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For deer I'd load a 400gr hawk at 1400 ft/s with H322 and call it done. Unless you have very large deer you'll get pass throughs.

You can load hot in a single shot, but I wouldn't bother.

It will depend which single shot - some are stronger than others.

FWIW I've found a 300 gn SP or HP loaded over a brisk load of H4198 will give about 2200 fps in a Marlin 1895. Recoil is stout, and the effectiveness on deer-sized game very impressive. A 400 gn hard-cast SWC, gas-checked and powdercoated, could readily be driven at 1800 fps and would go through a big deer lengthwise. The loads in question would be stiffer than recommended for some single shots though, and you'd probably find a milder load would do the trick anyway on small deer like whitetails, save that you'd give away some flatness of trajectory (which is a relative term for .45/70 loads). There'd be good numbers of these very convincingly killed with 300 gn SP at factory load levels, a load which gives comparatively mild recoil, provided you are getting close enough that the trajectory will not be an issue (or are a good judge of distance and holdover).

Hit a deer at 1200-1300fps will be just as dead as one hit at 1900fps.

Cast bullets is where its at in the 45-70

Yup.

Only the stars will be missing. The ones you see pushing a 436 grain bullet 1800+ fps in a guide gun.

They have their place, but are not really necessary for deer.

Vic said "Only the stars will be missing. The ones you see pushing a 436 grain bullet 1800+ fps in a guide gun."

They have their place, but are not really necessary for deer.

AGREED! 450 grain NF bullet at 2150 fps MV is OK in this 10 pound 1886 45-90 rig:

IMR 4198 or IMR 3031 with a 430 grain cast flat nose bullet from the levers.
Steve Brooks 500 grain flat nose with 1.5F OE from the single shot.

Shot a mule deer at about 70 yards with a 405 grain FNSP Remington bullet handloaded to about 1650 fps via Reloader 7.

Worked great! Through both shoulder blades and broke the spine. Yup, that was a mighty quick drop. I suppose the bullet is still buried in the hillside beyond.

I kinda suspect that I had a lot heavier load than necessary for deer.

Regards, Guy

This latest post bring in a good point about placement. Such a shot will drop them with lighter cast bullet loads. I am one who shoots deer in the chest/lungs. Thus my preference for a higher speed 300 JFP. ALso explains why they run a bit ater being hit with my Trapdoor loads.

When I first started using a 45-70, I used 300 grain JHPs at 2200 fps. And it would flatten deer right now. My preference was the 300 grain Unicor/Plinker.

My next bullet was a 420 grain CastPerformance hardcast bullet at 1650 fps, then the Beartooth Piledriver Jr at 1679 fps. The kills with these were less dramatic if lung shooting, but bones could be broken without worry for penetration. I also tried the Piledriver at 1542 fps, but liked the trajectory of the 425 grain bullet better, and they did just as well with the deer and 300 or so pound bear around here. i pushed the PJ Jrs to just over 1800 fps, but they killed no quicker than the slower ones.

Then I was involved in a pretty severe auto accident in 2017 that left me unable to use my 45-70 due to the recoil level of those loads. I've since recovered, but I found that I really like to shoot my rifle with 28.5 grains of 5744 and either a 367 or 405 grain hardcast bullet, it's noticeably more comfortable.

My only concern is the load has a trajectory that is anything but flat, but if I stay in the woods, it shouldn't be a problem.

I still have components to load all the loads I've mentioned, so if I change my mind....

I'm currently out of the .45-70 biz (waiting to see what Ruger does with the Marlin rifles) ... in the past I had 2 loads I used a lot. 52 grains of H4895 and Speer 400 grain flat points shot well under MOA. 47 grains of 3031 with 425 grain RCBS gas checked bullets shot around 1-1/4" at 100 yards. For that matter, Remington 405 grain factory ammo shot sub MOA in every Marlin lever action I tried it in.

Tom