500 grain marlin loads

[bigted]

friend of mine is going way into the brush this year and the grizzlys are everywhere in this place he is going...so he bought a marlin some time back in stainless and 45-70. marlin GBL model...i have the same rifle so i been experimenting with it for a couple years on and off.

anyway he wants a snappy safe loaded rounds with 500 grain boolits so i told him i have a rcbs mould that shucks out a 530 grain boolit that is gas checked and will work thru his marlin lever...he wants some loads for it with these boolits and having played with these boolits myself i told him they were not for the timid.

still not backed away from his desire i told him i would load a middle road load for him and let him try em...tomarrow will be the trial for him...loads are thusly...

rcbs 45-500 fn boolit.
gas check and sized to .459 inch lubed with my homemade bee wax/crisco/peanut oil.
sparked with a cci 200 large rifle primer.
43 grains of imr 3031...[book says 42 grains starting and 44 grains topend for lever marlin].
remington case.

these will...[according to my book from rcbs] run around 1500 fps with around 33,000 cup's which is under what the marlin is designed to take and the lead is from muddycreeksam's lot.

i know from experience that these loads will impress to say the least but my question here is thusly...

has anybody played with these boolits? and if so what kinda powder and charges did you use?

i wouldnt recomend a full diet of these full house loads in the lite marlin but some every once in awhile wont hurt...LOL...not the rifle anyway!

[flinter62]

Bigted,I use that same boolit in my 1895. Very accurate with 26 gr. 2400 RCBS cast bullet handbook says 1326 fps.

[JohnnyFlake]

For whatever it's worth.

I know the following is not about a 500gn bullet but I called a friend of mine who hunts bear a lot with 45-70 Marlins. I asked him what his load of choice was as I was going to try to answer a question on a gun forum.

After years of experimenting, a few years ago, he settled on the following load as the only load you now uses for hunting brown bear.

Lead-head's 405gn cast flat head with over 42.5gn of IMR4198. He believes the velocity is about 1800fps, has no idea on the C.U.P. He claims it is super accurate and that terminal performance is devastating.

[monge]

shot some those out of my xlr they are accurate but they kick like a mule! They will do the job if you can ! GOOD LUCK!

[bigted]

i agree with the notion of taking a beating and tryed to inform him of this...been there done that.

his thing is waking up to a bear rooting thru his tent wall and having a gun enough for a as close to instant results as is possible...told him that this is why rem and mosberg made short pump 12 gauges.

i also agree with the 400ish boolits as i can drive them up to speed with 50 or better of the same 3031 powder with better trajectory and almost the same delivery of power to the target but...he wants these thumpers so i loaded him a handfull so when we can get together he can see first hand if he really wants more loaded.

i have both 2400 and some 4198 powder so will experiment with them for myself...thanks for the tips.

i was just wondering if anyone else has fussed with these slammer hummers and sounds like there are a few maniacs like myself out there....thanks

i also agree with the "can get the job done IF you can" idea. it is my premis that the round can be the very ray of death but... if you cant stand behind it and deliver it to where it needs to do the job...just as well be shooting a BB gun.

[ole 5 hole group]

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/45-70-govt/87793-crater-bullet-load-data-jae-bok-young.html

[6pt-sika]

I got a LNIB Marlin 1895 45-70 that was made in 1972 the first year they brought the 1895 back out . Well the original stock has a curved hard rubber buttplate . So after messing with that thing for a year I took another stock I had that was just like it but cracked slightly and fixed the crack glass bedded it inside the tang and added a KickEez 1" recoil pad . Now I can shoot most anything and it isn't bad from the bench .

As to big heavy's for the 45-70 .

My first was the no longer made BRP 462-465GC with 44.5 grains of H322 it chronographed 1631 FPS and was accurate at 100 yards .
BRP also made a 462-520GC mold that I never did get a copy of before they went out of buisness . Now I wish I had !

The second mold I've worked with is a BallistiCast 462-550GC pushed with 39 grain of H322 . That one clocked 1504 FPS and shot decent at 100 yards also .

If a person can shoot a 375 H&H MAG okay from the bench they can shoot either of these loads in my rifle okay as well . They may work in others folks rifles I do not lnow . But they worked fine in the one I own .

[ole 5 hole group]

Now I can shoot most anything and it isn't bad from the bench .

I guess one just has to know your definition of "bad", as a 45/70 or 450 with 550 grain bullets at 1500/1600fps shot from a bench is definitely not enjoyable.:D

[6pt-sika]

I guess one just has to know your definition of "bad", as a 45/70 or 450 with 550 grain bullets at 1500/1600fps shot from a bench is definitely not enjoyable.:D

I've spent a great deal of time shooting magnums from the bench working up loads . 300's and 338's are the smaller ones . Several 375 H&H MAG's a 416 REM MAG or two , a 416 Rigby and the old war horse a 505 Gibbs . And am now in the process of getting a friends 338 Lapua going (the Lapua is nothing more then a 338 Ultra Mag I might add) .

But anyway it's all relative . A person that shoots 30-30 all the time will think a 444 with a 265 grain cast bullets is a whomper . A person that shoots an 06 all the time will thinka 338 WIN MAG is a whomper .

I will say a Remington Stainless Synthetic Model 7 in 308 WIN kicked the fire outta me when I first started working up loads for it a few years back . Also a Ruger #1H I had in 458 WIN MAG with my powerhouse 510 grain jacketed loads would stand you up from the bench (needless to say the 458 went DOWN THE ROAD).

But my 45-70 with the 550 grain load is not bad at the bench with the recoil pad , and not bad in hunting situations with the stock hard rubber buttplate .

I have a circa 2001 Marlin 444SS I restocked with a nice piece of walnut from Macon Gunworks . This thing has a monte carlo and a 1 1/2" KcikEez pad as I set it up for 400grain plus bullets and it isn't bad from the bench either . Matter of fact I was shooting some of "Mt Sourdoughs" 434-420GC Huckleberry bullets from it last wednesday and will shoot some more this wednesday as long as it doesn't rain .

[6pt-sika]

FWIW , the bullets I cast for my 45-70 are plain old wheelweight alloy from wheelweights I got almost 10 years ago .

When I cast these big boys they all get water quenched . They also are lubsized in a .461" Buffalo Arms die and checked with Gator Checks .


"If" I were in an area that was full of Brownie's or Grizz I think I would add some Linotype like at least 1/3 to my alloy and still water quench . But other then that I'd do the same as the way I worked the loads up for use around here on targets , deer and blackies .