Struggling with mold and sizer dia meter .45-70

[CourtenayBoy]

I've been hanging out here reading a lot for weeks now and I am right close to placing and order for a new .45-70 mold from Accurate Molds.

What I am stuck on is sizes. My Marlin 1895 Sbl slugs at .457 and I understand that most cast boolit perform better at slightly larger than groove diameter (.001-.003)

I want to order a Lee luber/sizer die so that I have that option of traditional lubing, but I've got a real hankering to powder coat as well. I gather when powder coating, that I may gain an extra thousandth or so in thickness.

So, my thinking is, order a sizer die in the neighborhood of .459 or .460 but I'm not sure which, and I'm stuck on what size to order my new mold in. For that, I lean towards .460, but maybe .459 is better because I want to cast super tough hard alloys for a grizzly bear round and I understand that may cast larger than what I order the mold at. There is also manufacturing tolerances in the neighborhood of +.002 that may happen.

It's a lot to digest, so if you can help me straighten this out, I'd appreciate it. I would love to get my stuff ordered so that maybe while I'm off through Christmas I can have a go at it.

Thank you kindly

Mike

[Bird]

What alloys will you be casting with? They are going to have an effect on the cast bullet.
I think I would go for a .458 dia mold, which is specified for use with clip on wheel weights. If the bullets cast at a 2 thou oversize at .460, they can be resized with the lee .457 dia enlarged to .458 or more depending on what works best. 1 or 2 thou reduction applied to wheelweight lead is not too much of a task. If you were using linotype you can figure on adding another 1 to 1.5 thou to the above size. If you try sizing .461 lino bullets down to.458, it requires a lot more effort, and a sturdy press.
Water dropped clip-ons may be hard enough. If you want harder bullets still, 3 parts clip-ons to 1 part linotype water dropped will put the bullets into the mid 20's bhn, and will keep the bullets to similar size as plain clip-on weights.

[country gent]

One way to gain understanding is doing. Pick up some bullets ( pre cast) and try them seeing what works in your rifle before ordering a mould. The Lee push thru sizers work real good and can be "adjusted to larger sizes fairly easily with a little polishing. Trac of the wolf, Buffalo arms, oregonctrail, laser cast and some others all offer cast sized and lubed bullets. Also a poat in swaping selling ( boolit exchange) might get you some samples. This gives an idea of what works and what you want to start with. In a hunting bullet super hard isnt always best. A good fit to the barrel with a bullet that obtrates to seal and is capable of expanding is more what your looking for. The expanded bullet will transfer more energy to the target. A bullet that dosnt expand but just passes thru into the hillside transfers energy to the hillside. Look at alloies in the 12-14 bhn range to start with. Velocities in the 1300-1400 fps range maybe a little more. A bullet with good sized metplat at 405-480 grns and plenty of lube. SHould be more than capable of what you want

[Tatume]

Where do you live? One of us may be close by. If you live near me (for example), I'll be happy to invite to come by and cast samples from several different molds. Then you can learn to cast, try different bullets, and even size them to several different diameters to try in your gun.

[CourtenayBoy]

Where do you live? One of us may be close by. If you live near me (for example), I'll be happy to invite to come by and cast samples from several different molds. Then you can learn to cast, try different bullets, and even size them to several different diameters to try in your gun.


I'm up North in God's Country, BC, Canada. I had an offer from another member to send me some boolits to try, but ITAR stops us from that.

Mike

[murf205]

I had the same problem only more so. My cast boolits were about 95-5% lead-tin and when I powder coated them they were .463. I couldn't run them through my Lyman 450 without running the risk of bending the linkage and stuck the 3rd one in the sizer die and had to give it a little nudge with a persuader to get it out. HOWSOMEVER.....Buckshot to the rescue with a .459 push through sizer die that is as slick as can be. Shoots like a dream in my Marlin CB and my sons Ruger #1. You will be hooked on his push through sizer the first time you use it.

[44man]

I'm up North in God's Country, BC, Canada. I had an offer from another member to send me some boolits to try, but ITAR stops us from that.

Mike
God created the beautiful country but liberals think they do better. Sorry for the rant but had many friends up there. They loved the gov't because they made more money when laid off then when working. Why it is dangerous to send hunks of lead is crazy. I had to jump through hoops to send boolit lube even after explaining I was sending wax. Dare not say bullet or boolit.
But most marlins are actually larger groove then .457". If that is what you have, .458" will do the trick. Lap a Lee die or have Buckshot fix you up. I see no problems with .459" either if rounds chamber. My Browning 45-70 slugs .459" and I have shot .464" out of it. A pound slug said it fits.

[SSGOldfart]

I'm still reading the thread so someone may have covered it already,you can resize after PC so don't count the pc size increases just run them through Lee sizer again or wait until your done with PC before you size. But my question is why a super hard load for bear?? I would have thought you'd want a heavy slow movers for bear,I'm still working up a idea load for the 45/70 Encore,for both bear and Elk

[44man]

Hard to answer, need penetration for sure but too much velocity might go wrong. Heavy and slower would work. Then a BP load with a softer boolit would still shine.
The hardest thing I work with is velocity and alloy with the 45-70 and that is with a revolver. I would prefer a pure boolit and some tin at BP velocities from a rifle. That near wiped out the bison from the earth.
I need harder for the revolver but that does not mean it works on game.

[CourtenayBoy]

I'm still reading the thread so someone may have covered it already,you can resize after PC so don't count the pc size increases just run them through Lee sizer again or wait until your done with PC before you size. But my question is why a super hard load for bear?? I would have thought you'd want a heavy slow movers for bear,I'm still working up a idea load for the 45/70 Encore,for both bear and Elk

Thanks for the input friend.

I want a tough bullet that will track straight when hitting heavy bone like our interior Grizzly have. You are correct though, heavy (400 grain +) slow movers are the ticket from what I have read

Mike