What's your .45-70 standardized lengths for reloading?

[Walstr]

I fooled around last year loading some cast pills [45-70-405 LYMAN Mold #457193, FLAT NOSE, Plain Base, Non Gas Chk, 0.458" to 0.459" Dia., Single Cavity] & the Lee FCD ['cause no crimp groove]. Now I'm ready to commit to a 45-70-405'ish boolit design, and started to categorize by length, my W-W resized brass. Seems <2.085" is going for sale to our 45-60 friends. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/images/icons/icon10.png Do you forsee any issues with keeping everything between 2.090" - 2.100" for reliable loading & crimping?

Oh yea, that's my new loading area, converted from my woodworking supply bins. Took me a while to realize, without infinite space, I had to make a life choice, like buying what little lumber I need & diving into my newest adventure. Thanks for watching. Wally

111573111574

[EDG]

You might mention your concern for lengths is due to shooting a tube magazine Marlin.

The 45-70 is really 2 or 3 different cartridges.
It began as a single shot round which has relatively little length restriction.
Then it made it to the 1886 Win and the Marlins old and new.

Your brass will change lengths when fired and resized. Your short cases can probably be stretched by expanding them over size about 1.25 deep then resizing and shooting. Or just shoot a few times. They should stretch.

Your rifle chamber is probably a bit longer than your longest brass. I would find a length that works in your rifle and use a
Lee factory crimp die to crimp all lenghts. Trim cases that get too long. Let the short ones stretch.

Your rifle will have to tell you if it is happy with your chosen lengths.
I have had a lot of 45-70s but never a Marlin or any other lever gun. My current rifles are single shots and length is set by touching the rifling with the bullets.
I do have several 336s in other calibers. The loaded round has to function through the rifle.
To keep the bullet in place you need to use the crimp groove. That pretty much sets your over all length.

[big bore 99]

Been working up lengths for my buffalo classic with 340,405 and 500 gr. I used some die blue on the bullets and just touched the rifling, then backed off .015-.020.
Is it better to engage the rifling on chambering? My new starline brass is about 2.095.

[Gillie Dog]

2.095 is my chosen length and Starline brass is usually right there as big bore 99 states.

I have yet to have any stretch to the max of 2.105 so trimming is very rare, if ever, and some are pushing 20 firings, that is the "straight" wall case helping out.

These are used in Marlin 1895s.

GD

[W.R.Buchanan]

Your main concern on case length with this round is the consistency of the crimp.

If they are all the same length then your Roll Crimps will be the same. Even a few thousandths won't make a significant difference.

If the cases are all different lengths like +/- .010 to .015 then your crimps will vary somewhat.

One way to get around this is to use a Lee Factory Crimp Die. It is not affected by minor differences in case length and will produce a consistent and strong crimp. This die works best on jacketed bullets that have a cannelure, but will work on Cast boolits as well.

Boolits like RCBS .45-405 RNFP and most Cast boolits for this round have a tapered crimp groove and are better served with a roll crimp, also the roll crimp won't work the case neck nearly as hard as the Lee Crimp will so your cases will last longer.

No one answer that fits all cases for this round. You kind of have to go with the flow and do what is necessary for your particular situation.

Randy

[big bore 99]

Thanks for the info. There is quite a bit of difference between the o/a length 3 cast boolits. Guess I'll need to reset when doing a batch of each. For a single shot, and you have a good snug fit in cases, is there any benefit in crimping at all? I've heard that with XMP5744 in 45-70 a good crimp will help with complete ignition? Can I use the 500 gr gc without a gas check on it? Thanks!

[dh2]

I base my length off of crimp in the grove for 45/70 because of use in my tubular Magazine of my marlin , but most are loaded to the data of mf my springfield trap door,