I have been reloading for about 2 or 3 years for my pistols, 44-40, 44 mag., 454 casull, and as of this year the FA 475 linebaugh and haven't had any problems to date so far.
My question is I am leaning towards Hornady dies and recently purchased a Marlin 1895 ss and am wondering, since I've never reloaded for a lever action, Remington and Hornady have a 405 and 350 grain round nose bullet and I was wondering as to reloading these and the diameter of the (or-shape) of the round nose as opposed to primer and an accidental chain fire and sticking with strictly with a flat nose configuration, and any suggestions for a nice medium and effective load to use. I am not into break the speed of light or tear my shoulder off, but just a good recipe for a deer (for now) at about 150 yards.
I have hunted with my 454 and 475 the last couple of years and gotten a couple of deer, 1 at 150 yards with the 454 using a 300 gr. xtp and 25.5 grains of 2400 powder. I was using a raging bull with a scope but have taken the scope and put it on my freedom arms 475 to reach out a little farther than 40 yards with open sights like last year with it. I hope to use hand loads in my 95 ss and maybe you fellas with a little more experience than me can give a few pointers.
Thanks, Johnny Reb

Johnny Reb:

The remington 405 gr soft point has a flat nose and will not cause the magazine problem you mentioned. Hornady also makes a 350 gr fp bullet which is (according to Hornady) is pretty much the same as the roundnose but with a flat nose and will not touch the previous primer in the tube magazine.

Don N.

[ 09-15-2002, 05:31: Message edited by: dodgestdshift ]

I use the 350 FP from hornady in my guidegun, it's accurate and holds together pretty well(so I hear I havn't nailed anything with it yet). The 405 remington is also a pretty good bullet and it's a lot more affordable.

405 gr rem bullet works well and is good value !! I load them for my marlin 45/70.

Regardless of what dies you buy, buy a Lee factory crimp die, too. It will spare you lots of headaches.

Hermann

I just bought a 1895 SS also and like it a lot. Out to 150 yards any of the factory 300 grain loads will give you what you want for deer and feral hogs. The factory 405's are nice to shoot and I figure they will go through any deer from any angle out to at least 125 yards. All that said my working load is the Remington 405 grain bullet at 1500 fps. I hunt from tree stands a lot and much more recoil than this gives is too much. I also shoot the cheap hardcast bullets Midway sells over the same load of 3031 for practice. I am sure this bullet would be an effective game load also.

I have used Remington 300 grain hollow point bullets in my Marlin 1895 SS to take a 200 # boar at about 25 yards. It worked fine. The load was 59.0 grains of H322 in WW cases. The muzzle velocity was 2090fps. The recoil is fairly heavy, but it should make a good load for deer out to 125 - 150 yards or so. Stick with flat point bullets. The .45/70 is versatile, it handles cast bullets well and light or heavy loads can be worked up for a varity of purposes. I know one thing: you like the rifle and working with it.

DON'T use any bullet that can touch the primer!! A flatnose or hollowpoint is mandatory!! Other than that, loading for the .45/70 is about the same as loading the straight-sided pistol rounds you have been loading, only a little longer!!

The bearing surface on the 350 gr Hornady FP is the same as the RN.
Jeff

Midway carries the Remington 405 bullet at about half the price of Speer or other bullets. I find the Rem bullet to be just as accurate, and with a little luck I'll be able to find out how it performs on game sometime in the next few months.