Reloading 45-70 govt

[Elk whack master]

Can I use a .452 bullet? The book says the size is .458.

[wraithen]

I'm not qualified to answer that, but I'd think it's not a great idea. May be safe, but probably nowhere near accurate. I am qualified to ask this question though; Why would you want to?!

[snowshoes22]

.452 are pistol bullets for 45 Colt, 45 acp, 454 cassul, ect...

[Elk whack master]

I use them with sabots in my muzzy. I was just wondering if they would work. Im not gonna do it by any means, Im a by the book guy. I dont want to get hert.

[Elk whack master]

wraithen, have you tried the Hodgedon's CFE223 in your loads. I just got some, but need to get some v-max bullets before i get to load some up.... In small batches There is only a grain and a half difference from min to max.

[wraithen]

I don't see any reason why they would be unsafe other than the pressure not getting high enough to expand the brass. The bullet may also be able to ricochet along the barrel and could rub into it. Other than that I'd think you would survive but I highly doubt you'd have the round go very far. Sounds more like a musket type of technology to be honest. You may end up with a very large flash out of the muzzle as well if propellant were to make it to the muzzle before igniting. Keep in mind, I am not expert, these are just the kinds of things that come to mind logically for me. The gun may very well do a 180 and explode in your face. I have no way of predicting such a thing 

I have used the cfe223 actually. I love it. It's a little easier to get more in a case than varget and it seems to perform similarly in my stevens 223. The biggest thing I love about it is I can actually use my powder measure for it. The bad news is I gotta be really careful about knowing whats in it as leverevolution looks nothing like varget, but very similar to cfe. I have noticed my gun gets a little less fouled, but its a bolt gun so I usually only run 100 rounds through it at a time.

[wraithen]

IDK what round you're loading for, but the CFE seemed to have nearly the exact same min and max loads as varget. My only issue is buying in big enough bulk to make me happy. I'm sure once I get my 7 mag I'll be much more happy about savings per round. With my .223 I still need to reload another 500 at rock bottom before my savings is realized on everything but my bench. Sorry to hijack but I gotta stay up late tonight and you gave me the green light by asking 

[hillbilli]

for a relatively inexpensive deer bullet in .458 I use the rem 300gr HP, available in bulk, accurate, fairly soft bullet, and cheaper than a lot of the cast bullets out there..