Reloading for .45-70

[bdbrown66]

Hello, all. I am the new owner of a Henry .45-70 with 22" barrel and color case hardened receiver. At least, I will be the owner after it arrives and the paperwork is done.

Anyway, thinking about reloading for it already. I notice that Nosler has a .458 BT bullet, but they only show it being loaded in the 458 SOCOM. For the .45-70, they only list the round-nosed Ballistic Silvertip bullet. The bullets are the same weight (300 gr.), so I'm wondering if the pointier BT can be used in the .45-70. Or do they avoid that because of the risk of accidental discharge in a tubular magazine?

Has anyone loaded for either of these bullets in a .45-70? What were your results?

BTW, I intend to use this as a deer rifle, up to about 200 yards or so.

Thanks in advance,
Brian

 

[JD338]

Congratulations on the new Henry in 45-70.
The 458 cal 300 gr BST is an excellent bullet for the 45-70. My daughter and I also use it in our muzzle loaders. After more than a dozen deer, I can tell you that its very effective on WT deer.
Here is the recovered bullet from a crop damage deer, the first kill with this bullet.
45-70 300 gr BST at 2050 fps from a 1895 Guide gun. Recovered from a WT at 70 yds. Approx. 26" penetration.

JD338

 

[Thebear_78]

It's a great old round. I found the trick with loading stout 45/70 was starling brass and H322 powder. I shot mostly 405 Remington bulk or kodiak bonded at 1900 fps


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[Dwh7271]

RL7 and H4198 work very well also.
I load the Kodiak 350 bondeds with RL7.
It's a really great cartridge and a hoot to hunt with.

 

[Paul Barnard]

My best results with the 45-70 have been with a max load (57 grains) of IMR 3031 and the 350 grain Hornady Round Nose. I am disappointed that Nosler dropped the wonderful Partition from its .45 caliber line-up.

 

[FOTIS]

H4198 and 350 Hornady start at 48 gr (assuming it is as strong of an action as the Marlin)

 

[Alderman]

I couldn't resist these when they were on sale. I haven't had a chance to shoot any and I am interested in what works for others who have tried them.


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[Charlie-NY]

For a mountain of info from the guys who eat, sleep and drink 45-70; go over to Marlinowner.com. You'll be glad you did.

 

[Alderman]

I forgot I did load a few of these up for the 14" Thompson Contender.
While results on paper weren't spectacular with the limited experience I think with a little work things could improve.

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[wildman]

Hornady 325 ftx and h4198 make a great combo for whitetails ....

 

[arky]

All you need for the 45/70 is a 400 gr slug running about 1550 fps. It is deadly on game and not deadly on the shoulder. I do not worry about mushroom since it is as big as most 30 cal guns expand to to start with. I also do not worry about added velocity for trajectory reasons. if inclined to shoot at X number of yards that require hold over, I can hold a foot and a half over just as easy as holding a foot over.

 

[bdbrown66]

BTW, here's the new addition. Just picked it up the other day, got it cleaned and mounted the scope. Hope to get it dialed in over the weekend.

 

[DrMike]

Very handsome iteration of a great classic.

 

[Cleveland48]

That's a good looking rifle. Congrats.


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[bobnob]

Yep, a smart looking rifle. Nice get.

Mostly these days I just run H4198 (called AR2207 here) though those other powders listed above are great as well. H322 might just be the best.

My best accuracy load was 56g of H4198 with a Sierra 300g HP. This will put 5 rounds touching at 75 metres and making about 2250fps from my 18" GBL Marlin.

Of late I'm running 400g Speer FPs. From memory I'm loading 46g of H4198 and MV is about 1800fps. This is also accurate and on my test range it's producing 1.5 inch groups at 125y.

I found that once I learned how to shoot this big bore over the bench, they are capable of very surprising accuracy.

They are also THE fastest killers of pigs I have used, even the light 300g hollow points will flatten the biggest pigs. I killed the second biggest pig I've shot with a single high shoulder shot with the 300g Sierra, which is a soft bullet. He was around 350lb and he just fell on the spot with a 75y shot.

I've not used the 45-70 on a deer, but some wild cattle were culled with it. The 350g Speer Hot Cor is the medicine for big bovines.

I'm yet to play with cast bullets. I'll get there though. That's a whole other side to our sport I've not yet explored but I'm sure is worth it.

Please update us with your load outcomes! Thanks.

- Bob

 

[bdbrown66]

Well, I did get the Henry sighted in yesterday with the 325gr Hornady LE FTX's. It shot pretty decent after getting it dialed in, but it still will need some breaking in, I'm sure. Results are below, at 100 yards. I'm planning to use it for Ohio deer season after Thanksgiving, so I probably won't mess with it further until that's over. In the meantime, I'll begin acquiring the stuff I'll need for reloading my own.

 

[5shot]

What kind of pressures are you looking to hit? I had really good luck with H335, but that was in a Ruger #1.

 

[bdbrown66]

5shot, at this point I'm thinking of the "Marlin" (ie. higher than Trapdoor, lower than Ruger #1) type of loads. I think those loads max out about 36-40K, if I remember correctly.

 

[bobnob]

I ran 50g of H4198 with the 325g FTX. It was doing 2020fps from the 18" bbl, a mild and very accurate load.

 

[kraky1]

I ran 50g of H4198 with the 325g FTX. It was doing 2020fps from the 18" bbl, a mild and very accurate load.

Holy crap... is your gun ported? If not you aussies are tough Sons of Guns!

In my defense I will say that the recoil pad on my Marlin was pretty darn hard but anytime I get over 2000 FPS with a 300 grainer it's kicking me a heck of a lot more than "mild".....lol! My other gun with a steel butt plate is pretty much like getting kicked by a large horse!