45-70 reload advice please.

[syoungs]

Looking to start up a load for my marlin 1895 45-70, bought the gun to chase bears and elk when the brush gets thick and I'll be up close and personal.

I'm going to be using this round as a springboard to get back into reloading with my old man, so go easy on me if I come across somewhat dense lol.

My goals for this:
 Hard hitting, knockdown stopping power on large game.
 Should be a sub 150yd gun, but would like to stretch it to 200 if possible.
 Relatively common components without using exotic powders or primers
 
I've read alot about this round on other forums, but I'm experiencing information overload at this point.

Anyone have a good load worked up they would like to share, or any tips to get the most out if this cartridge?

[BULLBLASTER]

When I had a Marlin 1895. I would shoot 300 grain Hornady interlock hollow points. They were hell on elk within a couple hundred yards. Worked very well.
 

I had a lot of fun with my 45-70. It was a hard hitter! Good luck and I like your choice! 

[Karl Blanchard]

It's a shame they don't make the 300 gr nosler partition anymore. That was a fantastic bullet.  I've shot the Speer deep curls out of my muzzy for about 4 seasons now and they are pretty pimp.  Between me, and the crew we have taken about 10 elk and 15 deer with them.  Devastating performance on game and reasonably priced. 

[Karl Blanchard]

We used the 300 gr which is a .452

[BULLBLASTER]

It's a shame they don't make the 300 gr nosler partition anymore. That was a fantastic bullet.  I've shot the Speer deep curls out of my muzzy for about 4 seasons now and they are pretty pimp.  Between me, and the crew we have taken about 10 elk and 15 deer with them.  Devastating performance on game and reasonably priced.

I wish I was part of that crew. Too bad I can't hit anything with a muzzleloader!   

[Karl Blanchard]

It's a shame they don't make the 300 gr nosler partition anymore. That was a fantastic bullet.  I've shot the Speer deep curls out of my muzzy for about 4 seasons now and they are pretty pimp.  Between me, and the crew we have taken about 10 elk and 15 deer with them.  Devastating performance on game and reasonably priced.

I wish I was part of that crew. Too bad I can't hit anything with a muzzleloader!   

Ya you're not welcome at muzzy camp.  Afraid you'll jinx us all

[BULLBLASTER]

It's a shame they don't make the 300 gr nosler partition anymore. That was a fantastic bullet.  I've shot the Speer deep curls out of my muzzy for about 4 seasons now and they are pretty pimp.  Between me, and the crew we have taken about 10 elk and 15 deer with them.  Devastating performance on game and reasonably priced.

I wish I was part of that crew. Too bad I can't hit anything with a muzzleloader!   

Ya you're not welcome at muzzy camp.  Afraid you'll jinx us all

dangit. I was afraid you'd say that! It's not my fault tho.

[yorketransport]

I'm partial to 400+gr hard cast bullets in the big bore guns. I always treat them like handguns and focus more on penetration than expansion. I did really like the performance of the 350 Speer bullets designed for the 450 Marlin though as long as you keep the velocity up there in the 45-70.

For powders I always liked 4198 (either hodgdon or imr) and H335. I used Winchester brass exclusively for my 45-70.

Andrew

[Karl Blanchard]

Heavy bullets are more better.

[syoungs]

I like the hornady 350 interlock round nose, might give that a try.

With the Speers being .452 would they work in a 45-70? Seems like .458 is the status quo for the caliber?

[jaymark6655]

So far I have only used the hornady 325 gr FTX leverevolution with 4198 powder.  .230 BC at about 2200 fps.  I don't remember how many grains of powder, I wrote it down somewhere.  Not sure how it would work on a bear, but on a deer it looks like a grenade went off and will separate the head from the body if you it one in the neck.  The bad thing about the FTX is you have to shorten the brass 1/10" or by some leverevolution and shoot it then reload that brass and it would require a special crimping die because of the short case.  I am looking at trying their 500 grain interlock next.

[Karl Blanchard]

I like the hornady 350 interlock round nose, might give that a try.

With the Speers being .452 would they work in a 45-70? Seems like .458 is the status quo for the caliber?

They do make a .458 I believe.  Its like a 325 or 350gr.

[Fl0und3rz]

When I had a Marlin 1895. I would shoot 300 grain Hornady interlock hollow points. They were hell on elk within a couple hundred yards. Worked very well.

This. Remington or Hornady 300 grain HPs at approximately 2000 fps is about +4-5" at 100 yards, zeroish around 175, but -18ish around 200 yards. IMR4895, IIRC, and it was near max load. 

Ensure you check your loads cycle smoothly. I had to hone some of the action parts to ensure smooth cycling, even with factory loads.

A Wild West Guns trigger is a worthy upgrade, and I like the XS ghost ring sights.

[theleo]

There's lots of options when it comes to a modern 45-70. Let me ask you a couple of questions first.

1) Are you wanting to go with jacketed or lead bullets?

2) Does your rifle have the micro-groove barrel?

3) Just how hot do you want to run it?

The powders you choose will depend on how fast you want to push things, Hodgdon data will shows running compressed loads of Varget for some of the upper end stuff. Common powders would be 4895, 3031, Accurate 5744 (but is kind of pricey), 4064, and as remember RX #7. The standardized bullet diameter is .458 and that's what pretty much all of the jacketed bullets will be. Commercial cast bullets are normally .459 and some places will let you order .460 or larger. The only thing to really keep an eye on for nonstandard stuff is the Hornady lever-evolution rounds. That has trimmed down brass to make the flex-tip bullet fit the COAL so it will feed in lever guns. As memory serves, you are also required to trim standard 45-70 brass down if you want to use the flex-tip bullets. Hope this all helps.

[syoungs]

Jacketed or lead, either works, I just want it to be a hard hitting, fast stopping brush gun.
It has ballard rifling, not micro groove
as hot as I need to achieve the first.

not really interested in running the lever-evolution rounds really, unless the performance gain is very large, which by my research it doesn't seem to be night and day.