Home Forums Hunting & Shooting BPCR 45-70 vs 45-90, -100, -110, ets

For hunting purposes, it is worth the trouble to go up to one of the longer 45 cases? What kind of velocities can be reached?

The 45-70 has been around for such a long time because it works well and is quite easy to load for numerous bullet weights. The 45-90 is a little bit more finicky to load, but not much more than the 45-70. Those longer than the 90 are supposedly a bit more temperamental, but I have no personal experience with them, so that is just hearsay. It has long been said that the 45-70 is capable of taking nearly every game animal on the North American continent, and I believe it. There is a bit of "romance" involved with the longer versions and more exotic chamberings, which appeals to many shooters. The availability of cases, dies, different bullets and the ease of loading for the 45-70 make it a great chambering for the "beginner" in the realm of BPCR.

Is it worth the trouble to go for one of the longer chamberings? Only you can make that choice. I do have 3 rifles in 45-70 and one in 45-90. I like them all, but that's what I have. I'm sure there will be others chiming in here, so read and weigh all advice in your mind.

Oh, nevermind, just wait for swampy to give the best advice you'll ever get on this site.
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Just kiddin' . . .

I can see that Swampy is "The Man" ! :-)

I can't disagree with anything Otter has written. I have both the .45-70 and .45-90. No flies on the .45-70, however... The .45-90 is just a .45-70 on steroids, just .030" longer. The .45-70 was also called the .45-1/10" and the .45-90 the .45-4/10". Everything else is the same. In fact, except for FL sizing which I seldom do, I just use .45-70 dies for all my .45-90 loading operations.

The advantage of the .45-90, as I see it, is a bit more versatility. Because of its additional length and powder capacity, you have more options for powder charge, wad thickness, and seating depth. I don't find it particularly fussy, but that's just my experience and perception. Another obvious advantage of the .45-90 is getting a bit of extra velocity for really long range shooting, like out to 1000 yards.

I have no experience with the longer cases, and never felt any personal need to go there.

Paul

If a person is going to hamstring hisself and stay in the 45 caliber rut, the 90 might just be the best of them. You can load it at 45-70 levels, and you can also dump in nearly 100 grs with judicious use of a drop tube and a slow pour.
And as already pointed out the 45-70 outlived all of it's offspring, there's got to be a reason for that....
But I have yet to find a cartridge as amicable and easy to work with and achieve top accuracy as the 44-77 has turned out to be. I really have a hard time figuring out why that cartridge went obsolete....

No, it's not worth the trouble to go to the longer calibers, but it is fun.

I started with a 100, then a 90, now a 70. Part of that has to do with the types of bullets I shoot and they way they must be loaded, but the 70 works just fine. The 90 is mostly just more expensive (but it looks so good!). And the 100 is just even more of the same,(but it looks even better).

If I shot conventional bullets I'd be more inclined to stick with the 90 I suppose, but there isn't a wrong answer here.

With one exception. I know of enough people that have had to have a 110 or 120 for their first bpcr, and then decided to
1. quit
2. sell or trade down
3. rebarrel.

If my understanding is correct, that you can shoot the 45-70 out of a 45-100 chamber, I'd go with that for the dual cartridge use.

First I guess I'd better ask if that is correct, can the 45-70 be shot from the 45-100 chamber?

Yes, but it isn't recommended. All kinds of accuracy and fouling problems.

It's just something that experienced BPCR shooters never do.

Paul

Ok, thanks Paul, scratch that. I personally would not trade accuracy for the small benefit of two so similar cases.

I would imagine it's like firing a 458 Win Mag in a 458 Lott chamber. It will work for a while, but the bullet hammering the front of the chamber, plus the fouling buildup, would make for trouble in chambering a Lott round after extended use.

The 45/110 is a devastating hitter on big critters but at least mine is as cranky as an old soldier. Original guns are really a law unto themselves. I am currently using a 44/90 Sharps bottlemeck and it is very impressive in its hitting power. It does seem that the more powder,the heavier the bullet,the more tempermental they are but damn they do it right when you find their sweet spot.

It seems the folks that have the 44/77 and 44/90 absolutely love them. Must be something to it.

The 44/90 dropped this big wild sow wid one shot. VERY decisively.

Waidmannsheil ET.

Big mamma! Did you get the meat back home. Could make some good saussage and smoked back strap...

I like the picture and the Sharp rifle! Lead bullet seems to get the job done as in the past centuries.

Regards

Dom

If you use smokeless the .45-70 will work fine in the longer chambers. The .45-70 is much cheaper to shoot. The resell is much better and easier with the .45-70 if you're buying as an investment. I have 4 .45-70s. What's not to like?

Weidmannsdanke WF. I brought ALL the meat back home. LOTSA sausage(she weighed in at 500 lbs) and I have 2 enormous hams and the loins The big Sharps rounds are pure killing machines with blackpowder and paperpatched lead slugs!

No flies on either but the main lure for me to get the 44/90 was its historical signifigance. The old Sharps Co. sales records indicate that the big 44 was a much more popular cartridge on the plains than the Big 50/90. The 44/77 preceeded those 2 and was the best seller until they came out. It is becoming fairly clear that gg bullets may not be the most practical for the big 44 and there are no historical references I could find nor that I have heard of that had them with anything BUT a paperpatched bullet.

Yep, I was there with ET, and can attest that .44-90 hammered that sow!

The picture I wish I'd been able to get was the view from a distance, the pig down, ET standing there a short distance from it, and a cloud of BP smoke hanging 15-20 feet in the air, testifying to the event.

Wow !
That's one to keep on file.
Someone had an extra cup of stupid, before writing that one.

Have you ever LOOKED at a cross sectioned rifle chamber, or thought about what goes on inside of one ?

GTC

It's Swampy's version of Roy's freebore in a BPCR gun!