45-70 at 200 yards

[SJB358]

Well, I blame Guy Miner for this, but I decided to try the 45-70 out at 200 yards with my current load. It is a 405 cast lead bullet made by (Onesonek AKA Dave), 40 grains of RL7, CCIBR2 and Starline brass. These come out of my Guide rifle around 1600 and are very accurate at 100. I had not shot them further till today..

I used the Montana sling and slung up using a hasty sling. Cranked the 1.25x4 VXR ALL the way up to 4X!!



The first three were the lowest triangle. I adjusted the scope the wrong direction and shot the group just above the first three..

Finally, after getting the scope corrected I fired the final three. I was very impressed with myself after those three.. Those danged 45-70 are tack drivers for little old lever guns.

If you haven't tried it, give it a whirl. It is a ton of fun and really enjoyable to shoot those old levers at distance. Don't worry too much about the bullet, even slow, they still get there (sorta like Dr. Mike :grin: )

 

[DrMike]

Yeah, and when they get there, they will do a heckuva job on whatever was being killed. Fine shooting, Marine. I think that 45-70 is what we were issued back in the day. :shock: :grin:

 

[buckfever]

All this 45-70 talk is starting an itch that might need to be scratched.

 

[DrMike]

Hard to resist when they shoot as well as they do.

 

[SJB358]

All this 45-70 talk is starting an itch that might need to be scratched.

They are very good rifles BF. I love the danged 45-70. As you can see, it is an accurate, hard hitting thumper and loaded and zeroed correctly, they will hit out plenty far. I'd love to tote that 45-70 somewhere along the coast of OR or Washington for them BIG elk!

 

[big rifle man]

Scotty, when I was involved in my club's schutzen matches I used a Pedersoli sharps 45-70 with 405 grain cast bullets and IMR4198. Velocity was roughly 1100FPS and there was quite an arc to the bullet at 200 yards. I used a flip up tang peep and a hooded front sight. Groups averaged 2-3 inches with that combination. That bullet is the perfect weight and performs great.

 

[SJB358]

Scotty, when I was involved in my club's schutzen matches I used a Pedersoli sharps 45-70 with 405 grain cast bullets and IMR4198. Velocity was roughly 1100FPS and there was quite an arc to the bullet at 200 yards. I used a flip up tang peep and a hooded front sight. Groups averaged 2-3 inches with that combination. That bullet is the perfect weight and performs great.

BRM, I agree with everything you said brother. Dave passed away last winter, but I have a bunch of bullets he casted for me, so until I kill something with them, I plan on running them with my current load. He made some excellent bullets and I failed at the opportunity to have him school me on his casting before he passed.

 

[joelkdouglas]

If I ever get stationed in Louisiana again I might have to get a 45-70. Louisiana evidently allows their use during "primitive weapon/muzzleloader" season!

 

[Elkman]

Nice!!!!! I have both 405's and 350's for mine. I need to shoot it a "lot" more.

 

[Guy Miner]

Good shooting Jarhead!

Guy

 

[LD375]

Looks great!..good shooting Scotty

 

[1Shot]

The 45-70 really shoots best at long range with BLACK POWDER and cast bullets. Loaded properly with the proper bullet lube on the 500ish grain bullets it will astound you how accurate a Sharps, Rem. rolling block or Win. high wall can be. I have a Sharps copy that will shoot the RCBS 500 gr target bullet which comes out 520 grs from my mix and lubed with my own homemade bullet lube loaded with black powder and does 1100 fps and will shoot 10 shots under 2 inches at 200 yards using the vernier open sights. I got the opportunity to go to an old strip mine once and shoot some looooooog range. Once I got my sites set I had no problem hitting a 1 foot square steel plate at 500 yards and a 4 ft plate at 1000 yards shooting prone with cross sticks. Shooting the Lyman 405 FN bullet that comes from my mix at 418 grs with BP I once won $100 from a smart mouthed fellow at the shooting range. I was getting ready to do some deer hunting with my Sharps 45-70 and the Lyman FN bullet really shoots at closer ranges and kills pretty good so I decided to use it. I stopped shooting to rest a bit and to walk up the shooting line to where a friend of mine had come in and set up to shoot. Some fellow that I had never seen before was set up beside him banging away with a Browning BLR in 308 Win with some cheep-o scope on it. My friend and I were talking and he ask me what I was shooting and how did it shoot. I told him what it was and that it would out shoot a good deal of modern rifles with scopes on them. The fellow beside him that we did not know just spoke up with "Ain't no way. I'd bet a $100 that no open sighted rifle shooting black powder will out shoot modern rifles with scopes." Both of us were shocked someone who did not know us would make a statement like that. I looked right at him and said "put your money where your mouth is." He looked shocked now. I asked him if he had a $100 and he said yes. I said lets go put up clean targets and you shoot 5 shots and I will shoot 5 shots and whoever has the tightest group will collect $100 form the other. He in a cocky way said your on. We both shot 5 shots and went to check the targets. He had shot a really good group for that rifle of about 1 1/2". We went over to my target and I almost passed out but kept my cool calm demeanor. There was a ragged hole that could be covered with a quarter which was the best group I had ever shot with that rifle. That fellow looked like he had seen a ghost. He just opened up his wallet and pulled a hundred dollar bill out and handed it to me and turned and walked away without even saying a word. The friend of mine said to the fellow as he was walking away, "Hay! (to get his attention and the man stops and turns around) "He knows what he is talking about don't he". That fellows face turned fire engine red and he just stomped off. He went right to his bench and loaded up his stuff and left and we have never seen him again and nobody at the range knew who he was or would own up to knowing him. We think he must have been from out of town and someone from the club gave him a gate key to get in. If this would have been found out that person would have been kicked out of the club. Yep them old 45-70s will shoot. By the way unless you hit bone like the shoulder of a deer you may think you missed a deer. Game does not react like they do when hit with a high velocity expanding bullet. They react much like being hit with an arrow and will run until they bleed out but you can eat right up to the bullet holes and it will have two holes from any direction you shoot them from. I shot a deer with the Lyman bullet at 111 yards that was facing me aiming at center chest. By the time I shot and the bullet got there the deer put it's head down and the bullet struck it in the center of the forehead. The bullet made saw dust out of it's neck bones and deflected a little and came out just behind the left shoulder then hit the left back leg just above the knee and shot the leg clean off. The bullet hit the hard packed logging road the deer was standing in and went along just under the ground looking like a mole for about 5 yards then came out of the ground and about 15 yards away went through a 6" thick pine tree. Did not see any evidence of where it went from there. WW case, Fed 215 primer, 70 grs by weight of Goex FFG dropped from a 30" drop tube and a waxed milk carton disk on top of the powder and compressed ten thousands inch and Lyman FN 418 gr actual weight bullet lubed with 50% bees wax 50% olive oil lube. 1400 fps from my rifle. As I always say, "A cinder block don't have to be moving too fast to put the hurt on things."

 

[bobnob]

I've never shot cast bullets out of mine but its very accurate with jacketed ones from 300 to 400g. I've not found it fussy either. Pretty much any powder from Varget and quicker will turn in great results.

I've been thinking about why this old round tends to be so accurate in various rifles; is it easier to make large calibre barrels that shoot better, as opposed to smaller bores?

 

[SJB358]

I wonder if it isn't the stiffer barrels, low velocity and less harmonics that makes them old rifles seem so easy to load for.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

On a good day, with a good rest, and properly adjusted small aperature peep sights...my ole Marlin 1895 and me can put 3 in a pie plate at 300 yards.

My rifle is the 22" barrel version...shooting 405 grain Beartooth bullets at 1,900 fps...3 rounds is about all I want, thats getting up around 50 ft. lbs. of recoil energy.

Not a "fun all day" load...but if I ever decide to go hunting anything dangerous thats likely the rifle I'd be carrying.

50 grains of H322 is the load...

 

[SJB358]

RR, I shot Guy Miner's load of H322 with the 425 PDJs at 1950 outta my Guide Rifle. It was REALLY accurate but it's the only rifle that rearranged my ear muffs and shooting glasses all in one press of the trigger. It is manageable but it's not a bench load.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

RR, I shot Guy Miner's load of H322 with the 425 PDJs at 1950 outta my Guide Rifle. It was REALLY accurate but it's the only rifle that rearranged my ear muffs and shooting glasses all in one press of the trigger. It is manageable but it's not a bench load.

:lol: ...yep...the 45-70 loaded hot will do that, lol.

Mine busted my mouth good a while back...didn't have the rifle mounted solid, shooting offhand...split my lower lip good!

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Reduced loads are fun in the 45-70...low noise, low recoil, very accurate.

I haven't messed with the 45-70 in 2-3 years now, but I found some really sweet loads using Unique with 350-405 grain bullets...they nearly match the ballistics of the original loadings (Trapdoor loads)

 

[truck driver]

RR, I shot Guy Miner's load of H322 with the 425 PDJs at 1950 outta my Guide Rifle. It was REALLY accurate but it's the only rifle that rearranged my ear muffs and shooting glasses all in one press of the trigger. It is manageable but it's not a bench load.

The old war horse will get your attention quick with the right load or it can be as mild a rabbit. I've shot it in a few Sharps and Rolling Blocks mostly with Black powder loads. Crank one of the old 45-100's out with a 500gr. bullet and you will know when it goes bang, the 45-120 isn't a slouch either. :roll:

 

[Guy Miner]

RR, I shot Guy Miner's load of H322 with the 425 PDJs at 1950 outta my Guide Rifle. It was REALLY accurate but it's the only rifle that rearranged my ear muffs and shooting glasses all in one press of the trigger. It is manageable but it's not a bench load.

Didn't I warn you? :mrgreen:

ooops...