I have been using the Lyman 330 HP cast in my 45-70 for many years in my Marlin levers. This bullet made from straight wheel weights cast out at about 350gr due to the higher lead content of WW. My 45-70 is scoped & uses the old style Weaver pivot mount so iron sites can be used if needed. Also have my Marlin Cowboy 38-55 I bought back around 1999 or 2000 uses a custom LBT 200gr with gas check. Also scoped & uses the old Weaver pivot mount. Either of these rifles perform flawlessly out to about 150 yds. The 45-70 with a Saeco 350gr GC mold # 17 which comes closer to 370grs when cast from WW & works perfect on elk within 100yd. All my bullets are made from scrape wheel weights. My scrape WW have a Bhn of about 10.5. They perform quite well up to 1800 fps. I can heat treat them to be harder which will allow them to shoot accurately to about 2200 fps. But at this velocity recoil from the 45-70 becomes obnoxious for me. I also cast for my 25-35 but have never used it on big game. My 25-20 & 32-20 are used strictly for small game. All use cast bullets. Also have a Win 44 mag lever 24" Bbl that shoots the Saeco #432 265gr at about 1800 fps, but have never used it on anything but rocks on my hillside. No doubt it would work well for deer. They are all fun.
Last edited by Hesp; 02/25/20.
