correct boolit diameter 45-70?

[Steel185]

I recently purchased a 45-70 rifle and I'm trying to get set up to reload and cast for it. Currently i reload for other sizes (45 ACP, and Ruger 480)so I'm just talking the dies mostly. What diameter is the bullet? I find several places that say its .457 and others that claim .458. Is this like 45 ACP, where some guns like 451 and some like 452? I plan on casting and sizing myself, which is the main reason of my question, which is correct?

its on a Marlin 1895G, so any mold recommendations would help narrow down my selection. I will mostly use this gun for hog hunting and deer on rare ocations.

[JesterGrin_1]

Size .460 for the Marlin. :) And THUMP on down the road lol.

As for a Mold look here on the forum for Ranch Dog and depending on what you hunt his 350Gr or his 425Gr are great shooters.

I use Ranch Dogs 350Gr RNFP/GC with great results on HOG and Deer. But I have only shot them out to abut 130 yards thus far.

[btroj]

Jester was dead on. Start by sizing to .460. That is most likely to do well.

The RD bullets are darn good. I have used both the 350 and 425 on deer. Either one will do anything you could ever ask for.

Enjoy that gun.

Brad

[JesterGrin_1]

I chose the Rand Dog 350Gr RNFP/GC since in South Texas I have not run into an Elephant yet so I have not really needed the 425Gr lol. :)

[Steel185]

.460? are you guys serious? I've never thought about going that size. Any reason why .460 works better than .457 or .458, I assumed that would be too tight.

[JesterGrin_1]

Steel you asked and so we informed. :) Go with .460 in the Marlin.

When it comes to help and cast Bullets we are serious. :)

[peerlesscowboy]

Depending on how heavy a bullet you want, the RCBS 45-300-FN, 45-405-FN & 45-500-FN work real good in my Marlin 1895 CB. Cast from Ly #2 alloy, I run 'em thru' a (459) sizing die & lube 'em.......they mike .458" and shoot great.

John C. Saubak

[Steel185]

Let me start over from my last post.

I didn't mean any dis-respect. I was just so surprise by the answers and that I was THAT off. Now I'm trying to understand why. So why .460? is the marlin a little different?

thanks for the help, once again, I'm glad i asked

[JesterGrin_1]

This should help more than I can talk about it. :) http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_5_14&products_id=29

But some have good luck with a .459 Size as well.

[peerlesscowboy]

FWIW, my Marlin 1895 CB slugs .456" groove diameter. This is with the "ballard" rifling as I assume is your 1895 G? Perhaps microgroove barrels are happier with larger (.460") bullets?

John C. Saubak

[btroj]

My Marlin is Ballard rifled. Never slugged it, I just went to .460 right off. Never had a problem with them, accuracy is everything I could ever ask for.

Bad

[peerlesscowboy]

In my experience.......and this prob'ly flies in the face of conventional wisdom?;
.....exactly what we size to really isn't that big of a deal, as long as we're at least as large as groove diameter and not so big as to restrict chambering the loaded cartridge. I run .30-30 .004" over groove at .312" vs .308", .38-55 right on groove at .379" vs .379" & they both shoot well. I don't doubt at all that if your mould drops 45 bullets at .460" you could load and shoot'em that way and they'd shoot fine.
FWIW I just miked a few of my upthread mentioned RCBS 45-***-FN's and they measured .458" to .459" unsized, you couldn't do "460" with 'em if you wanted :coffee:

John C. Saubak

[btroj]

I will agree with that. .003 too big is not a big problem in most cases, .001 usually is.
This is where someone else might say that size isn't an issue except when it is.

Brad

[peerlesscowboy]

As a general rule with cast rifle bullets, the less I size 'em down the better I like it. If the sizing die just kisses the driving bands to keep the lube in the grooves where it belongs that's good :D .002" over groove is ideal but anything from groove diameter to .004" over groove I can live with. I think we have to keep in mind that even quite hard cast bullets are soft compared to the "J" ones? On firing they'll easily squeeze down four thousands to fit the barrel or even bump up a thousands or so if nessesary.
One thing in favor of big bullets is they help the bullet start in proper alignment with the bore..........that's assuming the chamber was cut in proper alignment with the bore :veryconfu

John C. Saubak

[Bullshop]

Ever since I got my adjustable mold from member redriverrick I have become partial to .440" diameter boolits in the 45/70.

[Artful]

You might start by slugging your barrel - then mic the inside of a fired case - usually somewhere from 0.001 under the fired case size to 0.001 above the bore size is where your going to find the best shooting diameter.

I have found older trapdoors requireing up to .462 and Marlins requiring .458

[stubshaft]

Ever since I got my adjustable mold from member redriverrick I have become partial to .440" diameter boolits in the 45/70.



.440"?:holysheep

[JesterGrin_1]

He must be talking about Paper Patch lol. He just wanted to throw a wrench in there lol.

[NickSS]

I can see that you have some valid questions and after reading the other posts I will try to give you my take on it. Just for the record I size all of my 45-70 bullets to .459". This is because most of my molds cast bullets that come out at .459" or slightly larger and I have found that the less sizing you do the more accuracy I get. 45-70s nominally should be between .457" and .458" snf most of them are in this range. The old Microgroove Marlin barrels were larger but mine works well with .459" bullets. The only rifles that I own that are finicky about bullets is my old trapdoors. But then those bores run large like up to .463" but even in them a soft .459" 500 gr bullet works with black powder as they bump up Just like the Army designed them to. So going with a bullet diameter of .459 or .460 works quite well and you should have good luck with your loads.

[Greg B.]

Hi Steel,

I am in the same boat as you are in that I am trying to work up accurate (2" at 100 yds.) groups for my Marlin 1895. After reading a number of posts on this forum the referent for the .460" boolit diameter appears to be chamber throat size rather than slugged groove dimensions. One of the gents here suggested you can get a good approximation of this dimension by measuring the inside mouth diameter of a fired case and size closer to this rather than the extra .001" or .002" usually allowed over slugged bullet diameter. My understanding is that this allows the boolit to be better centered in the barrel assuming the cartridge will fit and the barrel and chamber are concentric etc.

This is just my .02$ worth and I would welcome more information.

Greg B.

[Steel185]

Thanks Greg,
I've been thinking that is the approach I'm going to take. Measure the brass and go from there. I'll probibly slug the barrel also mostly because I'm curious. I'm sure i will get it figured out with all the knowledge in this forum.

thanks

[MtGun44]

Like asking "What is the correct shoe size for someone from Milwaukee?"

No possible way to know without slugging YOUR gun, or measuring YOUR feet.

Bill