Harden or not

[threett1]

Just got a new toy, a Guide Gun in the high and holy 45/70. Its about 99% and has XS sights on it. Love it. The question is-if I go hog hunting with it, should I water drop my WW boolits or just air cool? I like my Gould hollowpoint mold, casts about 340gr with straight WW. Never have hunted pigs before but planning a fall hunt and wondering. Thanks :castmine:

[mooman76]

I couldn't swear by it but I think most 45-70 like soft bullets. Mine won't shoot hard ones, they key whole but then again mine is an old one. (Trapdoor)! You might just have to mould a few and see how they shoot!

[44man]

Other then the soft boolits, if your gun prefers them, it all depends on the meplat with the harder boolits. A large flat nose can be hard but a round nose or pointier boolit should be soft.

[Wayne Smith]

threett1

With the Gould mould you don't want to go too hard. ACWW is hard enough, and a 16-1 lead/tin is fine. How fast are you pushing them? That mold is a plain base, isn't it? The bullet will obdurate to fit the throat and squeeze down to the rifling and that's what you want. I'm guessing you won't be pushing them past about 1800fps.

I'd keep them soft. Remember, a 500 gr. 20-1 bullet @ 1600 will pass completely through a buffalo. Your 340 gr HP soft will probably pass through a deer and do a job on a hog if it doesn't open up too fast.

[buck1]

I would Air cool If ity were me. ...Buck

[threett1]

I will probably push them 1500-1700 if I can get them to shoot. First time out didn't look to promising. Got a couple others I'll try too.

[Newtire]

Hi threett1,
I would just air cool the WW. Don't know if I would use the hollow-point. I hear alot about pigs being akin to Rhinos but really haven't seen it. They aren't that big of an animal even at 300 lbs. I mean to say that your bullet will just go right thru them. If you want it to open a little then use air-cooled. The 45-70 will be a great choice. A .444 anchors them right now.

[Dale53]

I have just recently purchased a Lyman Gould 330gr HP for my recent purchase Ruger #3 in 45/70. I plan to hunt deer with it this coming fall. I think that I'll use 10% duplex (RL-7) with Swiss 11/2Black Powder. I haven't yet shot this combination in THIS rifle, but it has a good history with me (duplex). My bullets are 25/1 lead/tin and I GUARANTEE that they'll expand on a deer. I wouldn't be afraid to use on any hog that I might have to, either. Soft lead (re: 25/1) tends to expand but hold together without fragmenting. My load should give me about 1500 fps and that is plenty for what I have in mind. The duplex load will allow me to use this soft bullet without problems with accuracy, slumping, etc. and still give me enough velocity to do what I have in mind.

Just a thought or two...

Dale53

[threett1]

I have a Handi Rifle that shoots the Gould bullet great. It put 2 deer down right now last fall. I was using AA2230C and couldn't have asked for more. Going about 1450-1500fps. Might try to push a little harder in my guide gun and see what happens.

[drinks]

3t1;
Going by what friends with Marlins tell me, the first thing to do, if you are going to speed it up, is buy a good slipon recoil pad!

[threett1]

I can see a decelerator in my future.

[lovedogs]

I really don't know why you'd want to push them as fast as you said. They'll work fine anywhere above 1200 FPS. You might want to just try 'em soft. If they don't shoot well enough or lead full length of the bbl. you could harden them up. If they're a tight fit they should work fine without having to harden.