Marlin 45-70 Guide Gun Brass Trimming

[Bingoc]

Has anyone trimmed their brass from 2.105 to 2.040 in. for use with the Hornady 350 GP Interlock bullet and experienced a carbon ring from the short brass?

 

[ElkSurgeon]

I have a Marlin 1895m in a 450marlin. I went thru your similar issues about 3yrs ago. Unless i used factory Hornady Leverlution ammo I had to trim my brass down significantly to even be able to chamber a round. I forget the exact amount of trim but it was significant! I was still constantly having feeding issues even with the factory Leverlution. I even visited with Marlin twice & their head tech support guy told me that they make a replacement feed ramp but guys were still having issues & that the 350gr interlock is plagued with feeding issues in lever guns. I switched to 400gr Barnes Buster/dangerous game bullet & have had zero issues since then. Hope this helps

 

[bpcrshooter]

2.1 in my marlin with the RCBS 405 RNFP. runs thru perfect. The problem is you only have so much room to make the turn up and into the chamber, with pointy noses (not the best for the 45-70 anyway) you will have to shorten your case and deep seat bullets. More blunt nosed bullets are going to be your friend in a lever gun. The 350 Hornadys should be fine set to the crimp groove. Speer makes a 400gr that works really well too, cant even tell you how many I've shot.....boxes and boxes of them.

 

[Bingoc]

2.1 in my marlin with the RCBS 405 RNFP. runs thru perfect. The problem is you only have so much room to make the turn up and into the chamber, with pointy noses (not the best for the 45-70 anyway) you will have to shorten your case and deep seat bullets. More blunt nosed bullets are going to be your friend in a lever gun. The 350 Hornadys should be fine set to the crimp groove. Speer makes a 400gr that works really well too, cant even tell you how many I've shot.....boxes and boxes of them.

Thanks for the advice;will look into

2.1 in my marlin with the RCBS 405 RNFP. runs thru perfect. The problem is you only have so much room to make the turn up and into the chamber, with pointy noses (not the best for the 45-70 anyway) you will have to shorten your case and deep seat bullets. More blunt nosed bullets are going to be your friend in a lever gun. The 350 Hornadys should be fine set to the crimp groove. Speer makes a 400gr that works really well too, cant even tell you how many I've shot.....boxes and boxes of them.

Thanks will look into the Speer 400.

 

[ElkSurgeon]

I also had great luck with the 400gr Speer that bpcrshooter mentioned, they were hard to find at the time I was shopping so I chose the 400gr Barnes Buster....I understand it's not a 45-70 but here's my "kill" load shot off bags at 100yds with my guide gun & a Leupold 2-7x33

 

[ElkSurgeon]

I took that rifle to Kodiak Island last fall killed two Sitka Blacktail 150yds & 245yds.....Leupold has the CDS turret dials to make longer shots possible with lots of practice....also killed a MntLion last winter on a Montana draw tag with it as well. I love these rifles so compact & easy to carry & they make a perfect walking stick over downfall timber

 

[Bingoc]

I also had great luck with the 400gr Speer that bpcrshooter mentioned, they were hard to find at the time I was shopping so I chose the 400gr Barnes Buster....I understand it's not a 45-70 but here's my "kill" load shot off bags at 100yds with my guide gun & a Leupold 2-7x33

I've had similar experiences with the 45-70 Guide Gun scouting for moose on the weekends for a couple of months in northern WA. The timber is as thick as hair on a dog's back. There are so many bears close to the Canadian Border that on my first trip I took a 12 ga double barrel, but found out that it was tooooo slow to get into action. I encountered 3 black bears that weekend, and all were less than about 40 yards away and moving on logging roads or game trails.
Got a SS Guide Gun that week, put some ghost sights on it, borrowed dies, and loaded 425 gr. Beartooth hard cast bullets using a friend's load data and couldn't believe the flat trajectory and good groups to 100 yards. You can carry that gun all day and don't even know it, and it comes up and points like an extension of your arm; and as you stated, it is handy for crossing down timber. I finally got my moose Thanksgiving week with a 338WM, but the guide gun sure made me feel somewhat safe if I needed it. Saw bears every weekend.

 

[ElkSurgeon]

Yes . SS guide gun is supreme. Mine is the blued series & now carries rust scars from the salty atmosphere of Alaska