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45-70 help

Bowhntr4life

James
Supporter
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 8, 2017
1,175
166
I recently picked up a 45-70 with 1-20 twist rate. I will be using a Silencerco 46 Hybrid can. I am looking for suggestions on what grain, bullets etc I should be buying/using for the best results. Any help would be appreciated!! Thank you everyone in advance.
 
The great thing about 45-70 is there is a lot you can do with it, which is kind of the crappy thing when you are just getting started! The basic bullet is a 405 hard cast, gas check, and using between 30-35 grains of 5744 (or any other number of really good black powder substitute loads.) The downside to this is that with a can, lead bullets lead to more cleaning. One option is to go to a Hi Tek coated bullet. You can also use jacketed bullets, of course, but for dicking around, it gets pricey. For hunting, some of the Cutting Edge solids look cool. I haven't tried them -- yet.

As far as other stuff goes, I really like the Lee FCD for crimping 45-70. Pretty much any seating die is going to be fine, but since there are a lot of different bullets, having the Redding micrometer is not a bad idea. For case flare either the Redding or the NOE expander inside a Lee die works really well. For sizing, they are all pretty much the same, but Lyman is coming out with a carbide 45-70 die in their Pro series later this year. Remember, 45-70 is a tapered case, so you need lube. Alternately, the RCBS cowboy set seems to work pretty well.

Enjoy it. Fun cartridge to shoot. I really like 5744 as a powder as you can safely, and accurately, load it soft and also load it to full power. Some of the others are only good in one direction.

ETA: Lever actions are pretty finicky as far as OAL to feed, so you are realistically looking at "normal" weight bullets, not some of the single shots as for Sharps etc, and you are basically going to seat them to crimp into the crimp groove.
 
The great thing about 45-70 is there is a lot you can do with it, which is kind of the crappy thing when you are just getting started! The basic bullet is a 405 hard cast, gas check, and using between 30-35 grains of 5744 (or any other number of really good black powder substitute loads.) The downside to this is that with a can, lead bullets lead to more cleaning. One option is to go to a Hi Tek coated bullet. You can also use jacketed bullets, of course, but for dicking around, it gets pricey. For hunting, some of the Cutting Edge solids look cool. I haven't tried them -- yet.

As far as other stuff goes, I really like the Lee FCD for crimping 45-70. Pretty much any seating die is going to be fine, but since there are a lot of different bullets, having the Redding micrometer is not a bad idea. For case flare either the Redding or the NOE expander inside a Lee die works really well. For sizing, they are all pretty much the same, but Lyman is coming out with a carbide 45-70 die in their Pro series later this year. Remember, 45-70 is a tapered case, so you need lube. Alternately, the RCBS cowboy set seems to work pretty well.

Enjoy it. Fun cartridge to shoot. I really like 5744 as a powder as you can safely, and accurately, load it soft and also load it to full power. Some of the others are only good in one direction.

ETA: Lever actions are pretty finicky as far as OAL to feed, so you are realistically looking at "normal" weight bullets, not some of the single shots as for Sharps etc, and you are basically going to seat them to crimp into the crimp groove.
I have been looking at some 410 Hornadys, but ran across these 550 grains. What’s your thoughts on them? 550 seems like a lot!!
 

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