Which 45-70 bullet weight to start with?

[moredes]

I just picked up a Sharps 34" 45-70. Most of my shooting will be at 100-200yd, but I hope to work out to ~500-600yd. What bullet weights work best at those distances? I haven't shot a Sharps in years; I seem to recall 300-400gr and less were good for ~200yd, and 500gr were better for 500+ yards. Is that correct? I'll be tryin' to kill paper and steel with whatever I'm shooting.

Thank you.

[725]

I've had good luck with the lighter stuff out to 200 yards. Beyond that I've had to go to long and heavy to remain stable. Your memory,in my experience, is correct.

[Don McDowell]

Just keep it simple, go with the 500 gr or 535, and shoot nice iddy biddy groups all the way from 100-1000 and beyond.

[TCLouis]

I assume you are loading with smokeless. I could be wrong, but I would think one of his molds in the 375-425 grain range would suit your needs and It is nice to pour and drop 6 at a time.
See the Ranch Dog link at the bottom of the page here.

The RD 378 grain RNFP PB does well out of my RB with CCI LR and 22 grains of 5744, 23 grains with WLP. 23.5 grains of 4759 and the RCBS 325 grain RNFP PB (340 grains out of my alloy) does well in my 86 fired off with WLP. Both sized in .359 sizing die. Why .359" you ask . . . cause it works in long guns and contenders and I'm too lazy to size to more than one diameter.

Neither are barn burners, but one could shoot them all day due to the lack of recoil.

[rkwrichard]

I assume you are loading with smokeless. I could be wrong, but I would think one of his molds in the 375-425 grain range would suit your needs and It is nice to pour and drop 6 at a time.
See the Ranch Dog link at the bottom of the page here.

The RD 378 grain RNFP PB does well out of my RB with CCI LR and 22 grains of 5744, 23 grains with WLP. 23.5 grains of 4759 and the RCBS 325 grain RNFP PB (340 grains out of my alloy) does well in my 86 fired off with WLP.

Neither are barn burners, but one could shoot them all day due to the lack of recoil.

I like and use Ranch Dog's 45-70 bullets but they may be a poor choice for use in the Sharps. With some of the Sharps being built today you will have a hard time chambering a round loaded with a Ranch Dog Bullet. These bullets were originally designed to be excellent rounds for use Marlin rifles.

I am not saying this because I think the Ranch Dog's bullets are of poor design. I currently own and shoot both TLC460-425-RF and TLC460-35--RF Ranch Dog bullets.

The reason I think these may not be the best bullet is because they are larger in diameter .460 and since most modern sharps are designed for bullets in the .458 to .459 range the fit is not the best.

[NickSS]

For 200 yards with either smokeless or black all you need is a 300 to 350 gr bullet (as long as it has enough lube grooves for black powder. I use a RCBS 457-325- FP plain base bullet for this. A 400 gr bullet is good from zero to about 400 yards max then it falls appart compared to a 500 to 535 gr bullet. I have shot Lyman 535 gr Postels, and 500 gr 457125 for years with good luck. I have also had good luck with the SACO 425 535 gr semi pointed bullet. Any of these will work. For silhouettes use the 500 + gr bullets for everything if you are going to a full range match.

[EDK]

Which brand of Sharps are you reloading for? The rifling twist rate will determine what is accurate in your rifle.

Are you shooting black powder? You get into some different requirements there also.

You might want to go over to shilohrifle.com/forums and do a lot of looking and listening. They are an opinionated bunch of SOBs at times (Me included!) but the guys there are extremely good reloaders and shooters and more than willing to share their hard earned knowledge.

Get yourself a copy of Mike Venturino's SHOOTING BUFFALO RIFLES OF THE OLD WEST. You'll get a lot of basic information to answer some of your questions...and provoke a lot more.

:cbpour::redneck:

[lovedogs]

Much depends on the rate of twist. My wife and I shoot BC's with 1:20 twist and they shoot Saeco's 500 gr. and 350 gr. fine all the way to almost 900 yds. The 500 gr. works better at long range though. The 350's shoot flatter but the 500's are less affected by wind. Some guns won't stabilize the shortys at long range; we haven't experienced that. On calm days sometimes we shoot the shortys out to about 300 then switch to the 500's from there on out to the limit of our range, 876 yds. I have friends who shoot 405's all the way but when dealing with much wind our 500's do better. Load the 500's at 1200 FPS with 5744 and you have a pretty good all-around silhouette load.