Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Dangerous game handloads for Marlin .45-70?

I am wondering if anyone here can give me some advice on hot handloads (powder & bullets) for a .45-70 Marlin levergun. It's a late model a couple of years old, so unless i'm mistaken, it should handle the same hot loads that the .450 Marlin can handle (correct me if i'm wrong.) I'm thinkng along the lines of the loads that Buffalo Bore, for instance, offers for really big and dangerous game.

Hot handloads will damage your gun.

There is no such thing as a .455 Marlin.

No but there is a .450 Marlin (my mistype) which is a hotter version of the .45-70, the latter of which is loaded lighter in the ammo factories to protect old guns.

So, to reiterate the question, what i'm getting at is can i handload for my .45-70 which is not an old gun the same intensity cartridges as for the .450 Marlin.

Also, is it true then that everyone who is shooting custom ammo like Buffalo Bore through their .45-70's is damaging their gun?

Thanks!

You can do anything in the 45/70 that you can do in the 450 marlin but its best with starline brass as starline brass is much thicker and stronger than some of the other brass manufactures. I used to shoot quite a few 405gr JSP loads with H322 @ 1925fps. For hunting I used kodiak bonded and practice I used remington bulk bullets. They shot the the same point of impact.

The garret, and buffalo bore type ammo is all loaded to within the specs of the 1895.

gulo - ref: .45/70. Check out the marlinowners.com site. They have a .45/70 forum that has more than enough info on this subject to keep you busy. Homesteader.

I shoot 400 grain Speers over 55 grains of Varget in Starline cases and a CCI 200 primer in my Marlin. Accurate, packs a wallop at both ends. I am going to go to a milder load when I have time to work at it a little.

Two bullets, to look at might be the Belt Mtn. Punch Bullet, and the Barnes Buster. Barnes has load data, on their website. How big a critters are you wanting to hunt?


maddog

I shot hundreds of animals with that bullet and it is paper thin in the jacket and too light for any dangerous game. I would also recommend loading it back to about 1600fps to maintain integrity. At 1900fps it opens too much and loses penetration, at 2400fps it often dissapears in a puff of blue smoke and never reaches the target.

JW

I would try Alaskan Bullet Works Kodiak Bonded Core .458" 405 grain bullets over a charge of 55 grains of H322 in Winchester brass with CCI200 primers (appropriately worked up to of course).

Starline brass is unnecessary as Winchester brass has been tested to 70,000 PSI without failure. Hence, its the firearm that is the limiting factor, not the brass.

gulo,
Do you have a dangerous game hunt in the works? What do you plan to hunt? Or if you're just doing it for the boom factor, that's fine too. Marlin 1895's are very strong. I have a friend that has fed his 45/70 Guide Gun a steady diet of Buffalo Bore and Garrett heavy hitters for years with no impact on the rifle. I like a bit less recoil, so I load lighter.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Lots to follow up here.

I'm actually registered on that Marlin forum way back - forgot all about it - thanks for the reminder!

I have a yearning to hunt Cape Buffalo, but that may or may not ever happen. Right now I hunt mostly with two M99 Savages (deer.) The .45-70 is mostly for backup (i'm in grizzly country, there has been at least one hunter death near my farm from a grizzly charge.) I figure if you're looking to stop a charge, might as well pack the biggest wallop you can. I also figure if you're gonna pack a big bore, when you have the other smaller bores covered, there's no sense packing it with a deer load.

So maybe i'm thinking overkill, but there's the reasoning. I'd like to have the info at any rate, now that i'm getting into the reloading game.

Thanks again, folks - appreciate the responses!

ALL stiff loads with good 400s in a Marlin .45-70 are dangerous for ANY big game in North America. And, it's worked on Cape buff as well, though I'd be inclined to use my Ruger No.1 in .45-70 IMP shooting 350 TSXs or 450 A-Frames at **** MV.

Bob

www.bigbores.ca

I shot 350 gr Hornady rn bullets with a very heavy load of RL7 in a Marlin back in the early 1990's with very good results up to big bears. Russ

I've been working up a brown bear load for my marlin. After doing a little research and talking to Marshall Stanton at. www.beartoothbullets.com He's been fooling around with heavy hardcast bullets for prolly 20 years and is more than glad to help a guy out. (call and talk to him for the straight scoop!) phone number is on the web site.
I'm using 425 grain piledriver jrs. Starline brass is really good stuff but Marshall said my remington brass is fine. He also gave me several specific loads to try.
425 grain piledrivers jrs (sized .460 this is important!)
Winchester large rifle primers
(if buying new) get starline brass but don't sweat it
H322 is the powder
I loaded up some from 48 to 53 grains
At less than 50 grains you are not even creating enough pressure to seal the chamber 100%(a little black around the case mouth) at 51 to 53 grains you better have your chin strap on! I have to borrow a buddies chrono so I have no data on fps but I can tell that I'm most likely going to settle on about 51 or 52 grains of H322.That should get me a through and through on a brownie. Also keep in mind that while your rifle might and prolly will shoot jacketed bullets very well, you may have to firelap the bbl to shoot clover leaf 100 yard groups with hardcast bullets in your marlin. The bbls have constrictions were the dove tails are cut for the rear sight and also were the mag tub is attached. Get with beartooth bullets and have fun!

I ran 525 piledrivers outta my marlin @1755fps w/ rl-7 a good stout but safe load.
If You wanna hot-rod a 45-70 get a Ruger #1, a coupls boxes of beartooth 525 piledrivers, starline brass, cci-250 primers, and some rl-7 and have at it.
When that gets boring have Your smith ream it to 45-90, 45-100, or 45-120.
The 45-120 Sharps will cure all wonderment about hot-roddin the old straight walled 45 cal. cases.

Gunner

gulo:

The 1895 Marlin in 45-70 and 1895 in 450 Marlin are NOT the same. While the outer appearance is the same, the metallurgy in 450M is not and the 450M barrel to receiver threads are "v" cut instead of the 45-70's "u" cut. That is also why there are different SAAMI specs. The 45-70 in the Marlin 32K psi and the 450M is 43K psi

Do as you wish.

The older version of that bullet was soft and would often lose the jacket on deer, but the core would always shoot through. The newer ones seem to be considerably tougher and I think Speer has indicated that they are (although I'm not sure about that.)

The 350 Hornaday is a Hot Core bonded bullet and is pretty tough. Should do for North American DG if you do your part.

Gulo,
Keep in mind that if you get a 425 or 525 grain hard cast bullet moving even at a modest speed you will have way more gun than what most people (myself included) carry on their hip in bear country.

My 7.5" BFR in 45-70 throws 525 grain Cast at 1300 fps and Garretts 420 +P ammo right at 1600 fps in 39 degree temps.Of course that load was pressure checked in another Rifle at a very acceptable pressure..


Jayco