I use Blue Dot in 44 mag for some pretty stout loads and was thinking that a 45/70 is just a bigger, but very similar type of case. Has anyone tried BlueDot in 45/70? < !--color-->

Might work with the reduced round ball load for small game. A guy I know of uses 10 or 12 grs. of Unique with a round ball that he claims works pretty good. That'd be the only way I would try it.

I have used Blue Dot in a 444 using 44 mag data as a start.

I have used it with 20 grains of Blue Dot with a 300 gr XTP bullet and a large rifle primer. Accuracy was excellent, and recoil was dramatically reduced.

If you start out with 400 grain sized bullets, I'd drop it back quite a bit and work up. If you go with the 300 grain sized ones, I'd start at 17 or 18 just to be safe and work up.

ONe thing to look at especially with large calibers with Round Nose or Flat Nosed bullets, is that due to lack of aerodynamics, several hundred more feet per second, does NOT gain you much if at all in trajectory and max point blank range.

So I would not recommend 'redlining' it and you can develope a much lighter recoiling rifle with an accurate load without a big loss in point blank range.

In the 444, I brought the velocity down from 2200 fps to about 1750. Recoil was reduced an easy 50% and the max point blank range was reduced about 10 to 15 yds, if that.

I am relying on the XTPs bullet design to do the on target work, instead of just velocity. I see velocity loss at a benefit, because with the reduction in recoil it will allow better shot placement for most shooters, and the XTP 300 grain was designed to function at 44 mag velocities anyway.

Cheers and Good shooting
seafire

Loads for Blue Dot are listed in the 2nd Edition of the Lee Reloading Manual. Loads are in the "Trapdoor" level.
Cheers...
Con

I have been wondering. Does the extra space in the case cause a problem? What if the powder collects at the bullet end of the case? Just wondering. Ron