Lee 45 70 Cast 405 HB advice needed.

[Leadlauncher]

G,day,

Slightly embarrased with my first casting effort with the Lee 405 grn 45 70 HB. and also the first shots I fired through my Marlin 1894 (1975 model) JM stamped. Ran patches through before firing. Thought I did everything correctly, however the attached photo shows differently. This is at 50m with 13 grains Trail Boss, new Starline brass, cci 200 primers. Not crimped. Chronographed first round only at 976.3 ft/sec then chrono died.

Any ideas??

[CPL Lou]

What are you sizing your boolits to ? Alloy ?
Marlins prefer .459"-.460" diameter.
Also, your speed may be a bit slow for that boolits, try upping the charge to 14 grains.

CPL Lou

[Leadlauncher]

Not sure about the alloy CPL Lou. The Lee pot I purchased used already had a mixture in it. (He was casting bullets) I sized them to .459 with a Lyman lubesizer. I forgot to mention. That is 6 shots on that target. Photos show before & after sizing. Cheers171483171484

[GWM]

The boolits look fine. I think you should try 1. Larger size. 2. Harder alloy. 3. Heavier charges.
More tin in the alloy may give you larger size.

[Maven]

Ll, Coincidentally, I loaded a bunch of those yesterday over 12.5gr. Unique for my Marlin (Microgroove) as well. Although I sized mine to .459", which my rifle prefers, I seated them to 2.55", which it also prefers. The only suggestions I'd make would be to slug your bore and then determine which diameter to size to; or skip that and just lube and load those CB's unsized.

[Toymaker]

I think your issue is not enough velocity for that bullet. You need to boost it up to around 1,200 fps. BUT you do not want to exceed the recommended maximum load for Trailboss in the reloading manual. Trailboss has a VERY sharp initial pressure curve to kick the s**t out of that bullet at the start. Try around 23 - 23.5 grains of ADI 100. That's equivalent to IMR SR 4759 which has given me excellent results, but has been discontinued here in the States. You'll have to play to find the right spot for your rifle, but that's a pleasant load to shoot and can prove to be very accurate. H5744 is another good powder, but I don't know the ADI equivalent.

[17nut]

I would say alloy!
I have worn out a 405-459-HB mould and i'm working on my second, i think i littereally have cast a ton of those bullets.
From 20gr BP to smokeless in the 40kpsi range and from @600fps to 1750fps, in more than 10 different rifles.
My current is a Marlin 95 Cowboy and i run it with 12 grains of Tinstar (Vv equivalent to TrailBoss).
I cast 97% lead + 3% tin and that works from the slowest BP loading to 1600+fps.

The base pin can be modded to cast lighter bullets and i'm currently casting for my Webley .455 with a raised HB pin.

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm153/Chickenthief/Skydning/Marlin/R0011897_zps6s7fpkzi.jpg (http://s295.photobucket.com/user/Chickenthief/media/Skydning/Marlin/R0011897_zps6s7fpkzi.jpg.html)
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm153/Chickenthief/Skydning/Marlin/R0011893_zpsqylsxvet.jpg (http://s295.photobucket.com/user/Chickenthief/media/Skydning/Marlin/R0011893_zpsqylsxvet.jpg.html)

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm153/Chickenthief/Skydning/Webley%20revolver/R0012195_zps3hoo6l11.jpg (http://s295.photobucket.com/user/Chickenthief/media/Skydning/Webley%20revolver/R0012195_zps3hoo6l11.jpg.html)
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm153/Chickenthief/Skydning/Webley%20revolver/R0012196_zpslhkigqgg.jpg

(http://s295.photobucket.com/user/Chickenthief/media/Skydning/Webley%20revolver/R0012196_zpslhkigqgg.jpg.html)The Marlin cant be a 94 as it is a short action, Marlin only did the 45-70 on the 336 action and derivatives of it amongst those the 1895. In 1975 it was a 1:20" twist and that will stabilise the Lee 1.075" long boolit below 300fps!

Marlin barrel data:
http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/marlin-data/55823-marlin-bore-dimensions-different-models-calibers.html

Barrel twist formula:
http://www.bergerbullets.com/twist-rate-calculator/

So to hard alloy!

[Hunter2506]

Leadlauncher, had did you make out with this cast?