My nephew just got a new Marlin 1895 lever gun in .45-70. As his favorite uncle I'm required to load him some ammo, apparently he likes eating more than buying ammo. My question......will this model shoot 405gr lead bullets well enough for practice? Or am I relegated to jacketed bullets?

Also...any of you Marlin guys whats a decent load for this rifle with 400's?

Thanks a lot , FN

Frank,
I'm like a broken record. I just stick to Elmer Keith's favorite load. This is a jacketed bullet of 400 to 405 grains with 53 grains of IMR 3031 and any standard large rifle primer and brand of case you prefer. I am sure a hard cast Keith style bullet would go well with this too.

This is an 1800 fps load or thereabouts, always accurate and powerful enough for anything you might reasonably hunt.

I once got 400 grainers up to 2000 fps with RL-7 in the Marlin. That was stupid, in my younger days. I swore not to do that again. That would work better in a Ruger No. 3 or 1. Ouch.

Cast bullets are fine in the new 1895s with Ballard rifling. Cast bullets in the microgrove barrels foul quickly unless the barrel is well lapped.

Thanks,

I was unsure if the new Marlins were Ballard or Micro-Groove.

FN

With the Remington 405 gr. jacketed bullet, I load 48 grains of H-4198. Gives me around 1940 fps. This is a very heavy load, btw, and not fun to shoot all day.

Accurate, though.

Pertinax

The load I use in my 1895G 45-70 with the 405 gr. LBT LFNGC bullet shoots great, hits hard (both ends), and will hold around 1.250 inches for 5 shots all day long. I use H322, 54.0 gr. for 1935 fps out of the short Guide gun's barrel. This is near max so work up from start. Hodgdon told me I could use the load data listed in their manual that is for jacketed bullets for the hard cast lead with no problem, and I had none. The bullets are cast by Beartooth and there is not even the slightest hint of leading. This bullet will also work in the older Marlin's with Micro-Groove as we shoot this in my son's 1895SS that has that type of rifling (older rifle). They work just fine in his rifle as long as the velocity is kept below 1500 fps, which is plenty fast enough for game deer sized or below, and excellent for target work: accurate and very mild recoil.

The new marlins are ballard cut rifling. You shouldn't have any problems with cast bullets.

Regards,

Chad

My favorite loads with cast are composed of 300 gr Lasercast and around 16 gr of Unique. They clock about 1200 fps and shoot well.

My foul house load is Hornady 350 RN and 51 gr H4198 at 2100 fps....shoots 3/4" at 100 yds. Love my Marlin.

I have an older 1895 45-70, a "pre micro groove" model. I have loaded the 405 gr. with 4198 like pertinax. However, I can't see using a 405 for a practice/plinking load. My gun has a hard buttplate and none of that sissy porting like those new models! And I can tell you, a full house 405gr load is a hammer--no fun to shoot, but great to get my friends to try! I actually found that the sensation that I was taking a punch to my jaw/cheek area was worse than the recoil at the shoulder. I put one of those padded cheekpieces with velcro usually used on tactical rifles (who's the sissy now?!). It helped a lot, although not a particularly traditional look...

Roger

That beating to the cheek is exactly why I love the porting. When my son's 1895SS was busting his chops he could not shoot it very well. He was 12 at the time and shot my .416s and .458s with no trouble, that that 1895SS was beating him up. A trip to Mag-Na-Port solved that problem. No more muzzle jump, and no more busted chops. Same goes for the factory ported 1895G. Sure, recoil is stiff, but you can work around that. But a bust in the choppers is a whole different thing, and something I will not tollerate for myself, or my son.

Frank,,,I shoot the 1895CB in 45/70,,,I have found that mine likes RL-7 best,,and I shoot 60grs. of RL-7 with Sierra 300gr.HP`s,,,,this is a pretty healthy load,,kills like you wouldn`t believe in Whitetail,,,depending on how small of a kid your nephew is,,50grs,,might be a good starting place,,did I mention that 60grs is a pretty STIFF LOAD?,, but excellent accuracy,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Roger 4

If you want a really good projectile for tough stuff try the woodeligh 45/70 405 gr flat noses. They are great.