looking for 45-70 load 430gr cast

wc870

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G' morning, it's bear season! I figured i'd dust off a Marlin 1895 45-70 i picked up years ago ( been a safe queen ) I picked up some 430gr fp gas check hard cast bullets last night and was looking for a good place to start. Any info on a "go to' load or powder would be great.

Thanks in advance,Wc
 
IME with the 45-70 and a wide variety of bullets, hard cast and jacketed, the best starting point would be with any of the 4198 powders. I use Hodgdon H4198 but IMR4198 is just as good.
 
With heavy hard cast bullets there is no need to hot rod the 45-70 because even at black powder velocities, around 1400 fps with a 430 gr it will shoot clean through most any animal in north America from about any direction out to 100 yards or so. These bullets do not expand much if any but kill by poking a 45 cal hole through things. Unless CNS is hit game usually runs off a ways before it bleeds out and dies. Sometimes trailing can be hard because fat and hair and just the elastic skin will seal over the holes and not let the blood out. Also if you have the old Marlin with the micro groove barrel it may not shoot cast bullets worth a flip. If you are going after black bear give the 300 gr Hornady or Sierra HP jacketed bullets a try and place it in the vitals and they will kill. If you think you need more penetration and less expansion give the Hornady 350 RNSP jacketed bullet a try.
 
H4895 fills more of the case , 4198 can be as low as 60%ish

be careful ,

hornady 9 lists a load that i believe is very unsafe , with imr4198 35.8 starting load

primer burnt powder and started bullet down the barrel, but did not ignite powder

( i called hornady lawyer hot line , they said it was cause i didnt use the large rifle primer listed in the book, although i used an equivalent of different brand ) --


had to hammer slug out ,

i wanted a low powered load for a pistol, and found that i 4895 was full capacity with a lighter power level -- at similar pressure
 
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G' morning, it's bear season! I figured i'd dust off a Marlin 1895 45-70 i picked up years ago ( been a safe queen ) I picked up some 430gr fp gas check hard cast bullets last night and was looking for a good place to start. Any info on a "go to' load or powder would be great.

Thanks in advance,Wc
I'm casting 430's for my 45-70, but haven't load3d any yet. I've heard very good things about Reloader 7, and that will be used on my first attempts...."If, I ever get time to work with it! memtb
 
Thanks guys, RT2506 I agree with you on your point, no sense trying to make a hot rod out of the 45-70, no need too. I'll be hunting in Massachusetts, not likely to have a shot over 50 yards, its pretty thick where i'll be hunting. I found a target that I shot when i first bought it (oct 2004! aint shot it since) where I loaded 405gr gc fp with 38gr 3031, target looks good
 
IMG_8933.JPG
 
I have shot a few deer with my Sharps in 45-70 with Lyman's 405 gr that comes out 420 gr from my mix using Black Powder and some with AA5744 both running 1400 fps. I have only had one deer that did not run off a ways. It just happened to tell me about heavy slugs going not really fast. Deer was at 111 yards facing me. I could see the white patch on it's chest through the peep sight well. Touched off the round shooting BP and heard what sounded like a water melon hitting after dropped off a building. When smoke cleared deer was DRT. Went to the deer found a pool of blood around it's head. Found that deer must have started putting it's head down by the time I fired and the bullet got there. Bullet struck the forehead between the eyes made saw dust of the spine down the neck. Bullet must have deflected some as after going through left lung exited right behind the left scapula making a 45 cal hole. Bullet proceeded to angle downward toward the left back leg hitting just above the knee joint and shooting the leg completely off. Bullet then hit the hard packed sandy dirt road when about 5 yards down the road looking like a mole trail then came out of the ground and proceeded to hit a 6 inch pine tree just off the side of the road where it made a bend. Bullet jerked a palm size piece off the backside of the tree and then I lost where it went from there. It takes a lot to stop even a slow moving freight train. If you use cast on bear I would suggest that you do your best to break down the front end with the first shot. In the thick woods you sure don't want to go looking for a bear that may not be dead. Shooting them has a habit of making them mad and they scratch and bite when mad.
 
Thanks again RT, great story, and very cool hunting with the Sharps. I love hearing stories of what crazy stuff a bullet can do after it leaves the barrel. I was hunting with a Ruger no1 in 300 win mag on a rainy thanksgiving morning 20 years ago 150gr factory load ( don't recall what brand) expecting a long shot. Well I sat on the ground a while till it was time to head in for t day dinner, I stood up and gathered all my wet stuff looked up and a buck was feeding 30 yards away! the deer was broadside facing left,I didn't want to wreck any meat so i took a neck shot just below the jaw. The deer was DRT. When I recovered the bullet it was in the offside shoulder just under the skin!! That bullet took a hard right then a hard left, I never could figure that one out. If it was 300 yards i would say I wasn't sure if it was quartering to me or not, but at 30 yards i was 100% sure it was broadside. No explanation.
 
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