Round Ball .45-70 Loads

[Hipshot]

Can anyone give me some .45-70 round ball loads that I can use in a Marlin M1895? I have 3 boxes (300 balls) of 457 round balls, some Hornady and some Speer. Gotta shoot them off as I have them and they were FREE !!!

Thanx in advance !
Hipshot

P.S. I KNOW, I KNOW--------I HAVE A LOT OF BALLS !:-D

[skeet1]

Many years ago I used to have an 1873 Springfield that I shot round balls in using 2400. I don't remember how much powder I used but I do remember that they shot quite well.

Skeet1

[beagle]

Hit the castpics site and look for the Round Balls article. Should get you jump started. RBs and especially multiple RB loads in the .45/70 ar a bunch of fun to shoot.beagle

[HEAD0001]

I shoot 3.5 grains of Red Dot in my 1885. It is a great gallery load, and I can hit a 2 inch gong at 50 yards off my porch. I shoot this load on Sunday when I do not wamt to make a lot of noise. Tom.

[August]

Eight to ten grains of Unique ought to do you.

[725]

My favorite is 9 gr unique. Tooooooooooooooooo much fun. Don't even have to resize the case. Prime with a standard primer, thumb a RB over the case mouth, fit with a set of caliper pliers so the RB is half way into the case (half showing outside), and you're loaded. Just be careful that the pliers don't contact the primer. Never had a problem, don't want one. No filler required either.

[Hipshot]

THANX GUYS,

Keep them coming !

Hip:-D:-D

[curator]

The old .45-70 "prison-guard" load with round ball was 40 grains of FFFg black powder, a felt wad and three (!) .457 round balls. If you vary the charge a little bit, the top ball is in perfect position to crimp, slightly more than half way into the case. I have made them up using unsized but fired brass, and the three balls slide nicely down into the cases. This is surprisingly effective out to about 75 yards with all three balls usually hitting within a few inches of one another. Think about it, an instant three-shot group with each shot! 10 grains of Unique works about as well but the top ball is below the mouth of the case. A few drops of melted wax will hold them in place if not roughly handled.

[CalFred]

5 grains of Unique will do.

[jimkim]

Here is an Ed Harris post from the CBA forum.

For better accuracy you want a ball about .003-.004 larger than than groove diameter so that it will squeeze down a bit and have a short, cylindrical bearing surface to engage the rifling.

In the .45-70 Trapdoor I shot thousands of plinkers load with a .462 roundball cast of wheelweights, pushed flush into the case mouth and lubricated by smearing a pea-sized dab of with white lithium grease over the ball charged with 8 grains of 700-X.

No filler is needed.

Similarly in the .44 Magnum revolver load 5 grains of 700-X with a .433 ball

In the .357 magnum I load 4 grs. of 700-X with a .360 ball

In the .38 Special load 3 grs. of 700-X with .360 ball

In the .32 H&R Magnum load 2 grs. of 700-X with a .316 ball

In the .32 Smith & Wesson Long load 1.5 grs. of 700-X with a .316 ball.

In the .32 ACP load 1 gr. of 700-X with a .316 ball.

You can also substitute Bullseye, Clays, or Red Dot with these charges.

[Clark]

Chamfer the inside of the case mouth until sharp.



1/2 gr Bullesye or Unique.

Cut wads with the case mouth with a board under the press die threads.

Compress wads down into the case until the powder is compressed.



Push the ball down inside the case until it compresses the powder.

Compress bullet until it forms a cylinder shape.

Adjust load until .1 gr below being a loud BLAM.
The bullet should make more noise hitting the target than the gun makes....like a BB gun

The amount of powder will vary with the length of barrel.
The idea is to get the peak pressure as high as possible with muzzle gas pressure below super sonic acceleration.

This load is good for shooting animals, like raccoons, in the back yard in the sub-urbs where shooting and sound suppressors are illegal.


You can leave the ball in the case mouth and it will make the same sound, but bounce off wood.
The ball seated deep is quiet like a BB gun, but will go through an inch of wood.

[NickSS]

I shoot RB loads all the time in my 45-70s. I cast my own 457 balls from soft lead and coat them with LLA. I then load between 5 and 15 gr of Red dot in the case and push the ball down on top. I use 5 gr for 50 foot shooting, 10 gr for up to 50 yards and 15 for up to 75 yards. They give good accuracy. Also I have used 5 and 10 gr loads of FFG black with good results. There is almost no smoke with the 5 gr load.

For even more fun I load the old guard cartridge using 40 gr FFFG and three balls. Sometimes I load the same charge with two balls and a lyman 300 gr LFP slug. Both loads shoot well at 50 yards and will almost always be on a 12 inch target at 100 yards. Sort of an instant buckshot load.

[Lloyd Smale]

weve shot a ton of them with 3 grains of bullseye. Its a ball. I guess my thoughts are that there made up as a cheap fun load so why put 5 or 10 grains of powder in the case to do the same thing that 3 grains of bullseye will do.

[725]

This thread is going to make me go out and load a few. It's been awhile. Too much fun.

[hs45/70]

For short range work... 1.5 gr. Bullseye with one round ball placed directly on top of the powder 466...452..440 fps will shoot 1 inch/3 shots/ 25 yds..fairly quiet. Balls went through pallet board target was stapled to.

10.0 Gr Unique..cotton filler...1235...1274...1247 fps 3 shots/100yds/ 2.0 inch on avg.
Ball seated flush with case mouth and slite case rim crimp to contain ball.

14.8 Gr. Unique..cotton filler and two round balls..1472..1458..1498 fps 3 shots/6 holes/50 yds/2.5 inch on avg. Flush seating and slite case neck crimp applied also.

22 in. Ruger #3.......

[missionary5155]

YAHOOOOOO 45-70 and round balls ! I would start at 7 grains Unique and go up a half grain at a time .... Shoot rats .. rabbits.. ground hogs... then when you are real HAPPY :mrgreen: try shooting 2 balls at a time... works wonders on 50 yard coyotes, fox, and other type critters...
Then if ya feel like repelling boarders try 3 balls..... again start at 7 grains unique.
I tend to use uniuqe for a whole heard of interesting projects...
You would be surprised of some interesting concoctions OLD timers used .. :Fire:
I have not tried 4 balls ???