45-70 Short Hornady Brass & Standard 405gr Bullets?

[mobo215]

I have approximately 1 million empty 45-70 cases. These are from the Hornady Leverevolution 325 load - I bought the Hornady factory ammo but didn't know that Hornady trims their 45-70 cases to non-standard length to accommodate their 325gr bullets in a standard COAL.

I'd rather not have to spend $0.85+/ea for the Hornady bullets in order to reload them. Would it be safe for me to load standard 405gr flat point bullets using standard load data on the light side?

My rifle is a Henry X in 45-70. I have an Obsidian 45 can for it so I can shoot 405gr lead bullets at subsonic velocities if it's safe to load them into these short cases.

 

[texastonk]

it’s safe but you could have pressure issues due to case volume reduction and You may not be able to seat and crimp bullets at the groove without powder compressed on loads. You’re best to measure case capacity and seating depth before hand then load accordingly. You could gain some room by seating the bullets longer.

 

[KYAggie]

Just seat the bullets out longer and use a Lee Factory Crimp die, you won’t need to hit a crimp groove for that. It’s not an issue, I have a Marlin Guide Gun and a takedown 1886. I do keep my brass that I load with the 325 separate, but I would not hesitate to use it with cast if I was no longer loading the 325.