Marlin .45/70 ported Guide Gun circa 2002

[Doc Thornton]

Greetings All - I had a Marlin 1895SS - .45/70 already but I was fortunate
enough to run across a 2002 editon of the Guide Gun at a local gun shop.
I was not too sure about the port business but I felt that at $449 dollars I had
to bring it home. The previous owner who traded it in had smeared gun grease
all over it. Down in the sights, hammer spur, under the lever and along side
the reciever and barrel. It looked pretty crappy but it sure cleaned up beautifully
and the bore is very shiney with crisp ballard riffling.
It also had a one piece base and rings attached as well.
Sorry about the story, I'm just excited about it.

THE QUESTION- What would some reccomendations from the cognisenti
out there be in the way of a cast bullet mold in the 350 grain range?
What alloy should the bullet be composed of if fired in the mid teens velocity?

Other than punching paper the only hunting that I plan to do with either rifle
is for hogs or when I can afford the trip to Tennessee or visit relatives in
Alabama. At present I am shooting Oregon Trail 350 grain .45/70 bullets
at a moderate speed out of the 1895 SS (micro groove) and accuracy is good.
I would like to stay with the 350s or lighter bullets for target and trail.

ANOTHER QUESTION - when using liquid ALOX or XLOX is it only necessary
to have just a thin coating on the outside of the bullets? I have been using
a paint brush to glob ALOX in the grooves of some pistol bullets that I cast
and it stays in the groove real nice until later when a good deal of it runs off.
It does not seem like that skinny little coating could work.

Thanks - Doc T.

[Gee_Wizz01]

My favorite 350 gr boolit is the Ranch Dog 350 and it was designed for the Marlin. RD is out of business now, but you might be able to find one of his molds. If not, I think Swede might be making a version of it. Also Lee might come out with RD's designs.

As for the LLA or Xlox, I give the boolits two coats, and I dip them in the LLA. If you do a search, Ranch Dog has an excellent thread on the subject.

The RD 350 gives excellent accuracy in my Guide Gun and I highly recommend it.

G
]

[Jeff Davis]

I found that a 350 LFN boolit under a middlin charge of Accurate Arms 2495 gave gentle recoil and decent accuracy from one of my single shots that was sacrificed in the down payment of our first house. I can't find my record of the exact load, but I still have a few loaded rounds to try in my GG when it gets out of layaway.

I tend to find my loads by trying the Lee dippers to find as close to the beginning charge for the powder I am wanting to use. That strategy has never let me down and I usually find an accurate load without a lot of extra experimentation.

[Doc Thornton]

Thanks for the resposes. I guess that I am trying to come up with a bullet that will pretty
much do it all and not be too expensive to shoot. I have so many guns and do a lot of
reloading that I try to keep it simple now-a-days. I would like something in the mid to
upper 300s that would evolve into a Taffin like everyday workin' load. Some of these
loads would be going through the 1895SS with a MG barrel and some through the ported
stubby Guide Gun. There is a ton of interesting and useful info all over the Cast Boolits
forum so I guess the I will stop being lazy and enjoy looking around to see what I
can find.
I appreciate everyone sharing their experience and opinions with me.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

Other than punching paper the only hunting that I plan to do with either rifle
is for hogs or when I can afford the trip to Tennessee or visit relatives in
Alabama.

Thanks - Doc T.

You sure must have a tough relatives in Bama . . . are sure a 30-30 won't do!:bigsmyl2:

[Doc Thornton]

Shawn, yep, a 30.30 would do and I do happen to have an older Marlin in that cal.
I also have Marlins in .35 Rem, 44 mag, and 357 mag. I suppose any of them would
be just peachy but my current shooting fantasies lay with the .45/70s. I believe
that the .35 Rem would be my best bet but I would have to shoot over stricly
open sights since the rifle is from 1953 and the upper receiver has those nice
squiggly lines on top and it has never been drilled and tapped.

To quote a few lines out of context from The Who "I can't explain, I think it's love..."

Would it be possible to load three .457 muzzle loader lead balls wrapped in a paper
column into a .45/70 case and fire them without blowing yourself up? I've already been
blown up once, almost twice, and didn't like it. I have absolutely no use for
such a cartridge but the idea keeps creeping back into my idle mind. Please excuse me,
I am sure no other forum readers out there ever have such thoughts.

[Dan Cash]

I favor the Lyman "Gould: hollow point #457122. Mine casts out at 350 more or less from 30:1 alloy. I drive it with 70 to 75 gr of 2F GOEX. It will kill anything I find in North Dakota out to 200 yards. It is a bit light for Buffalo and probably light for Grizzley but those are not on the docket. If you prefer smokeless, 3031 or RL 7 should do the job.

[Shooter6br]

Try a Lee 340 if youcant geta Ranchdog 350

[Doc Thornton]

Dan,

Now we're talking. I looked up that bullet on the Buffalo Arms website, it's a hollow
point! Sounds worthy and interesting. While I do have a good supply of ffg Goex
I also have 3031 so I believe that I would go smokeless. Is your blackpowder load
compressed or does a shorter bullet like the #457122 give you enough space?

Doc T

[Doc Thornton]

Maybe I could get lucky if I posted in the "want to buy" forum for a RD .45 cal 350 gr'er.

[Bullshop]

I think I have a factory ported barrel (barrel only) put away if anybody need one.

[45-70marlin]

+1 Dan, I use the gould in my guide gun with 47.0 gr. IMR- 4895 and will tear one ragged hole at 100yds. I pan lube with the old standby nra 50-50. That bullet has been around for about 120 years so it must be good.