Now what the h&!! did I find?

[SlippShodd]

Had some time so did a little desert ratting today. Found the usual amounts of 9 and 40 brass, goodly pile of .223, .30-'06, and something new for me, a box worth of .450 Marlin brass. Now I just need dies, boolits and, oh, yeah, a gun to fit around them.
Poking around in the Wonder Berm netted me a little over 16 pounds of scrap, including the usual suspects, the unidentifiable lead smears, the barely upset FMJs, the jacket sheds, some 12 bore slugs, another .50 cal AP core, and these 3 yayhoos in the picture below.
On the left is a really hard 842 grain, .580 +/- inch, barely scratches with a thumbnail something or other. Middle is a .418ish inch, 398 grain hunk of solid gilding metal it appears. Threw the right hand one in just for the heck of it, 320 grains of .456" TMJ except for an itty-bitty hole centered in both the base and the nose... maybe 0.10".
I particularly enjoy the folks that shoot .45 caliber stuff. Those bullets are easy to spot and add up quick.
Smelting tomorrow.

[44man]

With a good start with some empties, you have a good excuse for a new gun.

[clintsfolly]

Have a 450marlin in a bolt gun and it's a hoot with cast. Just a 45/70 with a belt. Clint

[P.K.]

"418ish"

Hmmmm, .416 Rigby or Ruger maybe?

[MtGun44]

The far right looks and sounds like a "Penetrator" from Cor-Bon. The middle one is
bronze, I think, not gilding metal, a "solid" I have seen these, forget the maker - high
bux African load for elephant and buff. The .456 is also for buff or similar.

Left hand one, no idea. The Cor-Bon "Penetrator" appear to be formed from copper
tube around a lead core with the ends formed together and leaving only a tiny central
hole, identical on front and back. I have some 405s in .45-70.

Bill

[mpmarty]

If you've already got a 45/70 just buy a 450 Marlin reamer and you're all set.

[SlippShodd]

The far right looks and sounds like a "Penetrator" from Cor-Bon. The middle one is bronze, I think, not gilding metal, a "solid" I have seen these, forget the maker - high bux African load for elephant and buff. The .456 is also for buff or similar. Left hand one, no idea. Bill

Thanks, Bill. "The Penetrator!" I like the sounds of that. Your description is spot on so that must be it.
I had a huge head hurt yesterday and couldn't for the life of me get .418ish to resolve itself into .416 for the Rigby, et al. I looked at loaded ammo this morning and, dang, upwards of $200 for a box of 20. This one looks mostly like a Barnes, but more grooves than the version they offer for reloading.
The thing on the left melted down like pure tin when I stuck it in the pot this morning, though after melting, the resulting ingot seemed softer than the original piece (surface hardened?). Still don't know what it was, but now I know what it is.

If you've already got a 45/70 just buy a 450 Marlin reamer and you're all set.

As a matter of fact, I do have a couple 45-70s and I used my sizer die last night to straighten out a few of the Marlin cases I found. They're pretty, but I think I'll leave my existing chambers alone for now. So, it turns out I do have the necessary boolits. I just need the dies and the, um, the gun. I figure the folks on this forum are so generous, that if I say that often enough, one of y'all will just send me one, if for no other reason than to shut me up.

mike