Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 45/70 & Accurate Powders….5744 & 2230

Anyone have success loading a 45/70 with these powders…..accurate 5744 or 2230?

Four of us family members have modern Henry lever rifles in 45/70 and I was hoping to do some load development this winter. I have no powder for the 45/70 and can only find these two accurate powders locally. .

I plan on shooting 300 grain flat nose hollow points from sierra or Hornady. Whitetail deer hunting.

Let me know your thoughts and experience. Thanks!

I never messed with 2230, but I had a Marlin 1895CB that shot a 405 cast over 5744 pretty well. They were just low pressure loads for plinking, but the accuracy was good at 50yds with the factory sights.

I never tried it with jacketed bullets, though. IMR4198 was always my go-to for full power 45-70 loads.

Yeah, I’d start with 4198, but it, like most powders are unicorns right now.

I have fired hundreds of 405 gr cast bullets over 27/5744 in 45-70 rifles of various types for years with outstanding results. This is a BP (or a little hotter) level load. Larger 5744 doses can be used for strong actions, but I usually go with other powders for stiff loads.

Can't really remember if I ever tried any 300 gr bullets with it but cannot imagine they wouldn't work just as well. Accurate shows recipes for it. Try it, you'll like it!

That's about the load level I was at, too. Been some years back, so I'd have to look back through my notes, but I was somewhere in that 25gr ballpark with a 405. They were powderpuff Trail Boss alternatives, because my rifle didn't like Trail Boss.

Light bullets and 5744 will work ok, they publish data for that. You will almost certainly have unburnt and scorched granules left in the bore though. Big boys say that is ok, I hate it.

I sort of remember it being pretty dirty with 405s too, but I was shooting light loads.

Unique leaves quite a bit of residue in a rifle barrel with pretty much anything less than top loads, too, in my experience. Doesn't really bother me, since I always clean everything after shooting, but I know my old man hates Unique with a passion in rifles because it's "dirty."

I think B209 is probably the king of "dirty" in rifle cartridges of all the non-BP options out there, though... holy smokes does it leave some soot. Stuff shoots fantastic in my Henry 327, but it's messy... and expensive.

I’m not up on burn rates, but from what I can find 5744 burns faster than the popular imr4198, h4198, and rl-7, and 2230 slower than the same bunch. Would a slower or faster burn rate equal more unburned residue in the barrel? In this case….
Burn rates

Beg, borrow or steal a pound of Reloder 7 and back those 300gr hollow points with 45 grains of it to start. Should get you right around 2000 fps. My Marlin 1895 with Ballard rifling loved that load and bullet, as does my buddy's NEF Handi Rifle.

Also, loaddata.com shows loads for Ramshot X-Terminator, which is the same powder as Accurate 2230.
START LOW AND WORK UP!
Weight...Bullet..........Powder..........................Grains........FPS
300 Sierra HP or FN ...Ramshot X-Terminator .....51.8 ........1776
300 Sierra HP or FN ...Ramshot X-Terminator .....53.6 ........1853
300 Sierra HP or FN ...Ramshot X-Terminator .....55.4 ........1946
300 Sierra HP or FN ...Ramshot X-Terminator .....57.2 ........2039
300 Sierra HP or FN ...Ramshot X-Terminator .....59.0 ........2117

And here's more data for the Barnes Original 300gr FN in Marlin leverguns.
IMHO, you'd need the upgraded recoil pad to make use of these!
300 Original FNSP .....Accurate AAC-2230 ........58.0 .........2268
300 Original FNSP .....Accurate AAC-2230 ........65.0 .........2446

It leaves schidt in the barrel in my 45-70, 38-55, and 44-77...but like I say, experts say no problemo. Just a heads up, not trying to discourage you...in these times, burn what you got.

It just depends, some powders just run cleaner than others, even if the burn rate is very close. CFEBLK is way cleaner than anything else I've shot through rifles with a similar rate. Accurate 7 and 9 also run really clean compared to say, 231 or 296 Win. On the flip side, Unique is a bit filthy compared to a lot of similar rate flake powders in rifles.

Chemistry and physics just do weird stuff 🤷‍♂️ A lot of it has to do with the charge, too. Most notoriously dirty powders clean up quite a bit when they're at or near max loads.

38 Grains of 5744 in W-W cases using the 300 grain Hornady hp gets 1891 fps in my 28" Shiloh Sharps. That is approximately factory velocity. It will be slower in shorter barrels.

25 grains of 5744 in W-W cases using Desperado's 420 grain 457193 (20-1) lead bullet gets 1300 fps in the same rifle.

Both are accurate mild loads in my rifle.

Manny

I prefer 4198 myself but 5744 works.

The only caution is 5744 doesn't throw very well for me. It'll bridge and do funny things in my uniflow.

AA2230 should be great for 45-70. Go to the Western Powders site and download the free load guide.
There's three load levels for 45-70, Trapdoor, Standard and High Pressure so load accordingly!

I’ve used both of the powders the OP asked about. 5744 has become my choice for cast bullets since my favorite, SR4759 has become extinct. I burned up a fair amount of 2230 with Remington 405s and 300 grain hollow points back when they were super cheap and available. 2230 is definitely slower than needed but it gave acceptable results when loaded closer to max charge. My advice would be to get a pound of each and try them both, but keep an eye out for either of the 4198 or reloader 7.

Those Remingtons 405 flat nose were my full power load bullet, too. They'd make a heck of a mess of whatever you hit with them over 45gr of 4198, but they were absolutely brutal to shoot. I know I still have some of them somewhere, because I bought a big bulk box of 500, and never came anywhere near shooting that many of those shoulder rippers before I sold the rifle.