Finally a 45-70 but what bullet?

[jrinne0430]

I finally bought a Marlin 1895 in 45-70:) but this model just happens to be microgrooved. Looking for a mold but not sure if I should go with gas check or not. Any recommendations?

[6pt-sika]

I personally prefer gas checks !

I would suggest the Ranch Dog 460-300GC , the Ranch Dog 460-350GC and the Ranch Dog 460-425 GC .

http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/

[phaessler]

I personally prefer gas checks !

I would suggest the Ranch Dog 460-300GC , the Ranch Dog 460-350GC and the Ranch Dog 460-425 GC .

http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/

Micro-groove, +1 with 6pt-sika, cant go wrong with ranch dog stuff.

[161]

Learn to paper patch an don't look back.

[725]

No question, paper patch is cool, but right off the top, I'd say Ranch Dog, Ranch Dog, and then Ranch Dog.

[longbow]

I used to have an 1895 microgroove and it shot the Lyman 457124 385 gr. RN PB very well, over the hottest loads for Marlin, with no leading.

I wasn't even smart enough back then to slug the bore to make sure the boolit fit was good but I never had a problem with the Marlin.

Having said that, I agree with the above comments ~ I don't think you will go wrong with a RanchDog design.

Longbow

[Four Fingers of Death]

You won't go wrong with the Ranch Dog mould, that's for sure. I bought a copy of the Gould mould off this site. It is a classic Lyman HP mould (in continual production since the Black Powder days!). It is a 330Gn HP and suitable for Black as well as smokeless.

I'd ask on the buy and sell page, you never know, someone might want to get rid of theirs. I'm not thinking of selling mine, in case that was your next question, :D.

The beauty of moulds from this site (and Ranch Dogs I think) is that the throw slightly fatter boolits, which is exactlywhat you are looking for with a microgroove barrel.

A lot of folk speak highly of the Lee 405Gn and the RCBS 405Gn. The Lee is as cheap as chips and I'd buy one just to see.This is probably the ideal weight boolit for bigger game and if it doesn't work out, you haven't dropped much money. As to the RCBS mould, I'd try and cadge a few boolits from someone here before I laid out the dollars for an RCBS mould. They are a class act, but if they are going to drop bullets too small, wellllllll, they ain't much use. I had an RCBS 405Gn 45/70 mould in the 80s, but a 'friend' decided he needed it more than me and never returned it (or the sizing die or the top punch or the Lyman Cast Bullet Book, etc,etc. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!).

[6pt-sika]

I bought a copy of the Gould mould off this site. It is a classic Lyman HP mould (in continual production since the Black Powder days!). It is a 330Gn HP and suitable for Black as well as smokeless.


First deer I ever fired at with a lever 45-70 was killed with a Lyman Gould 330 grain HP PB sized at .459" and pushed with 31.5 grains of SR4759 . Deer was a big bodied 6 pointer , I was sitting about 20 feet up in a tree , the deer came up to 21 yards of me I pulled the trigger and the deer hit the ground simple enough . Was using a Lyman Tang sight on a Marlin 1895CB for that one .

[6pt-sika]

Typically I'll get more molds then I need for a particular cartridge and the 45-70 is no different . But at the moment I have 6 molds total for my old circa 1972 Marlin 1895 45-70 .

1. Ranch Dog 460-300GC

2. Ranch Dog 460-350GC

3. Ranch Dog 460-425GC

4. BRP 462-465GC

5. BallistiCast 462-550GC

6. Lyman Gould 330 grain HP PB


Do I need all of those certainly not . But do I want all of those , of course . However if I had to trim them down I could probably get by with the Ranch Dog 460-350GC and the BRP 462-465GC no problem . And to be totally honest for anything I do the Ranch Dog 460-350GC will most likely handle it all .

[Four Fingers of Death]

First deer I ever fired at with a lever 45-70 was killed with a Lyman Gould 330 grain HP PB sized at .459" and pushed with 31.5 grains of SR4759 . Deer was a big bodied 6 pointer , I was sitting about 20 feet up in a tree , the deer came up to 21 yards of me I pulled the trigger and the deer hit the ground simple enough . Was using a Lyman Tang sight on a Marlin 1895CB for that one .

How sweet it is!

[btroj]

I really like my 460420 Lee group buy mould. With 24 gr of 2400 it gets 1300 fps and is easy on the shoulder and quite accurate. With a healthy dose on H322 it goes 1650 and has been tough on a couple of bears.

45-70 is so easy to load for it isn't even funny. I have the 420 and 350 RE moulds and have shot a deer with each.

[725]

By the way, there is a group buy going on right now for a 350 gr bolit that looks just fine. NOE 460 - 350, or maybe it's called NOE 458-350. Either way, it looks like a good one.

Just checked: Page 2 in the active group buys section ------ NOE 460-350 - RF

[jrinne0430]

Thank you all. I went ahead and ordered Ranch Dog 460-425GC mold.

[6pt-sika]

Thank you all. I went ahead and ordered Ranch Dog 460-425GC mold.

FWIW , I use a couple Lyman 4500's and a recent addition of a RCBS Lubrisizer anyway I had been using a Lyman .459" die to size and then decided to order a custom made die from Buffalo Arms thats .461" believe it or not accuracy has improved some with all the bullets mentioned since adding that die . True in a couple of the molds it may not even remove any lead but it still seems to do very nicely for me .

Buffalo Arms dies while not inexpensive won't break the bank either . When I purchased that one a couple years ago I think it was $45 plus $7 for shipping !

[6pt-sika]

By the way, there is a group buy going on right now for a 350 gr bolit that looks just fine. NOE 460 - 350, or maybe it's called NOE 458-350. Either way, it looks like a good one.

Just checked: Page 2 in the active group buys section ------ NOE 460-350 - RF


Thats the NOE copy of the Ranch Dog 460-350GC only difference being RD uses tumble lube grooves and the NOE copy uses traditional lube grooves . Oh then there's the price ! RD molds are $65 each I think plus a couple bucks for Priority shipping . A 5 cavity NOE is a bit more and a cavity less then Ranch Dog's Lee made molds .

Some folks think one cannot use tumble lube bullets in a traditional lubrisizer and thats a pile of BS . I've been using a couple Lyman 4500's ever since I started casting and have been using Ranch Dog products the ENTIRE time with good or better results .

[gon2shoot]

Did anybody mention the Ranch Dog? I'm kinda partial to them.

[Lloyd Smale]

if i could have only one 4570 mold it would be the 405 rcbs.

[TCLouis]

Make it easy on yourself . . .

Ranch Dog's 460-350.

[hornsurgeon]

Make it easy on yourself . . .

Ranch Dog's 460-350.

doesn't get any better than this. i have the NOE copy and the design is absolutely the best for marlins.

[FergusonTO35]

Never cast for the .45-70 before but I will say that my own micro groove 1895 really likes the 300 grain bevel base flat point from Laser Cast. So, if you could find a similar boolit style I don't see why that wouldn't work. While we're on the topic of molds for the .45-70, what would you guys think of a 260 grain two groove .460 flat point in the 1895? Accurate Molds has a couple of designs I really like and they will make it to order in .460. I'm thinking it would be a dandy, low recoil load for deer at 1700 fps, kind of like a souped up .45 Colt.

[MtGun44]

I have had excellent results with RCBS 405 GC.

Bill