Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 45-70 with Speer 400gr. bullets

Has any one used the Speer 400gr. FP bullets in the 45-70? What kind of performance are you getting with it (accuracy and velocity). How has it preformed on game?

I bought all boxes the store had.


Wont chamber when seated to the groove.


They work fine in my 45-90 though.



I should get around to loading them to fit...but I use the 300 grain HP bullet and it works great.

How does it compare to a 270win. .

I can keyhole a 400 grainer and still outshoot a 270.

How about the 6.5 Creedmoor?

Seriously Jim, what rifle won't chamber it?

Oh, I have a Miroku 1886 Winchester that wont chamber anything except for the Hornady 300 grain HP.


It is darn accurate with IMR 4198 and that bullet though.



We were going to throat that rifle but have not gotten to it. Plus I dont have any money.

I've used them in my Marlin 45-70 at about 2000 fps muzzle velocity. Bang, flop right now on deer--an absolute hammer. Never got the opportunity to try them elk but, based on what two acquaintances say they experienced, the bullets may not penetrate as much as some would likie (at least when loaded to that level). They've both switched to 405 grain Kodiaks and have never looked back.

Works great in my marlin guide gun. With what I think are now the skinner ghost sights I have gotten +/- 1.5 inch 3 shots groups at 100 yards when I’m on my game.

They put big holes in caribou and puts the hurt on them fast. I haven’t shot anything but caribou with them. I like them a lot.

Tested them in paper and they were the deepest and straightest penetrating bullet I tested. They looked like a wad of chewing gum when recovered from the paper and plywood I used for testing.

If they shoot well in your rifle buy a bunch.

Just my humble opinion.

GRF

I have a Marlin 1895CB that I will be loading them for. What grove do you seat them at?

I used to use them extensively probably thirty five years ago before I started casting bullets for that cartridge. They would've been used in my 1886 Winchester. I don't remember any issues with them. They performed about like the Remington 405 grain factory loads which were the most common 45-70 loading of the day.

Back when I was a kid collecting baseball cards they had chewing gum with them. It probably was harder than the recovered Speers. I expect the Speers tasted better than that gum though.

Sounds like you have had good luck with them, I'm hoping they will work on elk.

I used them in a couple different Marlins at about 1750. They were stellar on deer but pretty unimpressive on a dink black bear sow. Shot her four times between 15-20 yards with two exits and two caught. The recovered bullets looked almost like recovered roundballs, nearly turned inside out. I went with all hardcast after that. Deer still died splendidly and I was much better off for brown bear issues.

Hardcast flatnose is the way to go in the 45-70. 480 to 500 grains and 1350 fps for the big stuff. BTDT.

I have some cast bullets for it too, 415gr. I think but just wanted to try these. I want to try some 400gr. Hawk bullets too. The hard cast are hard to match and I don't know if any others will beat them in the 45-70.

A few turns with a rented throating reamer would fix that, but somebody mentioned hardcast lead, make it LBT style, and Sharpsguy has a good suggestion on velocity, but I found good accuracy at 1650 or so with a 436 grain LFN GC.

I can't tell you how well it penetrates, it's shot through everything I shot with it, but that's not been anything that would challenge it, smallish bear, pig, and deer.

I've pushed them hard with varget and killed one deer with them and several trees. They're acurate but soft.

Never tried a bullet that light in the .45-70. Hmmmmmmm

I killed a few elk with them. Pretty boring.Bang,flop.No feeding problems. My1886 Browning reproduction went 13 lbs fully loaded.Decided it was little heavy to be toting around at 11,00 feet

I used the 400 Speer ahead of 53 gr of 3031 in my 1974 Marlin. Best shooting 45/70 I ever had. I fired five shots into 4/10" one time and sub 3/4 groups were common. This was generally for the first group only since, I have to confess, the recoil got to me. Never shot anything bigger than a deer with it but it killed them very well. I once weighed a whole box of thesebullets and there was less than 1/2 grain spread in the whole box. I once missed a grouse with one and it died anyway. GD