my father has a trap door 4570 that he loves to shoot however he is now 84 years old and all the reloading info he can find kicks way too much for him anymore
does anyone have suggestions on a light load that can be safly used in this cartridge
THANKS TOM

There are many smokeless loads that are easy to put together that produce little recoil.

If you insist on black power you can use the lighter 405 grain bullet.

Do some research on "Gallery loads" for the 45/70. There's a LOT of info out there on low power/reduced noise loadings.

Here's a great source for low velocity data. Scroll down on the left to find your cartridge:

http://www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm

If you are using black powder then the carbine load for the 405gr bullet would work. I use 59grs Goex FFg compressed enough to seat the Lee 405gr Hollow base bullet to the crimp band. For the trapdoor I use a firm crimp over the front of the band, just like the FA original. Recoil in the infantry rifle is really mild and the load is reasonably accurate. Just be sure to use a proper black powder lube.

Jerry Liles

Jerry Liles

15 grains of Trailboss and a 300 grain cast bullet works real well for me.

Actually If I had a trapdoor what I'd shoot in it...

a Cast bullet of about 200-ish grains (probably use the Lee 456-220 round nose mold intended for the Ruger Old Army revolver)
on top of FFFg

Big boom, lots of smoke but not a whole lot of recoil.

300 grain hard cast bullets and 30 grains of H4895.

10 grs Unique with about any bullet is a nice light load

Some of the Cowboy Action loads for the 45-70 would probably work well if you don't reload.

A favorite of mine is the Lee 340-grain bullet loaded with Trail Boss, Unique or XMP 5744. However, Lee's 405-grain hollow base is more likely to expand and give you better accuracy in a trapdoor, where groove diameter is often well over .460.

The book max of Trailboss and a 300gr cast bullets have proven best for me. If you decide to use a pistol powder like unique, when shooting, point the muzzle straight up to allow the powder to settle over the primer, the lower the rifle into firing position. This will help with consistency. I've tried pointing the rifle down as well, but have gotten better results pointing up.
Matt

I never recommend pistol powders in these big cases; too much danger of double or triple charges.
Use a 300 grain bullet; that will greatly reduce the recoil. But as BIll said, if your barrel is oversize, a hollow base bullet will work best. Use trail boss or 5744.

Just curious, but most factory loaded 45-70 is severely underloaded as I recall, would that be suitable in a trapdoor? I knew a couple of kids back when that shot that stuff in their trapdoors..

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Just curious, but most factory loaded 45-70 is severely underloaded as I recall, would that be suitable in a trapdoor? I knew a couple of kids back when that shot that stuff in their trapdoors..

Remington's 45-70 405 gr load is, per Remington, "for use in all rifles".

Have a friend that has severe back probs and needed low recoil loads. As mentioned 10gr Unique with any cast works great. Very accurate with 405s.