot more than three. That includes a couple very experienced big bore shooters and a burly 'Nam vet Marine. They are a winning round...whoever gets up first after the shot wins!

Andre`

[Duckiller]

I shoot a minimum charge of Trail Boss behind a 405 gr boolit. I believe it stays subsonic. Puts nice holes in paper and my shoulder never hurts, ears don't ring for three days. Remember lots of buffalo died from Trapdoor level loads.

[Clark]

With 405 cast and Unique, I got up to double the published Ruger #1 loads in a Handi rifle.

The last couple shot did some real Leading at the muzzle, and the brass started to flow into the extractor mis fit.

That was all with my palm on the butt.

I can't even stand trapdoor loads against my shoulder with that little handi rifle, and my 338WM 250 gr 2600 fps does not bother me.

[Gunlaker]

With 405 cast and Unique, I got up to double the published Ruger #1 loads in a Handi rifle.

Are you saying that you used double the max charge listed for a Ruger #1? I wonder what the pressure on that load was? Pressures tend to rise very quickly with fast powders and heavy bullets.

Chris.

[Typecaster]

When I got my #1 about 30 years ago I had to work up loads. When my elbows got raw from the bench I stood up. When the recoil was enough to lift my forward leg and push me back, I stopped. I was still well below published maximums.

Richard

[parrott1969]

In 45-70 I use jacketed 300 grain bullets over 52 grains of 4198. This gives one inch groups at 100 yards with most rifles. Loaded some for a fellow that wanted a hot load with 62 grains and same bullet. After he tried the 52 grainers, he gave the hot ones back and I pulled them down.

[Clark]

Are you saying that you used double the max charge listed for a Ruger #1? I wonder what the pressure on that load was? Pressures tend to rise very quickly with fast powders and heavy bullets.

Chris.

"Lyman's 47th" 1992 says:
385 cast gr cast, 17.5 gr Unique, 1411 fps, 38,500 cup, for Ruger #1

The highest I shot in the work up was 32 gr, which Quickload thinks is 88kpsi

kinda sorta double, heavier bullet, and less powder.

Today I was shooting 1 gr Bullseye in 45/70, so I am now at the other end of the spectrum.

[onondaga]

If it was my #1 in any caliber, I would feel confident with loads up to 50,000 psi all day long, but Ruger specification is higher. Ruger will probably tell you the pressure limit of the rifle with a call to them.

Gary

[old wanderer]

Well reading through this thread about one of my favorite rifles, made me drag out my reloading log.

Looks like back in 1998 I went to Oregon to hunt Roosevelt Elk. I chose my #1 Ruger in 45-70 with a Bushnell Holo sight. The load I see was 47.5 Gr. of 4227 under a barnes 300 Gr. original bullet ignited with a Federal 215 primer. All this resulted in a little light rifle that was a joy to carry up and down steep hill and jungle like growth but a super hard rap to the shoulder when you tighten down on the trigger. My crono show 2227 FPS with a SD of 12. It did roll up a nice 6 point at 80 yards.

I probably still have 25 rounds of that left somewhere, as I never hunted with the rifle again. (Not that I don't like the rifle, just never hunted that heavy of cover again. ) I pulled it out of the safe last month and the Holo sight came right on.

My other #1 is a 416 Rigby. with 107 Gr of RL19 it is moving a 300 Gr Barnes X bullet at only 2880 FPS. It is a lot nicer to shoot, but then it is a lot heavier, plus I added a 1# mercury tube in the stock to balance the heavy barrel. (Sort of feels like a 12# skeet gun now) but it will rock you back.

Been giving a lot of thought to converting my 45-70 to a 500 whisper.

[9.3X62AL]

I've had my Rooger Noomber Wun x 45-70 for about 15 years or so, and it has been among my best cast boolit fusils to date. As someone noted above--your shoulder will give out well prior to the rifle crying "Uncle!" I'm sure 50K PSI is well within safe limits--for the rifle.

Soon after getting the critter, I assembled some of the new-to-market Hornady 350 grain softpoints. I started these on the bench at 1600 FPS or so, and they weren't bad. Stair-stepping loads with IMR-3031 (IIRC), I got to 1800 FPS and decided that two-handed from the bench was indicated. Recoil was getting a mite exhilarating. By the end of nthe 50-round session--and in the 2150 FPS toll-free dialing area--it was snot-bubbles and teardrops time.

Been there/done that/got the T-shirt. I did a bit of mic-ing and measuring, and found the throat and grooves to be a snug .459" with .449" land diameter. Most of its 4,500 round history has been fired with castings, and the Lee 405 lapped out to about .460" and sized @ .459" does fine work from 1000-1300 FPS. The mould has about had it, though, and I'm going to upgrade a bit with a better mould from a vendor here. It will be gas-checked, in the event I want to get battered at some future time. 400-450 grain-class, having a 560 grainer (Lyman) for shooting through lined-up mastodons and like applications.

[bigted]

very cool fellas.

i never got back to the rcbs 500's as other pressing stuff took over. i will report that the 520gr Lyman running ahead of 50gr of 3031 was about all the fun i want...the book says i could go a bit higher but WHY?

this rifle shoots my round ball carts so well it still blows my mind. and the hot rod rounds left a smear of lead that i don't really care for...could try to heat treat em but as somebody here mentioned...thru a buff end to end??? with trapdoor velocity's??? why go anywhere else with it.

its been a joy tho to read everybody's experience with this lite easy to handle carbine tho. it will probably accompany me this fall with some of those 520gr Lyman round nose loaded a bit more reasonable tho. prolly use some of the rl-7 loads im playing with...these seem to do very well with some cornmeal filler....running around 1250 to 1400 fps area with the ly. 457125 520gr round nose gubbermint boolit.

[9.3X62AL]

Big Ted, that #1 is a DELIGHT to carry afield--no two ways about it.

[Larry Gibson]

#1 Rugers are chambered in numerous cartridges that have SAAMI Maps of 62 - 65,000 psi (please, lets not confuse CUP with PSI). I load my 45-70s up to a measured, not guessed at, 62,000 in my Siamese Mauser. A fellow with one of the original #1s with the long throat ask to shoot one of my such loaded rounds. It was a Lee C457-500-FN at 2150 fps which is equivelent to the factory spec 458 Win Mag. The Ruger handled it with no problems, the fellow did not.

Larry Gibson

[9.3X62AL]

#1 Rugers are chambered in numerous cartridges that have SAAMI Maps of 62 - 65,000 psi (please, lets not confuse CUP with PSI). I load my 45-70s up to a measured, not guessed at, 62,000 in my Siamese Mauser. A fellow with one of the original #1s with the long throat ask to shoot one of my such loaded rounds. It was a Lee C457-500-FN at 2150 fps which is equivelent to the factory spec 458 Win Mag. The Ruger handled it with no problems, the fellow did not.

Larry Gibson

Not just NO, but H--L NO. That Lyman #462560 at 1250-1300 FPS does an exemplary job of letting you know the primers functioned.

That velocity envelope just plain WORKS in the #1, from 325 grains to 560 grains. Accurate, manageable, and certainly effective in the game fields. One thing that gets lost in the scramble for more and more velocity is that you are starting with a 7/8 oz. 45 caliber bullet--it won't shrink (and might even expand)--and that in its 1873 configuration it was spec'ed to enable full side-to-side penetration of a horse to enable striking an enemy on the other side of same. Just in its original form, the 45-70 is a very capable game-taker.