Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Ruger 45-70 Bullet Weight

anybody know how strong the h&r handirifles are in comparison to say a ruger#1, thinking of getting one but would like some information on them first,
I don't plan on shooting 300+yards, but would like to know how well their made before I bust out my hard earned cash for one!
any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have a 45-70 H&R, it is a good rifle. This is my second. My first was a tack driver. This go around I got the ultra hunter & love it. Plenty of guys over on GBO have loaded up to the ruger #1 levels. I also have a 223 & 357 max both are great shooters.

I had an H&R Shakiri and actually wrote an article about it for Gun Sport and Gun Collector Magazine a very long time ago. I used 500 grain and 300 grain cast bullets and did a lot of shooting at well over 500 yards across a privately owned lake. After much cranking of the 4x Weaver scope knobs - and several feet of hold-over the groups were in the 2 foot range. I never4 pushed the envelope on my loads and still managed to kill several deer and a couple of hogs at beyond 200 yards.

It also, as I remember, shot 300 grain HP bullets into sub-MOA groups at 100 yards from a half decent rest.

My best guess is that the "new" H&R rifles are at least mas strong and as accurate - Enjoy!

Terry

I've owned a NEF 45-70 and always felt that Marlin lever levels (level two of three) were about the limit. Frankly, with a 45-70, there's no need to load them up too much anyway, but I know some people like to do this.

I have loaded both my Marlin GG and Ruger No 1 to the max. and neither is fun to shoot. Then I asked myself exactly why I bothered, but couldn't come up with an excuse. (Sometimes, it's good to talk to yourself.) After the swelling went down, I vowed not to do that again.

I shoot the Ruger these days, and load the 400s to 1500 fps; the 350s to 1600 fps. If you're into numbers, the recoil for the 400 grainer @1500fps is 24.5 ft/lb. The 350s generate 22.5 ft/lb @ 1600. These are cast, but jacketed bullets will generate about the same at those velocities.

That's close enough for me.

I owned a Ruger Number One in .45-70 for several years. The rifle simply loved the 300-grain Hornady HP and it was quite deadly on big ol' mule deer bucks. I shot the used H-4198 with the 300s and at 2,200 fps the trajectory was adequately flat and it simply swatted deer to the ground.

I only killed a half-dozen or so bull elk with the rifle and I got the finest killing out of the 350-grain Hornady Round Nose bullets. Again, H-4198 was a great powder and I shot the 350s at 2,000 fps.

The accuracy with both bullets was absolutely superb.

Long live the .45-70.

You can pretty much make a #1 Ruger in .45-70 into a .458 Win Mag if you want to. That's not hyperbole... I've done it and had it pressure tested in the USA at a powder company. The head ballistics guy phoned me with this pronouncement: "You have just re-invented the .458 Winchester Magnum... What was the recoil like?" They used a machine rest, of course, in testing my loads. By the way -- that load was safe in the #1 Ruger, but I'd NEVER attempt it in the NEF or H&R (I've owned both)as they have a shotgun type break action. I know what the psi was in the Ruger. And, a couple of world class gun smiths told me that the Ruger is a stronger action than the single-shot Browning. Also, that's the belief of the owner of a well respected gun shop in S. Ontario.

I gave my first #1 to my second son, and have had a second #1 in .45-70 long-throated by .30 inch to seat long bullets out so as not to imping too much on powder space... especially the monos.

My favorite load now is the 350 TSX seated to the bottom cannelure, at "impossible" speeds! My favorite powders are H4198 up to 350s and H335 for the heavies. And yes, a heavy cast bullet will work very well if cast to match MVs.

405s at 1200? Never tried it and never will. But shot a trophy bl. bear with the 400 Speer at 1865 fps from my first Marlin at 100. Too soft at that speed, but the big bear only went 10 yards and he was bled out! Hole in = 4". No exit. His right side was saturated by blood. I gave him a finisher from the stand that was not needed. The 405 Rem is a tougher bullet, and a very good one.

Right now I'm carrying 13 different .458" bullets from the 325gr Hor to the 500gr solid from Hornady. In between there are a partial box of Barnes 330gr Banded solids, 4 different 350s, some 400 Speers, 400gr Hawks, 400gr Barnes Buster, 405 Rems, 450gr A-Frames, 465gr hardcasts, 480 Hornady DGXs .

And yes, I've also owned a bunch of Marlins, including the GG.

If I wanted a plinking rifle, or one for deer only, it wouldn't be a .45-70. To me, the .45-70 is a serious BIG game cartridge, which in a strong, modern rifle comes into its own at about 1800 fps+. While I've not yet done it, I wouldn't hesitate to use it on moose to 350 yards with the right load.

Bob

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