I have hand loaded for, written about and reviewed many 1895's since the reintroduction in 1971 and also was given some of those Speer 350gn Flat points when they first arrived to review. At that time however, the distributor wasn't sure which .458 cartridge they were intended for, so I started with the Marlin's where they shot way under MOA and just north of half that which surprised a lot of people, including me.
In keeping this response directed to the topic, here my findings for IMR 4198 tended to be lighter than that of H 4198 which is the Australian powder AR2207. All my .45/70 experience is from JM rifles.
300gn Hornady - 50gn IMR4198 for 2049fps in 22" Barrel
350gn Speer FP - I used 3 other powders and not IMR 4198 with this bullet unfortunately.
400gn Speer - 47gn IMR4198 for 1914fps in 22" barrel
405gn Remington - 46gn IMR4198 for 1793fps in 22" barrel
500gn Hornady RN - 45gn AR2207 which is H 4198 and again, a little slower burning than the IMR powder for 1576fps though I settled on 44gn for 1550fps as a hunting load single loaded of course.
When I later owned a 26" Cowboy rifle, I used H 4198 here in the US and found a couple of things, firstly, the longer barrel does make a difference increasing velocities over the usual 22" barrel, secondly, the powder charges were notably higher using H Vs IMR versions of this powder. Here is what I found.
250gn Barnes X - 60gn H4198 for 2650fps. (Compressed load)
300gn Remington - 58gn H4198 (Brian Pierce's load @38KPSI) for 2454fps
300gn Barnes X - 55gn H4198 for 2322fps.
405gn Remington - 50gn H4198 for 2058fps.
405gn Woodleigh - 50gn H4198 for 2026fps.
Hope these loads can provide some interest in this rifle and cartridge. Please start lower and work up.
