I have heard great things about the Remington 405gr. SP bullet (inexpensive / quality bullet)in .45-70. However, my understanding is that you cant seat this bullet out to the cannelure in the Marlin 1895 due to OAL. Is this true? Also, I notice there is another small indentation/cannelure more towards the front of the bullet. Can you crimp in this small cannelure? If so, will a roll crimp hold in that small cannelure with hotter loads?

Thanks for your feedback.

Shark

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"The Constitution of the United States shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms." - Samuel Adams

I am not real familiar with the Remington bullet, but I know that the Speer 400 grain bullets are set up with 2 cannelures, both for crimping. In my Ruger #1, the forward cannelure was still sligtly too long OAL, so I had to seat past the cannelure and not even crimp it. This would not work in a magazine rifle however.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Shark Bait:
Hi Shark Bait,
It's absolutely true. The OAL of the 45/70 is 2.550 and with the Reminton bullet seated to this OAL it leaves the brass just ahead of the last canalure where the bullet drops from being full caliber. With the hot loads you'll find the bullet will be seated up against the powder and that the brass should be rolled over the full caliber portion. I've used this bullet lots and never had a problem. If your Marlin is in good condition H322 is a good powder. I use 52 grains in mine for a velocity of 1840 fps. Start lower and work up.

470 Mbogo

Shark Bait,

That is one of the down sides of the Marlin. I don't see why not crimping on the forward step/indentation of the bullet. Since it is not a crimp groove, care must be taken not to buckle the case. I have done this before without realizing it until I got to the range. I ended up pulling all the bullets and started over again. I have shot hundreds of those 405 Remington bullets with my Marlins, 1886, and No 1. without any problem. If you have a modern 1886, you can crimp it on the first "real" crimp groove so you can stuff more powder into case. With the same bullet, my 1886 is capable of clocking well over 2000 fps. Good luck and have fun. Ming

Sharkbait

I had a smith modify both my 1895s to allow Cartridge OAL of 2.67 to feed and eject reliably. The modification was less that $100 including shipping. Included is lengthening the throat a bit to allow for the bullet setting out further and to handle a wider-range of cast bullets. I now can shoot both the Speer 350fp and the Remington 405 both seated and crimped in the front cannelure.

If you dont want to do a modification, seating the bullet to 2.55 oal on top of a commressed charge will hold the bullet in place. The crimp will be over the ogive of the bullet a bit and will look odd but it does work. This is the method Buffalo Bore uses to load these bullets in commecial rounds. The drawback to this is you don't have much flexibility on how much powder you put in the case. The powders that have worked for me in h322 and Benchmark in starline brass set off with rem 9-1/2 primers. The 405 rem over 54gr h322 is where I ended up before modifications for cartridge length. You'll need to work up to this load using a chronograph to very close to 2000 fps. Be observant to any extraction stickyness or brass that is lengthening. Measure and trim all brass before working up loads.

Getting things worked out with the Rem bullet is well worth your time and effort. As stated above, it is a good-quality, inexpensive bullet. It is also very accurate. You can expect sub-moa groups at 100yrds (with a scope) if you do your part.

[This message has been edited by cgdavid (edited 03-02-2002).]

David,

Welcome on board. It is good to have you over here now. That Marlin site was down quite a bit lately. Anyway, I am still loading my 45-70 hot per Tim's suggestions. It is just unbelievable how much you can do with the 45-70 cartridge, especially with those 86s. I loaded my 86 up to a point where I gave up before the gun. That shotgun style butt plate is not really friendly for the hot stuff. I wonder if you have the same problem. Good shooting buddy. Ming

Thanks for the feedback Y'all. Midway has the Remington 405's on sale right now so I think I'll stock up. Can you guys recommend some other bullets ideal for the Marlin 1895 guide gun? I keep hearing about various 300 grainers. Also, any other 400 or so grainers that will fit the Marlin without modification? Thanks alot!

Ming

Thanks! Good to have another place to hang out.

The Marlin board has improved greatly. Its on a dedicated server and is fast! The best part is a lot of the pesky critters that were posting there have taken a leave. Its down rigt plesant.

Shark Bait, I know they all crimp for tubular magazines, but I once tried dispensing with crimp in loading for an M71 Winchester .450 Alaskan with the 405 grain Remington bullet, by taking out the expanding plug, seating the bullet friction-tight after just sizing-down the case and belling the case mouth a little with a .45 ACP (.449") expanding plug. I used a maximum load (64 grains of 4064) which pretty much filled the .450 Alaskan case, preventing a bullet from being pushed back into the case neck. I found that this friction-tight fit was entirely adequate, allowed doing away with crimping, and also allowed the overall loaded length to be changed without regard to the location of the crimping groove on the bullet. This approach should work for a .45/70 as well.

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Larry

Crimp ahead of that small indentation & everything will work good. Those are excellent all around bullet because vertical dispersion is bad with diff weight bullets in 45-70s. I just use regular crimp because you are usually working with full case anyway.