What 45-70 Mold

[Woody]

I'm on a real low budget (under $60), and want to cast bullets for my 1895 Cowboy for shooting big deer and black bear at up to 225 yds. I'm thinking that I want 1800-1900 fps and 325 - 405 gr. Should I use gas ck? And what mould? I would prefer a 2 cavity and to cast with Lyman #2 alloy.
Woody

[725]

Right now, Lee has on their web site in the close-out section some returned Ranch Dog moulds for the .45-70. For about $21 + shipping, you could roll the dice and see what shows up. I think many were returned because of a loose gas check fit. If I got one of those, I'd make it into a plain base mould by removing the GC feature. Or just lap out the GC area to a larger fit for GC's. Either GC or PB .45-70 is big medicine for bear and deer. RD moulds have a superior reputation for design and at that price, you might just luck into something. Others here should pipe in and give advice on this one.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Tight budget pretty much spells Lee. They have a number of good moulds in tha calibre. The 405 seems to be the pick of them for me for hunting, if you don't do any good on the Ranch Dog.

The 45/70 will lob em easily a 225 Yards, but the bullet drop in these punkin rollers is impressive. I'd be getting in a little (Actually, a lot) of practice at the longer ranges using picnic plate targets and also practicing range estimation. Wouldn't hurt to go hiking in the hunt area with a topographical map and a GPS, get used to the ranges. If you are going to hunt from a stand, I'd mark out trees at certain ranges so I could have it all ready for the hunt.

Good luck, nothing like a deer in the freezer to help balance the budget.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

+1 on the Ranch Dog molds at Lee's surplus site , they were returned to Lee because they were out of spec. Not bad, I'm hearing some folks say they drop at about .458, they were supposed to be.460 . The design was built around the Marlin Lever 1895 and they "Shoot" I have two of them and I am impressed , I have other molds, but I'm shooting these now with great results. As stated above, if the boolit drops a bit undersized, you can lap the mold.
You won't find a better mold w/handles for the money.

[Bret4207]

Tight budget pretty much spells Lee. They have a number of good moulds in tha calibre. The 405 seems to be the pick of them for me for hunting, if you don't do any good on the Ranch Dog.

The 45/70 will lob em easily a 225 Yards, but the bullet drop in these punkin rollers is impressive. I'd be getting in a little (Actually, a lot) of practice at the longer ranges using picnic plate targets and also practicing range estimation. Wouldn't hurt to go hiking in the hunt area with a topographical map and a GPS, get used to the ranges. If you are going to hunt from a stand, I'd mark out trees at certain ranges so I could have it all ready for the hunt.

Good luck, nothing like a deer in the freezer to help balance the budget.

Ditto on the "lobbing" with the 45/70. 225 yards is stretching it as far as drop goes with boolits traveling 500 fps faster and with a sharper nose. Better learn your drop to a "tee" or cut you range.

I like Lee's 340 gr FN and the Lyman Gould 330 gr HP.

[Woody]

I have the 350 gr 460 RNFP from Lee on order. It was a closeout. I hope it is a ranchdog design. Sizing will be my next order of business, if I need to, I guess that I can open up a 457 Lee sizer to the correct dia.
Woody

[Trifocals]

My good friend Georgewxxx, who also posts on this forum, introduced me to the 457122 Gould bullet quite a few years ago. I shot a 5 shot 200 yd group with his Shiloh Sharps that could be covered with a half dollar (3 in a cloverleaf). On several occasions since, I have shot this same ammo in several on my own .45-70's and his load with the Gould bullet groups amazingly well. I don't know what powder he uses for that load but i think it is 4198. George has the data recorded. This load shoots like voodoo magic with the 457122 Gould bullet. If you want to know more, contact George. I'm sure he will be happy to share his info.

[Old Ironsights]

If you have a 45-70, the FIRST mould you should have is a Gould. After that, it's situation specific.

But the Gould is to the 45-70 as the 358156 is to the 38/357...