45/70 Gov't - 350GR Hornady F.P Interlock (on African game)

[Reaper1]

These are the recovered slugs from my trip to South Africa. Rifle was a marlin 1895 GS.

From left to right:

-Recovered from Blue Wildebeest bull. 80 yard broadside shot to lungs. Animal ran 15 yards and dropped. Very good blood trail. Recovered in opposite leg near skin.

-Recovered from Kudu bull. 10 yard finishing shot to underside of chest between front legs. Recovered near spine.

-Recovered from Zebra. 100 yard hard quartering to shot. Due to less than perfect shot placement, only one lung was hit + liver. Animal ran approx 100 yards and dropped. MASSIVE blood trail. Bullet recovered in intestines.

-Recovered from a different zebra. Follow up shot to hindquarters. This bullet broke the femur and was recovered in the gut sack.

Load:
53.5gr Norma 200 (MV approx 2100Fps)

 

[Thebear_78]

doesn’t get any better than that!

 

[DrMike]

All those appear to have performed very well for you. Sounds like a good safari.

 

[Reaper1]

Please note that these are all entry holes. Note very little blood shot meat on the shoulder, despite large diameter entry.

1. Kudu scalpula
2. Entry wound in Zebra ribcage
3. Front shoulder entry on same zebra
4. Bullet lodged under skin on far shoulder (wildebeest)
5. Front shoulder entry on same wildebeest

 

[DrMike]

Excellent pictures. Quite representative of what to expect with the big, slow slug.

 

[lefty315]

Excellent! I still have some factory loads with that bullet for my .450 Marlin. I wouldn't mind trying it out on an elk or moose hunt someday.

 

[Charlie-NY]

Exceptional terminal performance. Well beyond what one might anticipate. I shoot the Swift 350gr A-Frames in my 45-70 and wouldn't expect much better performance then you received with a much less expensive bullet.
Thanks for the info and images.

 

[Kodiak]

I would have no problems using those boolits on big game animals, from the 45/70 Marlin.

Jim

 

[Charlie-NY]

45-70 shooters tend to user heavier bullets. I'll bet that a Hornady 425gr-450gr JFN bullet would sell even better. Actually, I was hoping that Nosler would reintroduce their .458 Partition (formally 300gr) in a 425gr. That would be the "do all" bullet for 45-70, 450 Marlin, etc.

 

[FOTIS]

Loving it!

 

[DeerTracker]

Nice! I'm going to have to look into that bullet when I start reloading for my 45-70


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NYDAN]

I shoot this bullet in my 450 Marlin at about 2050 ft/s. I like it better than the 325 flex tip.

Dan

 

[longrangehunter]

Dang! Makes me wish I never sold my Browning 1886 Saddle Ring Carbine 45/70, but that gun was just too nice to always take into the woods because it was a High Grade. Seeing that though is putting it to good reason why that round was King of the Hill not that long ago.

Thanks for posting the report!

 

[bobnob]

That's good performance and quite similar to how the 350g Speer goes.

Moderate to low impact velocity is a blessing for bullet performance.

 

[Charlie-NY]

That's good performance and quite similar to how the 350g Speer goes.

Moderate to low impact velocity is a blessing for bullet performance.

I have "heard" that the Speer 350 was designed for the 458 Win Mag and is quite solidly built. It may give minimal expansion at 45-70 velocities. I haven't tried it myself.

I have shot the Speer 400 JFP (jacketed) bullet which is intended for the 45-70 and found it to expand rapidly and hold together well. This bullet was removed from a 350 lb pig. It expanded to about 90 cal.

 

[Reaper1]

That's good performance and quite similar to how the 350g Speer goes.

My experience differs from yours.
This year I went on the same safari for approx the same species with the same rifle. The only difference was instead of the 350gr Hornady, I loaded the 350gr Speer. The end result was zero recovered bullets (all clean pass throughs). All game animals still expired quite quickly. And a few were DRT.

 

[SJB358]

Very cool pictures! Love those 350's in the 45-70. Seem very good for a decent trajectory and how well they hold together.

Those Hornadys look great.

 

[bobnob]

That's good performance and quite similar to how the 350g Speer goes.

My experience differs from yours.
This year I went on the same safari for approx the same species with the same rifle. The only difference was instead of the 350gr Hornady, I loaded the 350gr Speer. The end result was zero recovered bullets (all clean pass throughs). All game animals still expired quite quickly. And a few were DRT.

Given all that, which would you choose next time?

 

[Reaper1]

Depends on the game animal hunted. If deer, then the Hornady. If elk, moose and grizz then the Speer (for the deeper penetration). But I'm sure the Hornady would do a fine job also.

 

[Stillhunter]

I am loading the Hornady 350 at approx 1700 fps. Intended for Roosevelt Elk. Do you think the slower speed might mean more penetration? Via slower expansion?