45-70 and the quest for accuracy at 1800FPS

[XTR]

If you must have that combination to match your reticle just invest in a few boxes of jacketed bullets for hunting.

If this won't work then jacketed may be the answer, and I have the J bullets on the shelf to load if I cant get something cast to work. I have gotten respectable groups from 300/350 J bullets at 100 yards. If I can't get lighter cast bullets to group at all at 200 then maybe I have to go to a heavier slower bullet to get there, and if for whatever reason I cant get them to perform at that range I'll just stick with jacketed for hunting.

I shoot F-TR competition now, I'm the current TN state champion. I've put over 900 rounds through the barrel that I put on my match rifle in Jan and between Camp Perry this month and the State championships next month I will probably be up close to 1500. My hobby hours (edit: and $$) are mostly spent there, at this point I am not interested in playing with my 45-70 too much. I would like for it to be an effective reliable hunting rifle that I trust. If I can get it there I'll use it, if I can't then I'll use something different that shoots fast pointy bullets.

[btroj]

Lad will work great at 200 yards. It has NOTHING to do with velocity. Shoot a 405 gr or heavier bullet and all will be fine. You just need to,learn the trajectory. That isn't really that hard.

As an F class shooter you should understand the troubles of light weight bullets as range grows. Do you know anyone shooting 223 in F class that uses a bullet under x75 grains at ranges beyond 300? Here is a reason. A 300 gr 45-70 bullet is pretty darn short for caliber and is designed for closer in work. A heavier slug will just plain shoot more accurately and penetrate better too.

As a competition shooter you also should understand the value of range time with any new gun/load combo. I can guarantee that a 420 gr bullet at 1400 is far more shootable than a 350 or a 400 at 1800. I prefer to use a load that doesn't beat the heck out of me.

I have taken enough game now with a 45-70 to have learned that a heavy bullet at moderate velocity will easily get the Jon done. A long deep hole always does the job.

It the bullet where it belongs and a 45-70 isnt going to let you down. Focus more in accuracy and less on velocity.

[myfriendis410]

Don't give up on paper patching. I found I wasn't wrapping tightly enough, and to use JPW on the bullets. I'm getting 1,600 fps with a 500 grain WW bullet and groups just over m.o.a. for five shots at 100 yards.

[JJC]

1800 fps is not hard to achieve with accuracy. Zero at 125 yards I'm 7" low at 200. I use H4895 and get two inch groups at 200 yards with a reciever sighted Marlin 1895. Work on the load and you will get there. John

[XTR]

Don't give up on paper patching. I found I wasn't wrapping tightly enough, and to use JPW on the bullets. I'm getting 1,600 fps with a 500 grain WW bullet and groups just over m.o.a. for five shots at 100 yards.

I'm pretty certain I'm not man enough to sit in there behind 500gr bullets at 1600 with my 9lb rifle. call me a wimp.

I'll keep playing with it. From April to Sept I just don't have time. I'm fortunate to belong to the Oak Ridge Sportsman's Assn and between 1000 yard HP/F class matched or Full Bore 800/900/1000 yard matches I'm shooting for score at least twice a month.

Thanks for the feedback from most everyone, ultimately I may end up putting a Leatherwood scope back on this rifle with a good set of Unertle mounts and then I'll just spin the knobs. So far this has been an experiment to see if I could get a load that would match the reticle in the Swaro.

[myfriendis410]

I mentioned my situation simply because that's what I've been using. Your right; 1,600 fps and a 500 gr. bullet is sporty, even out of a 13 lb. rifle. I believe you can get there with a 405 gr. bullet. If you are using commercial bullets, you might want to weight sort them and try wrapping up using other papers than what you've tried before. I settled on tracing paper purchased at an office supply store and wrapped wet. The best results for me were using RL7, but got pretty good results using IMR4895 too.

It sounds like an interesting project. Good luck at Camp Perry!