Manufactured ammo

longwinters · Feb 15, 2014

So with the new Marlin 45-70 lever, I don't plan to reload for some time. Can anyone tell me what manufactured ammo has done well for you? One other question. I have some Winchester 405gn cowboy action cartridges. Shoot slower at under 1200fps. Will these cause leading problems in my barrel?

Thanks
Long

Oldtrader3 · Feb 15, 2014

I had good luck with the Winchester Silver Tip, 300 grain HP factory loads at abour 1800 fps in my 1995 Guide gun. Plus, Buffalo Bore 350 Grain Flat Tip at about the same velocity as the 300 gr Winchester Silvertip for big game. Both were accurate loads that were game loads and would be adequate for any game or medium (Winchester 300 gr.) that I might shoot at. Nosler has another 300 gr loading out now which should be a good medium game load. Plus, both factory loads shot into one group in my second rifle 1895 standard blued, walnut rifle after my son talked me out of the Guide Rifle.

1Shot · Feb 17, 2014

As long as you stay with bullets no heaver than the 405 gr in factory ammo they should work just fine through your action. Most any of the 300 to 350 gr Jacketed ammo will run between 1800 and 2100 fps depending on your rifle and accuracy also depends on your rifle. It will tell you what it likes. These bullets will take care of any black bear, elk, deer etc. The 405 lead bullet at around 1200 fps was the loading for the trapdoor Springfield carbine and many a buffalo were killed with that load. The lead bullets killed by penetration of things needed to sustain life. I have shot a few deer with Lymans 405 flat nose running around 1400 fps with black powder out of my Sharps and have never recovered one. Most deer run off a ways before they bleed out that is all except one. The first time I hunted with my Sharps I had two doe come into the logging path I had a box stand set up on. They were 111 yards away. I had the rifle zeroed dead on at 100 yards. I had my target tang sight on the rifle and when I looked through it because the peep was so small I could not find the deer. Finally one turned facing me and I could make out the white patch on it's chest. I centered it in the sights and touched the set trigger and BOOOOOM WAAAP was the sound. When the smoke from the black powder cleared one deer was laying on ground and the other was standing looking at it. I tried to ease the case out of the action and reload and shoot that deer but before I could it decided it needed to get out of Dodge. Upon getting to the deer I found that it's head was laying in a pool of blood and a bullet hole caliber size was just behind the left shoulder. It's left back leg was shot clean off just above the knee. I could see where the bullet had stuck the hard packed logging road and had gone about 10 yards looking like a mole down the road. The bullet then came out of the ground and about 10 yards away it went through a 6" thick white oak tree jerking a slab the size of my hand off the back. Lost where it went from there. Turned out that the deer must have put it's head down between the time I shot and the bullet got there and it hit that deer right between the eyes just above the eye line on the forehead. Bullet went down the neck making saw dust of the spine and deflected taking out the left lung and exiting behind the left shoulder then going on. A freight train does not have to be going fast to do lost of damage. You really need to pay attention to what is on the other side and direction of what you are shooting with the heavy bullets also. My bullet was cast out of wheel weights with a little tin added. Actual weight was 418 grs and I lubed with my own homemade lube of bees wax, olive oil and STP. I loaded 70 grs FFG Goex in a WW case and fired it all with a Fed 215 primer. This load will shoot under 1" at 100 yards from my Sharps 45-70. As for hand loads my buddy shoots the 300 gr Sierra around 2200 fps out of his Marlin long barrel 45-70 and it will open up a deer like a hand grenade went off in it and usually kills them in their tracks.

longwinters · Feb 17, 2014

Thanks guys. Appreciate the info.

Long

SJB358 · Feb 17, 2014

The blue box Federal ammo is great stuff, pretty inexpensive and it pushes a really good 300 grain bullet.

Oldtrader3 · Feb 17, 2014

I found some plain old W-W ammo with 300 partitions from an older store in LA and shot them. I wish that W-W and Nosler would consider issuing that classic configuration ammo again. It was super accurate!!