I have just purchased a 45-70 marlin and am curious as to what my choices are for reloads.
I am intending this rifle to be a replacement for my 30-30 winchester as a brush gun. So i am looking for the hardest hit and most accurate load that will push through thick brush, but would also like to be able to take relatively long shots with this same load.

the brush busting cart is pretty much a myth but here you go...

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/...=253108746#253108746

More than enough fodder to be found here:
http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp
http://www.accuratepowder.com/data/PerCaliber2Guide/Rif...0High%20Pressure.pdf
http://www.accuratepowder.com/data/PerCaliber2Guide/Rif...20STD%20Pressure.pdf
http://www.ramshot.com/powders/loadguide/Ramshot%20Edition%204.2.pdf
http://www.realguns.com/loads/4570.htm
http://www.realguns.com/loads/4570cast.htm

Here is my deer/black bear/hog load:
Marlin 1895 45-70 22" barrel
300 grain Speer UniCor hollow point seated to 2.53" and crimped with a Lee Factory Crimp Die
Winchester brass, 2.1 trim
CCI 200 primer
55 grains H4198
about 2170 fps and 28,000 CUP

My favorite all round hunting bullet in the 45/70 is the 350gr Hornady. Try 53 gr of IMR 3031. In my brothers Marlin Guide Gun it shoots like a Sniper Rifle at 100 yards.

Try this.

WW cases
CCI 200 primers
H4198- 51grs.
Nosler 300 gr. partition.

This load in my guide gun is about 1900-1950 fps. You can subst. horn 300 gr., sierra 300 gr., or rem 300 gr. bullets, for practice, without any presure issues, and these bullets are cheaper. Save the noslers for hunting. I took out a hog, in Tex., with the noslers, at 200 yds. I've killed 6 hogs and a black bear, and everything was a pass thru. I'm gonna use the noslers, in my gude gun for my plains game hunt in RSA next year.

Mad Dog

my favorite 45-70 info site...
45-70

as a note...
please shoot cast. you will be amazed at what a cast lead 45 caliber bullit at nominal velocity is capable of. less meat damage and a whallop of an impact.
you can pick out a hard cast bullit and retemper the tip turning it into a soft point then you can have hard penetrators and soft point deer hunting bullets at the same velocity and zero.

MFF,

I load for the Marlin 1895g, 18.5" ported barrell.
I've settled on 400 grain speer over 53 grains of IMR-3031 as my load of choice.
Decent velocity, excellent accuracy. Killed coyotes, hogs and deer drt...

Rem 405 bullet,CCI-200,W-W,IMR-3031 52gr

A brush gun is a gun thats easy to carry thru thick brush.That's all it is.

thanks for all the input, i didnt realize this round was this popular.

quote:

Originally posted by monkeyfootfever:
thanks for all the input, i didnt realize this round was this popular.

it is THE most popular big bore in the us...still kicking strong after 130 years!

As the guy that loads for Monkeyfootfever, I'd say the cast bullets are out. Not really something I'd like to get into right now. We were trying to decide between 300 and 350. I must say the recoil really surprised me. It wasn't hardly anything from such a big shell. Maybe it was because I just got done shooting my 300 RUM but either way, it's very controlable from such a small gun.

I use the factory 300 gr Win Partition, excellent ..Even the 45-70 can be deflected by brush !! BTDT.Even for the short ranges I hunt I use a 1x4 scope to find openings in the brush !

i did not mean for my post to sound like i want to have my shot punch a hole through the brush and still hit my target. but i thank yous guys fir all the helpful info.

and for now i am going to try a load recommended by RiflemanZ
Rem 405 bullet,CCI-200,W-W,IMR-3031 52gr

Cast bullets are awesome in the 45-70. You can take deer to buff. I like the heavy weights at moderate velocities. They penetrate all out of proportion to the ballistics.

450 Grain LFNGC


560 Grain LFNGC

I like the hornady 350 grain flat point over 47.2 grains of IMR-4895. I get about 2000 and very good acuracy.
...tj3006

I've used about all of the 300 grain bullets for the 45/70 over the past 30 years or so. The Barnes "X" and the Nosler Partition are the best, the rest should not exceed 1800 fps. I really like the 350 grain bullets and have settled on the one from Kodiak. I push them with around 2000 fps. I really had good luck with the Speer 400 grain too. 50 grains of 3031 shot 11/32 of an inch groups all day. The cast bullets do not work well in my 1895S so I relegate them to my Sharps. They all seem to work well and even the old Remington 405 grain bullets will kill just about anything you are likely to run into. Jim

Handloader Magazine had an issue with 3 levels of .45-70 loads. Didn't get the dates. I'll post again later when I find the issue again.

P.S. The issue is the August '07 #248.

I used 50 gr of IMR 4895, remington 405 gr semi-jacketed bullets, winchester cases and wlr primers. C.O.L. is 2.550 inches.. great load. I also tried and used 48.0 gr of IMR 3031 with the same componets and it worked just as well. Good luck!

Me favorites so far: 50 grain AC 2495, 475 grain LBT style hardcast at 1,548 fps.

Here's a "mild load": Lyman 2640193, 405 grain, 20/1 lead/tin, SPG lube, 25 grains SR 4759 with dacron filler.
"Power load": 400 grain hard cast with gas check over 50 grains of Reloder 7.
These loads produce 1.5 MOA from my Ruger #1 with a 26" Douglas barrel.
The Hornady 350 grain RN JSP also works well with Re7.

quote:

Originally posted by KSTEPHENS:
you can pick out a hard cast bullit and retemper the tip turning it into a soft point then you can have hard penetrators and soft point deer hunting bullets at the same velocity and zero.

How do you go about doing this exactly?
I've been running Lazercast 405s for awhile now and would like them a little softer.

Go cast bullets!
Casting adds a new dimension to your sport, and, in a 45-70, they make excellent hard hitting hunting bullets. Penetration will amaze you!

I believe the Remington 405gr JSP is still the cheapest jacketed bullet you can shoot. My Guide Gun load is 43.5gr H4198, WLP primer, Remington NP brass, very stout Lee FC crimp, COL=2.55" for a velocity of 1780fps. This happens to be one of many "sweet spots" with my rifle.

That bullet will expand out to nearly an inch while traveling through an Elk.

For deer and distance, go 300 gr. Speer makes a decent bullet for 45-70. There's no "rocket science" to the bullets. No "partitions" or up-town ballistic coefficients, they're just big, fat, met-plat, copper jacket bullets -- and not expensive.

You can go lead cast. You can go .452" dia. lead cast for pistol and paper patch it. I'm not up to speed on paper patches, but again -- not rocket science.

For Roosevelt Elk on the Oregon Coast we use 350 gr. Speer met-plat. Shots are generally inside 75 yds.

Hodgdon 4198, or 4895 powders. Load data is all over the internet.

The 45-70 compared to 30-30 Win. is like a Dodge Ram Diesel compared to a quarter-ton Toyota.