Originally Posted by hornsurgeon
what mold would you suggest for my marlin 1895? i want to use it for target and for deer, so nothing too heavy. maybe 325-425 grains or so. prefer to have some type of flat point, not round nose. it also needs to feed very reliablly as this will also be my bear tracking gun as well.
My shooting-hunting partner and I have invested much time and money to reply to your question - to resolve what we would use here in western Montana.

Here are thumbnails of our results. If you want a copy of any, you can PM/email me or SAVE IMAGE from 1000 dpi (width) images.

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We decided early that the single best bullet for our Marlin 45-70s (one XLR, one GS, one custom rifle by Grizzly Custom Guns in Columbia Falls, Montana, with 16.5-inch barrel) is Beartooth's Piledriver Jr. 425-grain LFN. These are difficult to obtain and rather expensive. So Bob, former commercial bullet caster who shoots tens of thousands of rounds per year, designed three LFN GC bullets, to try. The bullets are remarkably similar in shape, the differences among them are nuances of a couple of guys who cannot let well-enough alone.

All bullets feed without issue in all three actions. This was not negotiable. Were any to feed questionably, or require Grizzly to futz with the action to get a bullet to feed, that bullet was discarded.

Meplats are identical diameters � .001 inch, which is almost certainly a function of manufacture. These are the largest that feed without issue.

Bullets shoot accurately. While, so far, all loads we have tried shoot well, we continue to experiment with loads to tighten things even more. Bob prefers a somewhat lighter load in his chopped 1895. While I'm satisfied with any of the loads, I'm curious what I can get, especially with the 24-inch barrel. I'm not interested in shooting 50 rounds a day at targets. I want to determine what I can tolerate for two shots. I will supply no load data. We have used only Winchester and Starline brass, CCI large rifle primers, and 4895, H322, IMR 3031 powders. All work well.

Hope this helps.

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