I have picked up my Marlin in .45-70 and have ordered some of the reloading components.

I see that the lead bullets come in different widths, ie. .458 / .459 / .460. Which one should I choose and is there a way to tell if a particular gun takes what size? These are not gas checked bullets. They are the Beartooth 420 gr.

Thanks for the information.

Sam
eclemmons@hotmail.com

My Marlins like the .460 diameter in lead bullets in both the Micro-Groove and the normal rifled one. It is best to slug your bore and go that diameter or .001 over.

Contrary to popular myth, lead bullets should be sized to fit the chamber throat. Nevermind the groove diameter under normal circumstances, as the throat is usually larger than the groove diameter anyway.

Too much oversize is another matter. It seems not to matter if bullets are a little oversize, but if there is enough metal to form fins at the base of the bullet from displaced metal, it is tough on accuracy. That has been known since the experimentation days of Phil Sharpe.

Have your gunsmith cast the chamber and throat. Record the dimensions or keep the cast for future measurement. When done, order a bullet mold that casts that size, or nearly so, because sizing does not improve accuracy. The less sizing the better. Otherwise, order throat diameter bullets of a hardness that suits your velocity level: relatively soft for slow velocities, relatively hard for high velocities.

When you buy your dies, get a set of RCBS Cowboy dies. The reason being is that most modern day dies come with an inside expander that allows the case to put a death grip on the bullet--that for jacketed slugs. Either get the larger one in the cowboy dies made for lead bullets, or have your gunsmith make you an inside expander that is only 0.002" under the size of your bullets(you can custom order from the factories, too). That way, the case will not resize the bullet down when you seat the bullet.

Most commercial bullets come lubed. Nice, but it takes away your freedom of choice as far as lubes are concerned. If all else fails, order your bullets unsized and unlubed. Then buy yourself a sizer-lubricator and experiment with lubes. Lubes that work well for smokeless do not work well with black powder. If you are shooting smokeless high velocity rifle loads, then the old NRA Alox/Beeswax formula is better than most, and a very hard bullet (possibly with a gas check) is in order. If you are shooting lower velocity rifle and pistol loads, then you don't have to be so fussy.

Hope that helps.

What GEO said, and one more thing. In that tube magazine and in a rifle that will recoil like the 45-70 you will need to put quite a crimp on those bullets to keep them from pushing into the case on loading or sliding out of it on recoil.

This is assuming you are using smokeless. If you are using Black the case full of compressed powder will keep the bullet from sliding in. You need less of a crimp to keep it from sliding out.