Neck size 45 70 only ?

['74 sharps]

Was wondering if neck sizing only is ok on a single shot 45 70. I think I read a post somewhere about doing this with a 45 Colt carbide die, then belling and seating as usual. Seems it would save a step with no lube necessary. My fired brass rechambers fine, so it looks like I do not need to full case resize. Thoughts are appreciated.

[c1skout]

Neck sizing should work fine, that's all my Lee loader does. Where you may have problems is the 45colt is .452 and 45-70 is .458

[mpmarty]

Your brass won't last long using an undersized die to size. You will be working it too much.

[stubshaft]

Just back off your FL die by about a half an inch.

[No_1]

The Redding 45/70 FL die set (P/N 80209) only neck sizes the first 5/8" or so of the case. First time I used them I was surprised to see this and contacted their customer support. The tech told me this is the way their dies prevent excessive sizing of the 45/70 brass which is noticeable by the pregnant look of the case after the bullet is seated. I have no problem chambering in any of my 45/70 guns.

[littlejack]

74 Sharps:
That is the only way I size my 45-70 cases for my Hiwall.
That way, you keep your brass to the fit size that it should be, your chamber. You will work the rest of the case far less.
There are a lot of BPCR shooters that only neck size.
Jack

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Yep, Like Stubshaft says, Just back off your die a bit.

Just make sure you size down far enough to assure a good consistant level of grip on the boolit.

I like to size down about the length of the seated portion of the boolit or a touch more.

I feel this also keeps the brass more centered in the chamber, which should be a plus in the grouping department.

If this were a bottle neck cartridge, I'd be expounding at great length on always sizing brass fired in your chamber and being loaded to again be fired in your chamber, the minimum amount possible that allows for good neck tension and allows for easy chambering, along with the reasons for doing so.

But for the 45/70, the above info should do you well.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[BABore]

You use a 45 Colt, Lee factory crimp die. You have to remove the crimp insert. The die has a carbide sleeve at the mouth that is supposed to resize a loaded 45 Colt round for easy chambering. It also does a nice job at sizing down cast boolits that are bigger than 0.452. The 45 Colt has a loaded case OD of 0.480 when 0.452 bullets are used. This also happens to be the perfect diameter to neck size a 45-70 case to for use with 0.459-0.460 diameter boolits. A necked sized case will be 0.002-0.003 under boolit diameter. The downside,at least with my RCBS press, is that the die is already in too low of a position even if its only in a couple threads. I ended up making a stop bushing to slide over a fired case. The ram can only stroke the case so far into the die before the stop bushing contacts the die bottom. I drop the sleeve over a fired case and size with no lube. Depriming is done with another die. Even with a die change, it's very fast.

[Dthunter]

Was wondering if neck sizing only is ok on a single shot 45 70. I think I read a post somewhere about doing this with a 45 Colt carbide die, then belling and seating as usual. Seems it would save a step with no lube necessary. My fired brass rechambers fine, so it looks like I do not need to full case resize. Thoughts are appreciated.

I have done this for years.
I use a redding neck die for 45-70.
The unfired portion of the case aids in alignment to the bore.
Plus, this also increases the life of the brass. Less sizing/longer lasting.

[bobthenailer]

I use the Redding 45/70 neck sizing die for my Browning BPCR with great sucess

[Hang Fire]

Only .45-70 brass I FLS is what was not fired in my SS rifle.

[rr2241tx]

Don't know what you're doing with your '74, but I don't resize my target/silhouette shooting brass at all. Just clean, reprime, reload and repeat. All boolits are slipfit by hand atop a compressed load of Holy Black and a .030 wad.

[truckboss]

You use a 45 Colt, Lee factory crimp die. You have to remove the crimp insert. The die has a carbide sleeve at the mouth that is supposed to resize a loaded 45 Colt round for easy chambering. It also does a nice job at sizing down cast boolits that are bigger than 0.452. The 45 Colt has a loaded case OD of 0.480 when 0.452 bullets are used. This also happens to be the perfect diameter to neck size a 45-70 case to for use with 0.459-0.460 diameter boolits. A necked sized case will be 0.002-0.003 under boolit diameter. The downside,at least with my RCBS press, is that the die is already in too low of a position even if its only in a couple threads. I ended up making a stop bushing to slide over a fired case. The ram can only stroke the case so far into the die before the stop bushing contacts the die bottom. I drop the sleeve over a fired case and size with no lube. Depriming is done with another die. Even with a die change, it's very fast.

What he said.I have a rcbs die set,I size my cases down to bout .002 under boolit dia.My die is almost screwed almost all the way out.My decapping pin is screwed bout 1/2 inch past the top of the die.This is for a marlin lever gun and has no problems feeding.