Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers what mold for marlin 1895 45/70?

what mold would you suggest for my marlin 1895? i want to use it for target and for deer, so nothing too heavy. maybe 325-425 grains or so. prefer to have some type of flat point, not round nose. it also needs to feed very reliablly as this will also be my bear tracking gun as well.

I just use a 405 gr Lee mould. It has a rounded ogive, and a flat point. Very accurate. I water quench them out the mould, and they are pretty hard. Haven't shot anything but targets yet, but they penetrate the backstop at the range real well. I shoot them as cast tumble lubed. They feed very reliably in my 1895.

The Lyman 457193 is a flat nosed 410 grain bullet that feeds perfectly in my 1895 Cowboy Marlin and is accurate and deadly. 37 grains of 3031 gives this bullet 1345fps with light recoil, and it shoots all the way through deer, hogs and elk, usually DRT. I often wonder why we shoot any other rifle, caliber, or load, this one works so well.

The Lyman mold is a lot quicker to cast with than the Lee, FWIW.

Lee 1-Cav.Bullet Mold 459-405-HB 45-70 Govt. #90268

With enough Varget under it to push it about 1400 fps.

Lyman Gould Express 330 grain #457122, one damn good deer killer.

I make 'em with water quenched wheel weights and push them 1800 fps.

Water quenching stiffens 'em up pretty good, don't it?

Around 18 BHN.

I have had good luck, like sharpsman, with the Lyman 457193. It is "advertized" as a 405 gr FNRP bullet and will vary in weight depending upon what alloy you use. I have cast them with wheel weight lead and both 30:1 and 40:1 lead:tin mix. My 30:1 bullets weigh in at 414 gr +/-. The 1895 CB (well, mine anyhow) really likes this bullet and is accurate with both smokeless and BP. The Ballard-type rifling in the 1895 does well with the lead alloy bullets. Plus, this bullet will shoot well out of my single shot BPCRs to 600 yards.

The RCBS 405 gr was designed specifically with the Marlin in mind, the crimp groove is exactly where you need it to be.

My shooting-hunting partner and I have invested much time and money to reply to your question - to resolve what we would use here in western Montana.

Here are thumbnails of our results. If you want a copy of any, you can PM/email me or SAVE IMAGE from 1000 dpi (width) images.



We decided early that the single best bullet for our Marlin 45-70s (one XLR, one GS, one custom rifle by Grizzly Custom Guns in Columbia Falls, Montana, with 16.5-inch barrel) is Beartooth's Piledriver Jr. 425-grain LFN. These are difficult to obtain and rather expensive. So Bob, former commercial bullet caster who shoots tens of thousands of rounds per year, designed three LFN GC bullets, to try. The bullets are remarkably similar in shape, the differences among them are nuances of a couple of guys who cannot let well-enough alone.

All bullets feed without issue in all three actions. This was not negotiable. Were any to feed questionably, or require Grizzly to futz with the action to get a bullet to feed, that bullet was discarded.

Meplats are identical diameters � .001 inch, which is almost certainly a function of manufacture. These are the largest that feed without issue.

Bullets shoot accurately. While, so far, all loads we have tried shoot well, we continue to experiment with loads to tighten things even more. Bob prefers a somewhat lighter load in his chopped 1895. While I'm satisfied with any of the loads, I'm curious what I can get, especially with the 24-inch barrel. I'm not interested in shooting 50 rounds a day at targets. I want to determine what I can tolerate for two shots. I will supply no load data. We have used only Winchester and Starline brass, CCI large rifle primers, and 4895, H322, IMR 3031 powders. All work well.

Hope this helps.

My goal for lever action 45-70's is to keep things simple. First off I would(I do) pick the 405 grain bullet in either a Lyman or the RCBS mold. Try to keep your velocity at or around 1600 fps. This velocity is a great trade off with velocity, power, and leading issues. First off you will not need a GC at 1600 fps(KISS method). At 1600 fps there is some recoil, but it is manageable, however a 405 at 1600 fps is a very deadly load for any big game. I like to use RL7 powder. 40.0 grains of RL 7 will yield around 1600 fps in most rifles. And 40.0 grains gives good case fill, I prefer good case fill.

Lower weight bullets give higher velocity so you can have leading issues, and heavier bullets have more recoil and will not kill any better than a 405 grain pill. Tom.

Welcome to the 'fire, Tom. Sounds like you have thought it through a bit. I use a LEE 405 water quenched with either AA5744 for light loads, or RL7 for stiffer loads as well.

I shoot a 325 grain cast bullet for plinking and deer hunting! You just don't really need anything heavier to get the job done on a big buck in the woods or fields. It is also a pleasure to shoot and won't make you sore the next day if your body is passed that 50 year marker.

is he in for shoulder surgery ?
Bob

pm sent

My shooting-hunting partner and I had 420-425 grain LFNGC molds custom made by Accurate Molds. We find little-to-no difference in terms of ease of casting, accuracy potential, performance on whitetail and elk. Between us we have three heavily customized (Grizzly Custom Guns, Columbia Falls, Montana) Guide Guns (all with cut rifled barrels, two with 20-inch barrels, one with 16.5-inch barrel), two Shiloh Sharps, one C. Sharps 1874, one C. Sharps High Wall, one C. Sharps Hepburn - all in 45-70.

I saved the ordering specifications if you care to piggyback on our work.

Hope this helps.

I used an RCBS 405 grain GC mold. Out of wheelweights, checked 'n' lubed, they came in about 425 grains. From my guide gun, I got inch and a quarter to inch and a half 100 yard groups if I segregated the bullets by weight to the nearest half grain.

If I had to do it again (sold both gun and mold) I'd probably look at their 2 cavity 300 grain GC mold.

Naphtali, I totally agree with your statement concerning the Beartooth Piledriver Jr. If limited to one bullet, it would be of that design, and start out at 1650 to 1750 fps. Anything in North America, and most anything elsewhere, can be taken with that load.

I've used H and IMR 4198, H322, and IMR4895 in the Piledriver Jr loads. All were accurate, but the IMR4198 loads were the best by a small margin, and were running 1650 fps.

I'm getting ready to load and test AA2495, it looks to be a good candidate if it shoots accurate enough. Bullet speed should be just under 1750 fps with pressure around 28 kpsi. I suspect it may be dirty, like IMR4895, but if it is accurate, I'll use it.

I just had several boxes of those bullets arrive on my doorstep this morning, and I'm going to put together a couple hundred cartridges, so I'll be good to go for the next couple of years.

Lyman 457193. deer to moose does the job.

Lyman number 457643. 400 gr. Flatpoint made specifically for leverguns.