First Henry

[Teknys]

With my Cabela's Bucks I spent $137 for a Henry steel framed 45-70. Waiting a long time to find a hunting version of this gun.
Now to decide if I put a red dot on it or not.
Its the H010G model - walnut \ blued round barrel \ recoil pad . Hunting style lever rifle.
I'm excited to try something new and different.
Any preferences on bullets and powder?

 

[JD338]

Congratulations on your new Henry 45/70. They are a lot of fun to shoot and you can load them from mild to wild.
I run a 300 gr BST at 2100 fps in a Marlin 1895G.
I've shot it out to 300 yards and shot a deer at 160 yards. Don't overlook heavy hard cast bullets for the big stuff. A 400 gr with a large meplat will penetrate almost into tomorrow.
What do you plan on hunting?

JD338

 

[Teknys]

Thanks - here in Idaho timber canyons hold elk and whitetail. Bear maybe. We get them in the spring coming thru the yard.

 

[salmonchaser]

I'm on the road, don't have my data, but found my 45/70 to be great fun to shoot with 300 trainers in the 1500 fps range. I loaded 400 grains as hot as I could get them for work. Those loads could leave bruises.
It's a great round, more than adequate for dark timber hunting.
I put skinner sights on mine, haven't mounted optics.
Have fun!

 

[bdbrown66]

IMR 4198 is a very flexible powder in 45-70. I personally load 300gr pills to about 2000 fps for deer.

 

[JD338]

If you can find some Nosler .458 300 gr PT, grab them up. It's an amazing bullet.

45-70 300 gr PP

45-70 300 gr PP from a 1895 Guide gun at 2200 fps recovered in water jug #8 at 100 yds Same load recovered at 50 yds JD338

forum.nosler.com

The Speer 300 gr JHP is another great choice. I believe it is a bonded core bullet. Hornady makes a 350 gr soft point that would really shine.

JD338

 

[Teknys]

What a bummer, received email that the order is cancelled. In processing, inventory went to zero. Oh well....
I was considering the single shot 45-70 before and almost purchased it instead, so I checked and it was still there. I kicked it around for a few minutes and ordered the Henry Single Shot.
I hunted muzzleloader for about 40 years so a 2nd shot ready in a few seconds compared to 30 seconds is going to be just fine.
I did go ahead and order a red dot . I have them on a couple of pistols but not a rifle yet. This will be fun.

 

[Guy Miner]

Wow! That's a change.

You really wanted the 45-70, not just the lever action 45-70.

The long-vanished 300 gr Nosler Partition that JD338 mentioned may well have been the perfect general purpose big game hunting bullet for the 45-70 lever gun... But Nosler took it out of production long ago, to the dismay of us 45-70 fans.

The 300's are largely deer bullets, fully capable of taking any deer in range as well as black bear, and some folks swear by them for elk too.

The 350's available provide a bit more bullet. Heavier impact on static targets like logs, it's noticeable.

The 400-405 range of bullets are good. Speer's 400 grainer... Accurate, but Speer advises that it's a "soft" bullet not made for dealing with the "great bears." Remington's good ol' 405 seems to do a fine job on most big game, elk, buffalo, whatever... I dunno, only shot a mule deer with one. That worked.

Cast is another really good option with the 45-70. There are plenty of makers of quality cast bullets for the 45-70. Some of those are completely capable of taking the largest game on earth. Incredible penetration.

45-70... It's a grand old cartridge and can be an easy shooting plinker, a harsh-recoiling big game thumper, or anywhere in between!

Enjoy your new rifle and get to know the cartridge, it's pretty cool. Oh, When handloading, I treat mine like a big-bore revolver cartridge. It reminds me a great deal of the 44 magnum and the 45 Colt... Just bigger.

Regards, Guy