Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers 45/70 - What are you shooting in your's?

My 1895G gets a diet of 405gr Rem + 42.0grs RL7 and I get great accuracy. I was curious what loads you guys use and what you have found to be the most effective. The 300gr Nosler has a great following but you can't find any right now. The 300gr Speer Unicore seems to be a great bullet as is the great variety of hardcast.

Beartooth Bullets Piledriver Jr. with 40 grains of RL7. Pic of said bullet...https://beartoothbullets.com/images/bullets/BTB-45R-425gWLNGC2.jpg

Makes a big hole all the way through, any angle, any critter.

325 gr LeverEvolution right now...very accurate in my rifle and a good speedgoat load. I haven't got around to reloading yet as I ran into a very good deal on the LeverEvolution and have a box or 3

I have several but my main two are the 425 hard cast behind 46 grains of RL-7/Starline brass and CCI#34 primers, for 1850 fps out of my Guide Gun pressure checked at 35,000 PSI.The other is a 300 Nosler Parttion at either 2105 fps or 2313 fps also with RL-7....

Jayco

Federal Fusion 300 gr.

I use the Speer 300 grain UniCor, and have used the Hornady in the same weight, but it is not near as tough. I am using H4198 and running these right at 2200 fps.

For deep penetration and good bone-breaking ability, I find it hard to beat the Beartooth PileDriver Jr., with the Cast Performance bullet of the same weight a close second. I tend to run these around 1650 to 1750 fps. They can run faster, but I haven't really found it necessary.

The 300 grain Speer pretty much does what I want to with a 45/70, which is limited to whitetail deer, Black bear, and hogs.

405 gr Remington FP's with 50 gr of Benchmark seems to be my recoil limit. Have tried 55 gr, but found it to be pretty punishing.

Also have some 350 gr Hornady FP with RL7 that works pretty nicely. I find my 1895 Marlin is not real fussy as to the load --they all shoot pretty well.

I also use some home cast 405 gr wheel weight that are water quenched with some AA5744 at a meagre 1300 fps. That one punches clover leafs at 50 yards with open sights and penetrates into the backstop better than the 350 Hornady FP. Think for short range deer stands, that is my load.

Speer 300 gr Unicor hp (thanks Vic) at 2400 fps. It's accurate and in my neck of the woods (the southeast), this will do it all. And, it shoots "flat" for a 45-70.

Fischer, that load oughta flat "whomp" hogs.

Holy crap!

300 grain Hornady HP with enough IMR 4198 to get 2250 fps out of a marlin 1895ss. So far all I've killed is a doe, a coyote, and jugs, but it killed em all very dead. I had it running something over 2400 fps, but recoil was a little stout.

420 grain casr (30:1) over 70 g FFG Express. IF ya REALLY want to see a killing machine, go to theAfrica Forum and look at the vid Jorge put up for Sharpsguy killing a zebra in Africa with a Shiloh Sharps 45-70,a 480 grain slug and BP. He gives you the range too.

In my 1895G I use two loads. Deer load, 300gr Hornady JHP on top of 48.0 of IMR4198. I get 2000fps with this. Accounted for 4 does Thanksgiving weekend. Usually my shots are well with in 100 yards. The last 4 I shot were 150 to 175 yards all. Every one went right down. One did twitch.....I think. The second load is a Hornady 350gr RN on top od 45.0 of IMR 4198. This load gets me 1820 fps on average. Reserved for hogs with an attitude and larger black bears.

At 100 yards they shot same point of impact. 11" drop at 200 with the 300's and 15" drop with the 350's at 200 yards. All my shots I have taken at game has been well within those ranges.

Groups at 100 yards is 1 to 1 1/4 with either

These are some awesome loads. All I hunt is deer with mine, we have hogs but apperantly they are either invisble when I chase them or I am just a very bad hog hunter.

I use the same load 405gr Remingtons, on black bears its a great load 1/2" hole in 1" hole out. I even recovered one broke both shoulder bones and ended up in a ceder tree 10' beyond the bear 1" in the tree, the bullet weighed 357 gr. .627" wide. Blood shot meat about the size of a hard ball. You won't get that performance from a 300gr bullet.

coyotewacker, good deal on the 405 Rem performance. I have yet to unleash mine on anything but paper and water bottles. I know for as fact that it will stop a charging 20oz bottle everytime.


Here is an impressive report on the Speer 300gr Unicore:

300gr Speer Recovered

My go to load, for my guide gun, is the following:

WW brass
Fed. 210 primers
51 gr. H4198
300 gr. nosler part.
Lee Factory crimp.

I've taken bear, hogs, and 7 head of African plains game with that load.


maddog

I shoot the 400 gr Speer. A moderate amount of 3031 at 1600 or so. Recoil is not bad, accuracy is great, thumps deer and bears impressively.

Joseph

I like to be able to take shots up to 200 yards, what is the trajectory like with your load?

Like a rock. My longest shot is about 75 yds. If I was wanting to go 200 yds there is only 1 bullet I would use. Hornady's Leverevolution. Ive never used them in my 45-70, but I have in 35 Rem. From my sample of 1 I like em. Im yet to hear something negative from anyone that I respect.

Joseph

My load for my 45-70 is a 300 grain Nosler partition, ww brass, CCI LG rifle primer and 52 grains of H4198. I just got the rifle a year ago, have not got to try it on any animals yet but punched alot of paper! Hoping to draw my bear tag this year and really test the ballistics!

Dad is shooting a GG in 45/70 with leverevolution and shot a doe this year just over 225 with it, Dropped her flat. We both shoot the LE ammo him out of his 45/70 and me out my BLR 450 and it smacks out to 300... consistently on a 8 inch plate.

My 1895 Cowboy likes 54 gr IMR 4350 under a Lyman 457193 WW cast bullet or 65 gr Goex Ctg under same bullet cast 30:1 or 40:1. The deer don't like either load.

My Win '86 does nicely with Buffalo Bore's 350 grain +P load. The bullet is a Speer 350 gr flat point @ 2100 fps.

I plink around using a hardcast bullet in 330 grn weight. My rifle likes those 405 grn Remingtons. If I were to go after something big and mean, it would be those Beartooth hardcast bullets, they will penetrate a bison end to end.

I use Winchester 300 grain Partition Gold. Good accuracy from my Marlin Guide Gun. I used it on a black bear in Oct 09. It was up a tree, 37 yards straight up. He looked to his left so I aimed under his right ear: The bullet went in under the right jaw and came out the left ear and the bear was dead before it hit the ground. - Hunter308

I'm shooting 420 gr Garrett Hammerheads, knocks stuff down and they don't get back up.

I found a new load my 1895G likes, 350 Hornady RN - WW Brass - CCI200 - 59.0grs H4895 = 1922fps and great accuracy.

350 gr speer/ jacked flat point 2300fps on my choney..hurts on both ends...(1885 hw)..don't try this at home

Barnes 250 @ 2365fps with H4198.

My 1886 Extra light weight gets the Lyman 457122 (Gould HP) cast at 346 gr. over 37 gr. IMR 4198 for about 1675 fps. With the Lyman peep I get about 2" at 100 yards with it. Haven't shot a critter yet.

405 grain slugs and 55 gr of H4895. They step out around 1,700fps and are quite accurate. One should warn folks about recoil though before handing it over.

Ranch Dog TLC460-350RF air cooled wheel weights, Starline brass, CCI200, 55.5gr IMR8208XBR. 1.25" at 100 yds with a 2x scout scope on my 1895GS. Haven't chronoed yet, but 20 rds in an afternoon is enough for me.

How do those 350g Speers expand? Speer say they were designed for the .458 Win and may not expand at 45-70 velocity. I have some loaded up, but haven't used them yet.

.458 lott if i remember rite..i load them "fast" (read: hurts on both ends) they leave a .458 hole and come out the other side of a moose i shot with it. on the AOD site i had posted a few pic's..went thur a mess of wet phone books (over 13") and came ont so i never recoverd the bullet ;(...

I've been using both 400gr and 300s, factory Remington loads, in an H&R Springfield trapdoor reproduction, mostly offhand target shooting at 50 or 100 yards. More accurate at 100, oddly enough, probably because I take my time.

I'm learning to handload and am aghast at the limited selection of factory bullets and recommended loads for the Trapdoor. Serious fun rifle to shoot, if you can shoot it (got it for a song because the owner, a good shot, couldn't hit anything with it).

My hunting partner uses an 1895 as his bear gun, mostly with 400s and Hornady LeverEvolution rounds. He's witnessed a deer kill with the same model gun (placement, placement, placement)...

REmington 405 and 300 grain for sighting in, home/property defense and SHTF, and buffalo bore 430 grain for bears, have put a box of the 400 and 300 grains thru it also. The 300 grainers bruise up your fingers in the lever pretty good if you don't have a good tight grip, the recoil on those is the most intense... its more of a slap, where as the 400 and 430 grainers are more of a big push and bigger muzzle rise. But if you have big loop lever no worries

In my 1895 Marlin 45/70 I been using the Hornady 265 grain Leverevolution ammo, making this a 200 yard gun on whitetail deer. Now for Hogs I use the Remington 405 grain bullet simply put. The plinking is done with 300 grain bullets.

I've been using BuffaloBore's +P 45/70 load with the 350 gr Speer @ 2100 fps. Fun to shoot in my "86 EL Miroku. Should be good at dealing with the local critters.

Ordered some Hornady 350 FP's and with 59.0grs H4895 I got 1912fps and great accuracy.


Hopefully I will be picking up some 350gr Cast for plinking around with soon.

.457 round ball and about 6 1/2 grs Unique for grouse and small game, 400 gr Barnes Original over 53 grs IMR 3031 for carry loads, 400 gr bulk Remigton bullets with the same charge for practice or critters that don't need Barnes bullets, tho the gun is mostly a carry gun rather than a hunting gun. Shoot a few 300's for plinking sometimes. Same charge work for them also.

I cannot understand why everybody seems to want to load them so fast?! Mine does well with cast bullets,not even hard-20:1, and under 1300. That same power/bullet combination was killing bison at 3 hundred yards back in the day. It penetrates like a cannon shell but still upsets quite well.

I have been meaning to get some 405 cast bullets and load'um over 2400 but I have not got around to it yet.

For deer hunting, I like to replicate the .30-30's trajectory, but other than that, with the heavys(in my case, 430s), I run about 1650 to 1700. That's probably still faster than you like, but that is about as fast as you need to push them.

Have you read the "Sandyhook tests" and their conclusion on the .458 500 grain bullet? The testers were impressed.

I have two large game critters that I killed with a blackpowder cartridge and the results were/are impressive. 1400 fps w/ a 420 grain bullet is not going to bounce off of anything with fur or hair. Admittedly I was using a 540 grain bullet @1400 but the 420's were used 138 years ago to stomp buffalo. The actual issue is to learn your rifle and have sights that have enough adjustment to take advantage of the range the 45/70 will give. A nuice advantage to the 1100-1400 range is that a relatively soft (30:1 in my case) bullet that WILL upset and do serious killing. The loads the fellas here seem to like that use lead slugs are all hardcast. Now most fellas wouldn't shoot an elk with a 458 Win Magnum and solids but appear to have little prob using a lead bullet that isn't going to upset either,same-same a 458 solid. Gotta admit that puzzles me just a tad. There is Parker-Hale mold for a 458 bullet that is 470 grain and seats deeply enuff to have useable powder space for smokeless that would put one in the envelope I mentioned. I watched one of those slugs knock a 1000 lb cow buffler OFF its hooves and come down on its back legs up. All this at 1400 fps. THAT is killing power.

ET is trying to tell you boys something very big, very profound, and most of all, very important. The bullet he is talking about is the Lyman 457121PH. It is a nominal 480 grain flatnosed bullet. Driven at 1200 to 1350 fps it is a HAMMER. I have used it in Africa and North America, and it shoots all the way through both shoulders of a 1650 pound bull bison, all the way through kudu and wildebeast, and knocks zebra off their feet. Deer and hogs are simply devastated.

Loaded to 1250 fps in a 45-70, RECOIL IS MILD. The rifle doesn't kick you silly. I shoot it in my various Sharps, and my 1895 Cowboy Marlin. The bullet has a short nose and a long body, and cycles through the Marlin and the 86 Winchester with ease. Cast it 30-1 lead to tin, and load 36 grains of 3031 and you won't believe how pleasant it is to shoot out of the Marlin, and just how deadly it is.

When someone tells me they are driving this or that 350 or 400 grain jacketed bullet at 1700 or 1800 fps out of their lever gun, I just shake my head and wonder, because I KNOW the rifle is simply kicking the hell out of them--and the real surprise that they don't even know about is that this 480 grain flat nosed bullet is out penetrating their faster, lighter bullets by a considerable margin.

Bottom line: Get the Lyman 457121PH mold then load 36 grains of 3031 or 67 grains of 3f black powder and start to enjoy shooting your 45-70 again. Be prepared to be amazed at how well it kills BIG animals without tearing up meat.

And thank ET for letting you in on the secret.

I do stress the importance of having a really good set of sights. I have an 1895 Marlin Smith ladder sight on mine. Regulating it out to 300 yards is no big trick. Use a good rangefinder and you are in like Flynn.

That was impressive I must say!

i was just asking about rldr 7 up in big game reloading forum.
i loaded remington 405's over 42.0 grains of rldr 7 and was wondering what the velo was, before i dug out the chrono.
very mild recoil, and awesome accuracy.

think i'm gonna load up a bunch for ?
i plan on using it for walking down the mountain in the timber for elk.

guessing 1700 fps...

Go play outside.

This is off topic, but you wouldn't happen to have heard of a CST-610EVL, would you have? I am just guessing by your screen name.

Nope. Sure haven't.

In My CB Rl-742 Grains runs the Remington 405's at 1800 FPS.
Too Much for everyday shooting but manageable for hunting.

Sucks from the bench though.

Bearcat74:


Those will be some punishing loads if that 2400 is fps. Please be safe.

God no, Alliant 2400 powder.


I am far too fond of my right shoulder to put it through 4052400fps!

I load mainly for my Marlins, though I have both the H&R Buffalo Classic, and the Ruger #1. I went through my experimental stage which meant shooting high velocity/pressure loads within normal published guidelines. I shot several deer with the 300gr. bullets and decided I liked the Speer as much if not more than any of them because I could drive it faster. I also decided no matter how fast I drove it, it still wouldn't be flat shooting. I shot my one and only elk with a 405gr. self cast going nearly 2000fps. He died quickly with end to end penetration, but it simply isn't needed. I now shoot and prefer my 405gr. 11 brinnel hardness boolit going 1480fps out of my Marlins. This is powered by 25gr. of 2400 an kills with great gusto. It also is quick to follow up shots, and in general is so much easier to shoot that you seldom need another shot.

325 grain hornady ftx with imr 4198 powder. loads are rite off hornady's web site!

Remington 405 and IMR-4198 to duplicate Remington's factory load.

This has probably been discussed before but does everybody think the Remington 405 is tougher than the Speer 400 and what would an optimal velocity be for the Remington 405 for a sturdy black bear? Better not to push them too fast? 1600 fps OK. Faster? Thanks in advance. (My rifle doesn't like the Hornady 350s very much so I'm thinking to go with the 405 grain bullet.)

From the reading I've done about 1600fps and down works for the 405 Rem. The 300gr Unicore seems to be a great bullet. The Hornady 350+59grs H4895 in WW brass shoot great in my 1895G. With teh 405's RL7 has always shot very good, 42grs in WW brass.

I am now only loading up hardcast bullets to shoot out of my one 45/70 1895 Marlin. The bullet weight is 385 grains, fired at 1600fps.

Don't reload yet for the 45/70. I shoot winchester 300 gr silver tips and Remington 405 gr.

I loaded some 325 grain cast bullets for a trapdoor Springfield the other day with 16 grains of Trail Boss and it was a delight to shoot.
Quiet and pretty close out to 200 yards.I recovered some after shooting at a dirt bank and a rock face and they mushroomed just like those pretty pictures you see in the catalogs.
This was for someones rifle and it sure makes me want to get one for myself.

I am shooting the 300gr PT at 2325 out of my Guide Rifle with H4198. Pretty darned accurate out to 300 yards and penetrates really well. Looking forward to trying more of the 350gr Hornady FP's. Looking for 2K out of them. I think they will shoot through about anything I would hunt. Scotty

405gr cast + 25.0grs Alliant 2400 shot great today from my 1895G.

I've also been using 31 grains of IMR-4198 under a 405 grain cast Georgia Arms bullet.

Man, there are some serious velocities posted, particularly out of guide guns. I shoot a Leadhead's gas-checked 300gr slug at 2100fps out of my 1895GS. Ironically, the only thing I have shot with it was a deer at about 8yds.

What is the maximum velocity a gas checked hardcast slug can/should be fired at? I have a Ruger #1 in 458 Lott on the way and will primarily be loading it to 45-70 and light 458 win mag levels. I'm just wondering how high I can crank it up with hardcast bullets before I just get a dribble of melted lead pour out of the barrel.

I handload the 400 grain Barnes Original in my Guide Gun. Great performance on game so far.

DP