I'm thinking about trying some of the Oregon Trail Laser Cast from Cabelas for plinking loads in my Ruger #1 45-70. Do I need gas checks? In general, when loading cast bullets, how do you know if you need gas checks? Can anyone recommend 45-70 plinking loads that are easy on the shoulder? Thanks in advance for any replies.

Boolit will come with a GC from the producer so you will not need to buy any.

You did not mention boolit weight, but If you are in the 350-375 range I use 23.5 4759, 5744 is supposed to be good also,

lozeau, it depends how fast you are going to drive them. If under 1300 fps or so, then cast lead without gas checks should be fine. However, as has been pointed out, many of these come with gas checks. Just remember that the POI will be different between your "plinking" load and your hunting load. With Speer 350 gr. jacketed so reasonably priced, I tend to shoot just jacketed, but as I recollect I did buy some 400 gr. cast bullets.
Peter.

I've used the 405 grain Oregon Trail bullet and AA 5744 powder with good results in a repro Hi Wall. Keep the velocity down around 1300 fps and you should not need a GC bullet.

AA 5744 is a good powder for this large case, quite dense and relatively position insensitive, but it has one idiosyncrasy you'll need to watch for. Until you get to the "sweet spot" in the charge weight for your paticular gun/load/bullet combination you will find unburned granules of powder left in the barrel. These little grains can remain in the chamber and cause sticky loading/unloading. Tweaking the powder charge up or down .2 will eventually find the cleanest burning (and usually most accurate) load for your gun.

You can use any lead bullet in the 45-70 with 10 grains Unique, compress a cotton ball between powder and bullet.

5 lbs recoil with a 500 grain bullet, less with lighter bullets.

I shoot the 300 gr. RCBS cast FP over 24 gr of 2400, no gas check. My favorite load.

A load I like to shoot is 13gr. of Trail Boss under a 405 grn. cast lead bullet.

Do you find trailboss to be accurate? I have been thinking about trying some so I don't need filler.