here is the thread...

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/...=260108477#260108477

Anyhoo sorry I did not answer the question...

the issue is functional impact velocity...

jacketed softs with big meplats would overexpand at higher velocities and get less penetration.

hardcasts are pushing it at 2200 for F.I.V. and monometal non deforming solids are needed.

flat nose solids of lesser S.D. can penetrate farther than some higher S.D. softs.

keeping flat nose bullets in the F.I.V. is key. most flat nose softs for the 45-70 are designed for around 1800 F.P.S.

so imho the jacketed softs would have penetrated poorly compared to round nose solids or softs with higher S.D. traveling faster.

Hey Boom Stick, Thanks for the Link. Just read through it. Had no idea people would get that worked up about the Big Bores.

Anyway, best of luck to you.

Yeah, folks get excited against things sometimes. I probably shouldn't mention my M92s in .357 mag. Or all the game that has fallen to .44-40 WCF. Not the Big Five or Six, but still.....

If Seyfried (45LC) and those later guys (44 magnums) can do it with wheelguns, then I'd think the 45-70 could do it too. (I don't even like our bears, I am not going up against cape buff etc...)

I simply have a difficult time arguing against success; if it works - then I guess it works....

And shot placement is always the first priority. Then penetration and all the rest. I also kinda like the broad meplat idea, but maybe I'm just a krazy old getting-fat guy.

corecpa, where you hunted in Moz., was it all flood plains and skeeters? Or were you in the drier areas to the north? Which coutada did you hunt in? Did you charter a plane from RSA to fly in? Any "legalities" with the rifle you used?

Sorry to be so nosey, but your hunt intrigues me. I'm making my first plains game hunt in RSA in July. Was wondering if I could get in shape/save enough money to do your trip in a coupla years[maybe my 60th B'day present to me ].

Mad Dog

It was at Safaris de Mocambique in the Zambezi Valley. Their concession is well over 1,000,000 acres and is just across the border from Zimbabwe. I had to take a Charter from Harare to an airstrip in Zim and then drove into Mzb which was very close by. At that time it was owned by Piet Hougard, but has been purchased by Simon Roger. He also runs the Rifa area in Zimbabwe. They had a booth at the last SCI convention. It was a great area to hunt and I hope to go again. Fishing and bird hunting was complentary when I went in 2005, but not sure anymore. I took the 45-70 before I ever got on this forum not realizing I was taking my life in my hands. Nobody in Mzb minded and thought it was a very cool rifle.


You can borrow money, but you can't borrow time. Go now.

I've not posted here much, but I do have about an 8 year "history" elsewhere. I bought a 450 before learning about the 45-70, now I have two 450s and three 45-70s.

I read a lot about Garrett's ammo, and made a substantial purchase, and guess what - he called me and sweetened the deal. I've tested some ammo for him made for the 329pd. Randy makes some 44 stuff that I still cannot shoot in a revolver with my eyes open.

His 45-70 ammo will out penetrate the nitro stuff. It's been tested and is a real deal. This is not the first sucessful African dangerous game hunt reporting sheer success with Randy Garrett's ammo.

Randy's ammo will dispatch anything on earth - so long as the shooter makes a clean shot. No ammo can make up for poor shot placement.

Thanks Randy, hope you read this thread.

Congratulations on a successful hunt, Mike. Nice work.

Have you tested his Exiter ammo? I would love to see how that compares to his 540's. I know it's magnificent stuff, but I would love to see some testing data. How's the wound channal compare? Thanks.