Just wondering...
It will be coming on spring/summer here soon and with that out come the snakes too.
Is there a way, or has someone actually loaded a lead shot charge into a 45/70 case and fired it from a rifle with reasonable results?
What sort of wad and crip could be applied to hold the whole show together?
I'm thinking that a 45/70 case full of 6's or 8's would make a dandy snake charmer at 4 or 5 yards.......

I've heard that a 410 shotshell can be fired from a 45/70 chambered rifle but I must say I'm not too keen on that idea. I've done a case dimension comparison and it seems like a good way of getting a face full of burning powder from a ruptured case to me.
Any thoughts?

Cheers

You could always duplicate a "Forager" round. 45-70 case, hollow wood bullet full of shot, and a base wad. Roll crimp into the wood bullet.
The other way would be to use a 45-90 or 45-120 case (which ever get's you clser to the OAL of a loaded 45-70) and form a false (bullet diameter) neck forward of the "normal" 45-70 length to hold the shot charge, and crimp the mouth over a card wad. You might be able to use a standard 410 plastic wad cup this way, also.

I've mucked around with shotshells in a 357 lever gun and found that the rifling made the shot pattern go into a doghnut shape with a very light center.

It might be difficult to roll crimp that 45-70 case. Try a small amount of wax around the top card/wad.

I can't say this is safe but...........I used to shoot .410 shot shells in 45-70s without a problem. They swell a bit but don't rupture. That was with real brass heads. Some new ones, in 12 ga. anyway, are steel. I don't know how steel would stand the abuse.

I don't see why you could not use gas checks and 45 caliber wonder wads with .410 data to make a proper 45-70 shotshell. The bore is larger and should reduce pressure.

I would think the major problem with shot in a crimped case would be the leading from the shot hitting the rifling on the way out. You might be able to either use a .410 power piston in the .45/70 case or use the .45 Colt shot capsule from Speer to prevent that.

It seems like the old paper shells had a card wad on top of the shot with a roll crimp to hold everything in place. Of course, I've slept since then and may not be remembering right!

Either way, you're going to have some problems with the rifling causing the shot column to rotate, which will blow the pattern out at any distance.

Oh yeah, those little blue shot capsules, forgot about those (slaps his Neanderthal forehead). Will definitely give them a try if I can get hold of some.
Can't say I've ever seen any here in the shops, they have loaded ones for 38spl etc in packs of 10 available at crazy prices, like a couple of bucks a shot, holy cow!

Thanks for the input guys!
Cheers!