45-70 cast bullet mold for 1in 14 twist.

[Fastleo]

I'm as green as it gets to reloading and bullet casting with less than a year of experience under my belt. I have only been casting round balls for my muzzleloader and my 500 s&w Magnum. I am considering casting for my 45-70 Henry next. What molds do you recommend? Id prefer a gas check bullet mold. After I get this figured out I'll be asking suggestions for a .35 Remington mold.

Andy

[Scharfschuetze]

Andy,

First, welcome aboard! I hope that you enjoy your visits here and find what you need.

Second, 1 in 14 for a 45/70 seems pretty fast to me. I've only loaded the 45/70 in military 1 in 22 and civilian 1 in 20 twists.

One of the perennial favorites here for casting is the Lee 405 grain hollow base mould. It duplicates the original Frankford Arsenal boolit for the issue Trapdoor. Another good mould is the Lyman 457193 mould of about 405 grains. Both are plain base moulds and produce very good and accurate loads.

Good luck with your Henry big bore rifle.

For the 35 Remington, it would be hard to beat the RCBS 35-200 mould. It is a favorite of mine in the 358 Winchester and the 35 Whelen. It should work a treat in your 35 Remington.

[Victor N TN]

Andy,

I have 2 molds from NOE http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/ I have a 325 GC and a 405 GC. These or 4 and 5 cavity molds. One is 4 cavity aluminum, and the other is 5 cavity brass. I would suggest that you wander on over and look at what they have and what they can do custom work.

Welcome to the site. I hope you can find what you need.

[plainsman456]

Mine likes the 325 grain.

[Fastleo]

Is your 405g the one with the different pins so it becomes a HP?

[44man]

If it really is 1 in 14" (my BFR is) it will be right at home from 300 to as heavy as you can stand from recoil.
My favorite boolit is one I made at 317 gr but have shot to 420 gr with great accuracy. I see no reason to go heavier.

[Fastleo]

I'm sorry it's 1in 20.

[Leadmelter]

The 405gr RCBS is hard to beat.
Leadmelter
MI

[Scharfschuetze]

I'm sorry it's 1in 20.

That makes more sense. My 1 in 20 barrels, 1 in 22 also, stabilize 500 grain projectiles with ease. I haven't tried anything heavier though.

[44man]

I shot my 317 out of an original roller and had a one hole group at 50 yards. It was too low on the paper for hunting so I loaded my 500 gov't boolit from my Rapine mold and it shot point of aim. My friend shot many deer with it.
Those old guns are a lot of fun.

[masscaster]

Lyman #457483 400gr. GC for most shooting. Lyman #457406 is the 480gr. version of the same boolit design.

Jeff

[Andy]

I haven't reloaded for the 45-70 yet but I can attest that in the .35 rem you mentioned the 35-200 gas check rcbs mold shot very well in my marlin 20" microgroove 336. In all my reading on forums this was always the "go-to" bullet everyone mentioned and I can see why. I was able to consistently hold 1-1.5" 5 shot groups (5 groups at a time) or slightly better at 50 yards off bags with a 4x scope, max lyman manual loads of 3031 powder and 50/50 lube and hornady gas check. With a 1400 fps load of unique I could consistently hold 3/4" groups in the same conditions as above without gas checks. These loads hit only an inch or two low and right so they were useful plinking loads to save a little on gas checks/powder/recoil/brass life. Compared to other molds/cartridges I have tried I think it casts very nicely/easily for me with coww+2% tin and in my limited experience has been the easiest, most rewarding experience i've had with cast loads.

If you buy a .35 mold I think the majority of people would agree with me that you should start out with this one and try others only if it doesn't work out for you.

[Scharfschuetze]

If you buy a .35 mold I think the majority of people would agree with me that you should start out with this one and try others only if it doesn't work out for you.

Amen to that Andy.

[Fastleo]

I'm for sure going to get the rcbs 200gr GC mold. I'm still on the fence with the 45-70.

[Wayne Smith]

Don't need gas check in the 45-70 unless you have a stainless steel shoulder! Recoil is gonna stop you long before you go hard and fast enough to need a gc, at least with any boolit over about 320gr.

My standard recommendation is Lyman 457122 Gould HP. 320gr and the standard Eastern boolit for deer. You don't say where you are. My best friend just today came over and cast 150 457122's for his Marlin. It loves that boolit.

[country gent]

I would look for bullets 420 grns up to 500 grns ( and the 500s would be blunt roundnose to keep shorter length). In the lighter lever guns recoil with the heavier bullets and stouter loading ma be an issue. Alot of us shooting 500-550 grn bullets are doing it in 12 lb - 13lb rifles with 30-34" long barrels. The traditional carbine load specs with a 405 grn bullet should be effective and more so comfortable to shoot.

[725]

+1 for the rcbs 35-200. None better. For the .45-70, there are so many that work well. The 457122 Gould HP is legendary. A truly fine boolit. Any of the Ranch Dog molds 350 grainish work very well and one of my favorites is the 460-420. Mine cast out at 415 grains and are as accurate as anybody might wish for.

Welcome aboard.