Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles .45/70 Government

I was at www.realguns.com where I read of what appears to be new powders available for use in the venerable .45/70 Gov't. Does anyone have experience with RS X-Term and Reloader 10 in this cartridge? Would these powders be better than Reloader 7? Also, I am considering making a purchase of Swift A-Frame 400 grain flap point bullets for my Guide Gun. Does anyone have experience with these bullets in a Marlin lever action? What powder works best with this bullet? Has anyone used this bullet on black bear?


Good shootin',

Leon Phelps

I have used a Marlin 1895 on blackbear. The load I used was the 405 gr. Remington bullet, 54.0 gr. of H335, W-W cases and CCI250 primers. The load clocks at 1680 fps from a rifle with a 22" microgroove barrel. Using the large Lyman bead in the front, with a Williams receiver sight, I shot a 3 5/8" ten shot group from a bench.

I shot one small blackbear with this load. The shot was at nine yards, and penetrated completely through the onside shoulder and out through the lungs and ribs. The exit wound was about the size of a silver dollar. Eisenhower, that is. I can't tell if the bear would have dropped to the shot or not, because it rolled down hill about 25 yards, and never got up.

If you want to use the Swift bullet, you should consult their load manual.

Leon �

When I first got my Marlin 1895 several years back, one of the first things I did was try to load Swift 400g A-Frames for it. The results were very disappointing.

The 400g A-Frame is a very long bullet. The first problem I ran into was that when I used a COL that would cycle through my gun, it was seated very deeply into the case. Not necessarily a problem but not conducive to the high velocities I was looking for.

The second problem was the lack of exposed lead on the nose. Far too little for use in a tube magazine with heavy recoil for my taste.

Swift does have a new 350g bullet that I think is designed for use in leverguns � you might want to check it out.

My solution was to go to the North Fork 350g bonded bullet. This bullet has a solid copper-alloy shank like the Speer Trophy Bonded and circumferential grooves like a TSX (except lots more of them). The grooves reduce friction, allowing lower pressures or higher velocities, take your pick. I push the North Fork to 2183fps and its performance on the buck mule deer and 6x6 bull elk I took with it was nothing short of outstanding.

I now use North Forks in my 7mm Mag and am working up loads for my .300 Win Mag.

Coyote Hunter,

Thanks for the help. Do you have a link for North Fork Bullet Company? I will certianly give its bullets a try.

Thanks,

Leon

I have a .45/70 Marlin Cowboy with the 26 inch barrel. The best hammer load I have come up with uses the 405 grain Woodleigh Weldcore over 50 grains of H 4198 for a velocity right on 2050 fps. Cloverleaf groups and sledge hammer performance is usual for that rifle now.

If you want some fun at longer range, say with a scope sight, I also tried the Barnes 250 and 300 grain X bullets in this rifle.

I got the 250's up to 2600 fps which is right up there with teh .338 factory loads. Recoil was lighter too. The 300's have the same profile externally as the 400's with lead cores but the velocities are higher at 2,250-2,300 fps.

Accuracy was great with all of them. I liked 2400 powder with the lighter weights and H 4198 with the 400's.

Realisitically the .45/70 is a great incinerator, I have found over the years, it will just about burn sand and still be efficient. Other powders that worked very well are IMR 3031 and even Varget and 748, which we don't usually think of in a straight sided case. The velocities were right up there and pressures mild because of that same case shape.

Interestingly, I always found that Rel 7 was never the top performer no matter which bullet I tried.

Somehing many handloads don't know is that case shape can influence buring rate. Consider IMR 4198.

Ask and .458/.45/70 user and he will tell you it is a fast powder.

Ask any .222 user and he will tell you it is a slow powder. True story!

I do, and here it is:

http://www.northforkbullets.com/

You will want the 458-300FP:





Heres a pic of the one recovered from my 6x6 bull elk two years ago:


The bullet went in-and-out the near leg, obliterating a section of leg bone. It then went into the chest and obliterated a section of rib, creased the heart and shattered a far rib before coming to rest. The range was 213 lasered yards. The "wing" is probably the result of sudden deceleration when hitting the far rib.