Inline FabricationRepackboxMidSouth Shooters SupplyRotoMetals2
Load DataLee PrecisionWidenersTitan Reloading
Reloading Everything
Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 21 to 30 of 30

Thread: Recommendation for for 45-90 elk boolit

  1. #21
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Mar 2021
    Posts
    299
    Quote Originally Posted by hpbear101 View Post
    My dad used the Gould 330HP/457122 in 45-70 (1886 smokeless) for all of his elk hunting and never had a problem (he always took neck shots no matter what caliber). The Gould was the go to 45-70 hunting bullet of the past and I see no reason why it wouldn't perform in the 45-90. Keep in mind that at BP velocities the 45-70 or 45-90 isn't all that flat shooting out to 200 yards so be prepared to make appropriate sighting adjustments over that distance. I have dad's molds to include the 457193 and 457122, as well as the Lee 405HB and 340FP, all shoot great in my original 1886 45-70s and all would be adequate for elk at appropriate distances.

    Your second question was a recommendation for best quality 405 grain bullets. I shoot mostly my own cast bullets but I do like Lasercast as well in a variety (to include .45) of calibers, however if you are shooting BP I would look for a 405 with appropriate BP lube (Montana Precision Swaging and probably others). For smokeless loads I think you will find most of the commercial cast bullets will be just fine, BP loads will require an appropriate BP lube (SPG most common).
    Thanks for the info.

    Yea my "plan" to be proficient at 200 is yet a dream with this gun. I just figure if I get a mold I ought to get one that would do the job for the outer limits, should I get there.

    I am testing out BP on my MBC bullets tomorrow to see what happens. They're about 0.002" under groove diameter, so hopefully they seal ok. I lubed them with emmerts. Probably not enough velocity for good expansion on game with that hard of bullet though.

    I was looking at some of the offerings at BACO. Looks like they have a 20:1 alloy bullet with BP lube (spg, I think).

    I think Montana bullet works might also do a softer alloy, but can't remember.

    If I can't find any soft alloy bullets I want to go with, I'll just do the regular hardball ones that are offered, like what I have from MBC, and shoot a duplex. That's what I have been shooting those with and it works well.

  2. #22
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Outside Rolla, Missouri
    Posts
    2,170
    On my Shiloh Sharps in 45-90 the difference between 100 yards and 200 yards is 20 clicks up on the Browning hunters tang sight. That's shooting a 480 gr. bullet over 80 grs. of BP so obviously it won't be the same with lighter bullets over smokeless. But the adjustment is going to be quite a bit.
    "In general, the art of government is to take as much money as possible from one class of citizens and give it to another class of citizens" Voltaire'

    The common virtue of capitalism is the sharing of equal opportunity. The common vice of socialism is the equal sharing of misery

    NRA Benefactor 2008

  3. #23
    Vendor Sponsor

    Chill Wills's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Was-Colorado, Wyoming now
    Posts
    3,149
    For hunting with BP cartridge rifles - meaning a lot of bullet drop, start by sighting in at 150 yards -this is never a mistake for elk.

    You can adjust this to to fit your real world load and rifle after sighting in and then shooting at 50y, 100y and 200y to see where the holes go! Maybe 125 yards with your load and a max of 175y as your limit - point blank range - is better. You just have to see.

    I have hunting experience with BP and the 45-70 Govt. and this has worked out for me. I have five 45-90's. All singleshots set up for NRA target matches and being very heavy rifles, I never even considered hunting them. Really, out in the field, making hits on large game, the 45-70 and 45-90 are going to be very close and powder choice may even close the gap completely. A Win 1886 in 45-90 would be a top choice (BPCR) for a one rifle man hunting western game. This is as true now as it was 130 years ago. Especially your rifle with that 1 in 20 twist. As you know, that faster twist gives you the heavy bullet option for the larger game like elk and moose.
    Chill Wills

  4. #24
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Mar 2021
    Posts
    248
    Quote Originally Posted by Chill Wills View Post
    .......A Win 1886 in 45-90 would be a top choice (BPCR) for a one rifle man hunting western game. This is as true now as it was 130 years ago.......
    "Now that the buffalo have gone, and the Sharps rifle by which they were destroyed is also gone, almost all ranchmen use some form of repeater. Personally I prefer the Winchester, using the new model, with a .45-caliber bullet of 300 grains, backed by 90 grains of powder, or else falling back on my faithful old stand-by, the 45-75. But truth is that all good modern rifles are efficient weapons; it is the man behind the gun that makes the difference. An inch or two in trajectory or a second or two in rapidity of fire is as nothing compared to sureness of eye and steadiness of hand."

    - T. Roosevelt in "Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail", 1888.

  5. #25
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Outside Rolla, Missouri
    Posts
    2,170
    I started hunting with black powder cartridges back in the 80's. Where I was living/hunting determined what I sighted the rifle for. As I almost exclusively hunt the woods here in Missouri and hunted the timber when we lived in Wyoming the 100 yard sight in was more than adequate. Farthest shot I ever had was about 125 yards and that was on the other, eastern side of Wyoming from where we lived. In Missouri a LOT of my dead game could be measured in feet.
    "In general, the art of government is to take as much money as possible from one class of citizens and give it to another class of citizens" Voltaire'

    The common virtue of capitalism is the sharing of equal opportunity. The common vice of socialism is the equal sharing of misery

    NRA Benefactor 2008

  6. #26
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Mar 2021
    Posts
    299
    There's lots of great advice here. Thanks for the help everyone.

    I don't think a mold is in my immediate future, but this has given me a lot to think about.

  7. #27
    Boolit Bub YippyKiYay's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2021
    Location
    Texas By Gawd
    Posts
    65
    I have taken a few heard with 2 different 45-70's. A GORGEOUS Ruger #1 liked Lee 405Gr HB cast from WW's or Lyman #2. My Marlin likes 300gr REmington HPs, with a healthy dose of 3031 behind it. One of my few Bang Flop's was with the 45-70 Marlin.

    Good luck with your elk, I drug my feet on getting in draw paperwork, hoping for 2022.
    Yip

  8. #28
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    151
    My .45-70 rifles are all original Springfield trap doors. My .45-90 is an original Winchester 1886. I also have an original Sharps .45 Express for which I load using .45-90 brass (a little bit short, but it works just fine).

    I have three molds, Lee C459-500F, Lee 459-405F, and Lee 459-340F. Cast with wheel weights they all drop at .460" and I lube and load them without sizing. In the .45-90 my hunting load is the 340-grain cast of wheel weights and leaving the muzzle at about 1400 FPS. I have taken 3 Colorado elk with that load (a nice bull and two good cows), all at estimated 50-80 yards, all heart-lung shots, all full penetration with exit wounds, and all on the ground within a hundred feet of the spot they were shot.

    I have never recovered the bullet from such kills so I can't talk about any expansion that may or may not have happened. One shot was at a slightly quartering angle, punched through a rib on entry, through the lungs, and broke the off-side leg on exiting.

    Within reasonable range a .45 slug in the boiler works will get the job done much better than many other choices. I wouldn't over-think it, just find the load your rifle likes to shoot well and do your part on the hunt.

  9. #29
    Boolit Master Win94ae's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Posts
    585
    Quote Originally Posted by HighUintas View Post
    Mine is a new manufacturer rifle, so the twist is a 20. I have an accurate load with the Missouri bullet company 405 grain bullets I mentioned in my first post. So if need be, I can definitely use that but was wondering about the max range of that bullet given a certain velocity.that load has a muzzle velocity of just under 1500 feet per second.

    I agree on sectional density and penetration being important. In my '06 I like to use the regular cup and core bullets, but go heavy for caliber and not push them too fast. That seems to give a very good mushroom and penetration on elk. This being my first go around with large bore cast bullets though, I'm still trying to learn about the heavier bullets ability to penetrate. I haven't been able to find any information on whether you get generally the same amount of penetration for a given sectional density throughout all different caliber bullets, or if you would tend to get more penetration from a larger caliber bullet of a given sectional density. I was thinking the latter might be true, but not sure.

    I don't think I'm in a position to actually get a mold and pot yet, so maybe I'll get some lighter and heavier bullets on my next order and do some testing
    Here is a video on the subject.



    Just go to 3:36 on the video.
    Last edited by Win94ae; 06-29-2021 at 03:00 PM. Reason: edited the video time

  10. #30
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    State of Denial
    Posts
    4,212
    HighUintas,

    My Dad's the buffalo rifle addict in the family. From what I've seen in his various .45-70 & longer family rifles, the RCBS 405 FN GC is a consistently accurate performer in anything we've shot it in, and it does have a very wide following. True, it's more of an LFN than a WFN, so while it won't "thump" quite as hard, it will probably fly truer past 150 yards than the "school bus nosed" bullets will. Got to watch him kill his 2014 San Bernardino Mountains buck with a pair of them at about 1900 fps from a Marlin '95 (Dad misinterpreted the reaction from the first fatal hit and killed the deer twice inside of ten seconds)

    The gas check will give you a bit more flexibility with hot loads combined with softer alloys, but with harder stuff, I've seen it do sub-MOA across several platforms. If gas checks aren't your thing, plenty of choices with that general profile in plain-base format.
    WWJMBD?

    In the Land of Oz, we cast with wheel weight and 2% Tin, Man.

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check