Here's a rather odd question: I recently acquired my first 45-70 (a single shot Handi-Rifle) and though I have been casting and reloading for many years, I've never owned a 45-70 or loaded the caliber. I'm still at the early stage of collecting brass and finding dies for the Handi Rifle.
So, my question is have any of you ever tried loading .45 pistol bullets in a 45-70 rifle? I've scanned various forums and there's lots of bloviating about why this supposedly is a bad idea, but I haven't seen a single post so far from anyone whose actually done it!
At this point I should mention that over the weekend I slugged the bore with Cerrosafe (near the muzzle) and to my surprise, it slugged at .453! This is much smaller than the 46-70's nominal groove diameter of .458. In fact it's so small that I have various pistol bullet molds that will cast anywhere from .452 to .456. and would seem to provide an adequately snug fit. My different molds throw bullets from between 185 through 230 grains. I don't currently own a heavier rifle bullet mold.
Sooo... I'm going to try to throw some of my pistol bullets downrange and might report my results here, but in the meantime have any of you guys ever done this?
Best
Doc