Hornady 45 Cal .458 325 gr FTX®

[GregLaROCHE]

Has anyone had experience with this bullet in a newer 1895 Marlin In .45/70.?

My son who lives in Alaskan Brown Bear country said he would like to reload some of these. Anyone have experience with these new bullets and can give advice of powders and loads. I always used to use 3031 in mine behind 405 grain bullet, but times Have changed and maybe someone can tell us something better to use today for this high tech bullet.
Thanks.

[ATCDoktor]

I’ve done some cursory load testing with them and find them to be very accurate in my Guide guns.

Be advised, the Flex Tip and the location of the cannelure will require the use of the factory “shortened” Hornady Brass to get it to feed from the magazine.

Absent having Hornady brass he could shorten his own brass by .060” to get them to feed.

Thing is once he shortens his brass he may not be able to crimp them using his bullet seating die.

I used a Lee Factory Crimp die for mine and it took care of that issue.

[Warhawk]

I shot a big Kansas whitetail with the leverlution factory loads that use this bullet.hit him in the shoulder and the bullet broke up. I found a chunk of the lead core that weighed 178 grains in the far side rib cage. It was the only deer I’ve ever shot with a 45-70 that didn’t give complete penetration.

I’d go with something with a LOT stouter bullet for grizzlies, probably from Buffalo Bore or Garrett.

[Rick B]

I would consider the 325 FTX to be a very poor choice for bear protection. Most plastic tipped bullets are designed for rapid expansion, and thus have limited penetration abilities. Buffalo Bore and Garret load heavier hard cast bullets. A cast bullet will outperform most commercially available bullets, in regards to penetration. I would recommend a 405 grain cast bullet pushed by Reloader 7 or 3031.
Rick

PS Lived in Alaska most of my adult life. Shot a number of moose broadside with traditional jacketed bullets in a .338 W. Never had a pass through. The last moose was taken with a 400 grain soft cast bullet @ 1500 FPS. Complete broadside pass through, knocked the bull off his feet.

[yovinny]

They shoot like match ammo for me,, I was amazed.
Never had a 45-70 load shoot bug holes or cloverleafs before.

Then I tried them hunting and had 3 in a row loose their jacket and go to pieces on deer ribs....DEER RIBS !!!

This isent the first hornady complete failure I've seen,, on game bullets or otherwise.. Their 68gr 223 match bullets are known to vaporize on the way to the targets, if pushed to 5.56 velocity.

[c0wb0y84]

They shoot like match ammo for me,, I was amazed.
Never had a 45-70 load shoot bug holes or cloverleafs before.

Then I tried them hunting and had 3 in a row loose their jacket and go to pieces on deer ribs....DEER RIBS !!!


How fast were you pushing them? I ask cause I was gonna try some on deer this year.

[c0wb0y84]

Thing is once he shortens his brass he may not be able to crimp them using his bullet seating die.

I used a Lee Factory Crimp die for mine and it took care of that issue.

I read a few places that the lee FCD wouldn't work on the shorter cases. If this is not the case and it does work then that is fantastic news. Figuring out how to crimp the shorter cases and a lack of time is what's been holding me up from loading some of these bullets. I hadn't tried it bc everyone was saying it wouldn't work. Now I'm gonna have to try it.

[yovinny]

How fast were you pushing them? I ask cause I was gonna try some on deer this year.

Hornady factory loaded ammo, out of a standard 22" 1895. Shots between 50 & 100yds.

One was the weirdest thing Ive probably ever see deer hunting... a quartering shot at about 75yds. Hit right behind the shoulder about dead center for height. The bullet lost its jacket on contact and just the jacket skidded along the outside of the ribs just under the skin.
It left a literal 'side wall bubble', like you would get in an old bias ply tire, for about 12" down the side of the deer. The core fragmented and peppered the inside from lungs to intestines. I recovered the peeled jacket, but found no core fragment bigger then about half a 22lr.

Edit,, I should add, deer was not pumped up before hand, but ran a good 400+yds with hardly a blood trail.. I just lucked out even finding it.

[yovinny]

If I knew how to post pics here,, I have 2 of the failed ftx jackets on my loading bench.
The 'bubble' one twisted up pretty good, the other looks like a advertisement photo for the perfect front third mushrooming,,, but is just an empty jacket, as again the core slid out and fragmented to tiny pieces.
The third one, or actually the first that was shot, was lost to the coyotes....

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I've loaded Accurate 2015 under the Barnes Original 300 gr bullet with excellent accuracy and great penetration on a dozen or more elk and a moose, found a couple under the hide but fully mushroomed in one -piece. The Barnes Original is Pure lead with a thick pure copper jacket and stays together. I did shoot a deer with the 300 gr Hornady - it came apart badly. I would look for the Swift 350 A-frame for close-up grizzly or bison.

[beltfed]

As per others, for that Brown Bear protection, definitely a stout load with a
Cast Flat nose bullet in the 400 grain area is way to go.

Since deer experiences with that 325 FTX was mentioned.
It is noted that after many years of one shot one kill/complete pass thru on deer with
my M 86 Win / 385 gr cast of 9+1 COWW/Lino over 48 gr 3031 or 50 gr Varget,
I picked up a Marlin Guide gun. Darned heavy recoil with above load.
Now for the GG, I load an RCBS 300gr FN over that Varget or a Re7 load.
Excellent accuracy. ( WLR primers)
I have not shot a deer yet with the 300 FN bullet, but I have complete confidence that it will do the job nicely.
beltfed/arnie

[lowground]

I have a box of the 4570 FTX but not tried on whitetails as yet. Really appreciate the info from the guys who have tried them on whitetails. I may use these up on ground hogs. Attached photo of NOE 460-315RF with check recovered from whitetail last season. Load was 40gn RL7. Chrono says 1675-1700 fps in my 1895. Cast of half WW and half pure with a bit of tin. Hardness = 8.5BN from buddies tester. Retained weight 261 grains. Shot taken was quartering hard away from elevation above at 70 ish yards. Entry was just above rear rib high taking out close to ten inches of vertebrae bones and recovered off side in hide under chin. Buck was DRT and DNF(Did Not Flutter).
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