My 16" 45-70 barrel does wonders with the 300 grain condum bullet from the big bullet sale at Midsouth Shooter Supply last year.

Trouble is I want it to shoot the RCBS 300FNGC and Lee 340 bullets in my 45-70 barrel(s).

It produces patterns with both at 25 and 50 yards, PATTERNS . . . NOT groups!!!

The bullets have been cast soft and hard, sized 0.457" and lubed with 50:50 formula that works fine with other bullets.

Any words of wisdom so that it can become a cast bullet deerslayer for this years season there will be a season ongoing until January 11, 2004 so I have some time?

Ideas??

Magic powder that I never use?

Shoot as cast (NO sizing)? (seems like I tried this in the past)

Any hints will be appreciated!

I don't need any rompem - stompem velocities, 1500 plus is fine by me!

LouisB

[ 11-13-2003, 05:33: Message edited by: TCLouis ]

H110/W296. Are the bullets sized .430" or perhaps .431"? Seems best to me.

Sorry, but my 21" factory .44 Mag shoots everything well. Yeah, I know, you've heard it before... But it is true! Honest!

I think the 300 is about the max practical weight, but that's just my opinion.

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(suitable cuss word) How in the heck did I misread this! Sorry!

I've got a factory .45-70 barrel. It handles cast with aplomb so they must not have screwed up every one of them.

[ 11-13-2003, 05:46: Message edited by: Hobie ]

TCLouis,
Have you read Mike Bellm's disertation on factory TC chambers? Have you taken a chamber cast? Cast bullets can be much more sensitive to chamber problems than jacketed. Look at the chamber and go from there.

The chamber in the 45-70 is UNIQUE to both any manufacturer and ESPECIALLY Thonpson/Center.
There is not the normally found long ove-size throat/leade. The chamber ends, the rifling begins . . . no taper, no leade, nothing, nada, zilch.

Figured this out when I first tried to load some condum bullets and they would NOT chamber.

As Mike said, a bore scope is a wonderful thing. I could not afford one, but 4 of us went together and it has provided some interesting viewing!

I really wish TC had made all of their chambers this way , , , , a lot easier to overcome than the LONG leade normally found!

LouisB

As Mike B. said, a look thru a bore scope will provide untold amounts of entertainment.

All said above is basically right , without a proper throat you won`t get decent groups !My 12" T/C Custom Shop barrel shoots 405gr. Lynotype bullets from a Magma mould into whatever I can hold steady !Recoil is stout but manageable , precision is outstanding and better than any jacketed bullet !Have it redone (maybe by Mike Bellm) and decide which bullet you will shoot in the future, the throat can be made to fit the contour of it.Just my 2 cents worth !

Throating is critical, you may be able to have simple rethroating job done by your local gunsmith. As for powders, I strongly recommend that you try reloader 7 with your cast 45-70 loads, I find it to be the powder of choice in all of the 45-70s that I've dinged with.

good luck and don't give up hope,
Graycg

TCLouis, I found that 31 grs. of 4759 with a tuft of dacron over the powder shoots sub 1" groups at 50 yds., sometimes putting 4 out of five in one ragged hole. I use a 317 gr. boolit from a home made mold that looks like an LBT WLNGC. I am shooting these from a BFR revolver. 1535 fps. Pressure is low and recoil is pleasant and it is much more then needed for deer.

TCLouis, I forgot, I use Felix lube and they are .459, no sizing.

TC-

Don't know if you've already slugged your bore or not but my experience with the .45-70 has been better with bullets sized at .459". The LEE moulds I 'had' all cast bullets undersized and never shot as well as others that were at .459".

Best regards-

Sky C.

TCLoius

I could not get the 340gr lee Cast to work in my Ruger #1 . I tried all possible variations of powder , size of bullet ( from 457 to 460 - had to lap mould ) , lead hardness , powder charges etc and could not get any grouping . That mould is now on the shelf . Must say that best "group" was achieved with with an Inverted Gas Check .

Ben

The first load I tried with this bullet worked so well in my Marlin 1895 I still use it. It is the Lee 340 grain bullet cast of pure Wheelweights and dropped hot into a 5 gallon bucket full of water. The bullet is then dip lubed in Alox and the base wiped off by sliding it across a piece of newspaper or Womans day magazine. The powder charge is 31 grains of IMR 4227 and I use Winchester WLP pistol primers. Overall length is 2.540 and the bullet IS NOT sized! I do a lot of hog hunting and for my hunting loads I chuck the loaded rounds up gently in my lathe and turn just enough off the nose to get a .350 meplat. I believe this slightly softens the nose of the bullet nonetheless I have yet to recover one and the hogs don't go far. Altered or unaltered these loads make consistant 1 1/2 inch groups.

I'm gonna blame those .457 bullets on general principles. I'm shooting a Handi, not a Contender, but I halved my group sizes when and eliminated fliers when I lapped a 457-405-HP out to cast .460+. Got even better groups in the little shooting I have done with a 459-405-HB.

My 429-325-RF is gonna get lapped, too. Lord knows I can't make it shoot any worse.