I am thinking of swiching from jackted to cast
bullets for my marlin 45-70 I need a fairly hard
bullet because it will be used on grizzly and
moose. i want something in the 400-450grn
range any suggestions and it has to be available
or be shipped to canada

I use the Bear Creek bullets in my 45-70 that ShopCartRacing linked to. They are hardcast and accurate with the right load. I'll send you a few if you want to try some out. PM me with a mailing address.

http://www.cliffsgunsmithing.com/Cat_SGC.htm

I also recommend using Soft Gas Checks with your cast bullets.
When used, they virtually eliminate all lead fouling from your gun.

-Spencer

claudeb,
The RCBS 45-400 FN should be just what you are looking for, unless you're in the market for a custom mold, then I would direct you to Mountain Mold.

These are a couple of .45 caliber cast bullets that are my favorite. Both are Lyman. The 552 Gr. Gas Check performs well in both my Marlin Guide Gun, and my Magnum Research BFR .45-70 revolver. Thats a loaded round of .45 ACP for comparision. billt

Claude, you most likely don't need as hard a bullet as you are thinking. The .45 carries enough weight to do the job on penetration. Just look for a good flat point design. We apparently live pretty close together, and I doubt the moose and griz are any tougher on your side of the border.

Billt, You say the molds are Lyman but I don't find them. What load are you shooting in the BFR? I have found that the 300 Hornady shoots way less then one inch groups at 50 yd's and my 317 gr. cast boolit from my home made mold shoots less then an inch, in fact I have some one inch groups at 75 yd's with it. With the twist rate in the BFR I don't see how you are getting the heavy boolit to shoot!
It must have quite a recoil also. What is it useful for?
I have shot some 400 gr. boolits and they just do not group. The 45-70 seems to like the lighter boolit.
My .475 BFR prefers 400 to 430 gr. boolits and I have shot 440 gr. with good groups but it does not like light ones at all.

bfrshooter,

The Lyman 552 Gr. Gas Check is bullet #462560. The 325 Gr. Gas Check is #452651. I believe both are now discontinued. #452651 is listed in loads for the .45 Colt and .454 Casull in the latest Lyman Pistol & Revolver Handbook. The 552 Gr. doesn't keyhole with the twist rate of the BFR. The biggest problem is running out of rear sight elevation adjustment. It shoots a TON high. The 405 Remington Jacketed Soft Point bullet shoots well in my .45-70 BFR. I have some loads that I made up for my Marlin Guide Gun with 47.0 Gr. of IMR 3031 under the Remington 405 Jacketed, and they shoot exceptionally well in the BFR. I haven't had enough oppourtunity to work with the .500 S&W BFR as of yet, (it's getting HOT here), but in the fall I'll be cranking it up. Bill T.

I love the BFR's. I have never had revolvers that I can't put down for more then a few days like these. My Ruger's are sitting in the safe even though they are very accurate.
The .475 is fun. I have some 5X5 angle iron targets at 25 yd's we shoot for fun. There is a slope behind the targets. The .44 and .45 will knock the iron off the log, but the .475 will roll it uphill 45 feet. The 45-70 will almost penetrate the steel. I wish I had the money to buy the .500.
And they knock the heck out of deer.

I forgot to mention that I have shot the 45-70 at 500 yards. I figure the drop at 26 feet. I didn't want to adjust the red dot so I aimed at a spot in a tree above the target. I was hitting steel every shot once I got on. More fun then a barrel of monkeys!

My fav is a 405 fn out of a CBE mould it stops everthing that gets in it's way very dead very quickly! Try JIM.CBE@Bigpond.com.au