45/70 Reload Advice

[Dogjaw]

Hey now. I was just offered a like new Marlin 1895G with a Nikon 3x9 mounted on it for $450, that I'll pick up in a week. I don't need a howitzer for Michigan whitetail, but for the price, what the heck. It'll be a great brush gun. I have a conversion kit coming for my Dillon RL550B, and dies. My current manuals are very lacking on load data for the Marlin. I've done a site search and found little. What loads have you all worked up? I plan on using Remington 405 sp and Laser Cast 300 gr FN for economical shooting. Or, what manual do you all recommend for the 45/70?

 

[Trapper L]

If you are an experienced reloader the Lee manual has more info than three of the others combined. For my 45-70s, I am shooting the Lasercast 300 with 38.0 grs of IMR 3031. I am using the same data for the Remington 300 gr jacketed HP. All of the rifles shoot this very mild load and FWIW, it is the Lyman manual accuracy load. All of my rifles will shoot these loads under an 1.5 at 100 yds. It also won't pound you into submission and is a fun shoot. Velocity is around 1400 'ps but that is out of the book as I haven't run it thru the screens yet.

 

[44 AMP]

Marlin

Most manuals equate the Marlin with the 1886 Winchester for strength. You can "improve" performance over factory ammo, but for practical purposes, why?

Generally the .45-70 is grouped into 3 levels, based on the strength of the rifle's action.

Level I = factory load, black powder loads, safe in the Trapdoor Springfield, so safe in all rifles.

Level II = more powerful, safe in the 1886 Winchester and the 1895 Marlin rifles. NOT safe in Trapdoor Springfield.

Level III = most powerful, ONLY safe in the strongest actions, Ruger No1/No.3, and custom bolt action rifles. These loads approach (within 300fps) of the .458 Win, and could blow up a Trapdoor Springfield strength rifle.

Buy a couple of different reloading manuals and work up your loads carefully. Do not take internet data on faith. What is safe in my gun may be dangerous in yours. This is one area where you do NOT want to cut corners, or try to get away with it on the cheap. You could wind up very sorry.

Another thing to watch out for is reloading rifle calibers on a progressive press. I gave this up years ago. Especially the .45-70. Progressives are wonderful things, but they have their drawbacks. One of the biggest is the difference in the "feel" when operating. The .45-70 is a long, and rather thin walled case. Any kind of difficulty encountered while loading can result in a crushed/collapsed case, unless you get the "feel" of something wrong, and stop before the damage occurrs.

The problem with a progessive is that the force needed for resizing rifle brass can mask the feel of resistance while seating a bullet, so you don't know something isn't right until a mangled round comes out.

If you must use a progressive, I would recommend reloading your cases in batches, not using the progressive features. Size all cases at one time, while do no other step. Then you can remove the sizer die, then load normally. I would also recommend crimping be done as a separate step.
While this does add to the time reloading takes, you will be farther ahead in the long run, with fewer damaged rounds and less aggravation. Also get a loading block made for the .45-70 (standard blocks aren't big enough for the base). It will come in handy.

 

[Dogjaw]

Thanks for the info Trapper. That's the info I am looking for. I'm going to pick up a Lee manual.

Thanks for the reply 44 AMP. I'm an experience reloader with 20 years under my belt with the Dillon Press. Matter of fact, the Dillon is the only metallic cartridge press I've ever owned. I've reloaded rifle calibers in .222, 250/3000 Sav, 30-30, 308, 30-06 for years on the Dillon without a hitch. I've always resized as a separate operation. There is no need to remove the resizer die, but simply insert a resized case, set a primer, and immediately advance it to the powder die. I always resize them all separately so I can trim to length before loading.

 

[BwanaDave]

Check out the big bore section at marlinowners.com. They have lots of info on reloading for the guide gun. I have a regular 1895 in 45/70 that I started reloading for with a Lyman 310. Slow but it did a good job. I usually load 350 gr jacketed round nose. I get 2" to 3" groups at 100 using an Ashley ghost ring sight. I figured that was as good as it was going to get. I am using 3031 but many say Reloader 7 is better. I had my action tuned and a Wild West Trigger installed which helped alot.

Dave

 

[cheygriz]

For deer hunting in Michigan, I would get 300 grain bullets, and load them to about 1350-1400 fps.

Very soft shooting and easy on your shoulder, and more power than you will ever need for a deer.

If you ever come out to my part of the country, you can always load 400 grainers to 1800 fps for elk and moose, but that's gross overkill for deer.

 

[Dogjaw]

Picked up that rifle. It's a regular 1895 with 22" barrel, not the guide gun. I went to the marlinowners web site and got a lot of good info. Thanks.

I picked up some supplies locally and am working on these to start.
30.0 gr 5744 powder
300gr lead bbfn bullet
CCI 200 primer
Win brass

57.0 gr Varget powder
60.0 gr Varget
63.0 gr Varget (compressed load)
300gr Rem JHP bullet
CCI 200 primer
Rem brass

The wind was blowing at least 20 mph angled from my back, and was pushing me around so I did not have a good test of accuracy. I did notice that the faster I drove the Remington bullet, the tighter the group became. My last 3 shots clover-leafed at around 1/2" group at 60 yards. I noticed no recoil difference between the 57 gr Varget load and the 63 grain load. Recoil was a push and not bad at all. As I tried a faster load, the POI went up about 2". The 5744 load shot like a 30-30.

I also found a lack of muzzle blast with all loads. I didn't even bother with ear protection (and I'm a big fan of protection) I'll have to get back out on a calm day and hunker down for some better accuracy tests.

 

[pumpkinheaver]

I use 48grains of 3031 with the 405 grain remington bullet for Missouri whitetails. Never had one run off from a hit from my guidegun yet.