45/70 Reduced Load Ammunition Question

[Francis]

I posted a question under the "Deer Hunting" section, concerning 45/70 ammunition. I had just 1 opinion (which I do appreciate), however, the folks here are the "Handi-Guru's". If some of said Guru's get a chance, could you look at my post and give me your opinion, please? Thanks.

[cwlongshot]

Here is a link to the thread in question:  http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,123451.0.html

 Yes it will absolutely work.  Look at it this way, most any caliber out there will have to exapnd ALOT to reach the 458 dia a 45-70 atarts out at!!!  Personally I like to shoot at bone with my deer hunting. Out to ranges of say 200yrds. Any deer shot at the base of the neck or high in the shoulder will be on the ground in a fraction of a second with this load.
Any one that tells you different is not being truthful.

 Many people are hooked on expantion and high velocities.  I offer that a broader frontal diameter disrupts more tissue causing more damage.  Look back at my previous comment. Consider a 30-30, its not likely to expand to 458 dia unless a major bone is hit.But the 45-70 bullet would likely expand a bit on that same bone.

There are no different degrees of dead.

Just my humble opinion,
 CW

[greg916]

i would not hesitate to use light loads in your 45/70. try the speer 400 gr, they are soft and expand well, as do the 300 gr hornady. the 350 grainers are a bit harder, but like cwlongshot says they leave big holes to start with. i shoot for bone (shoulder) and deer are usually DRT.

[Daniel Laws]

I killed 4 deer last year with a 45-70, loaded to lower end trapdoor levels.  Bullets were 300 gr. Hornady hollow points.  Bang-flop 3 times, 1 ran about 30 yds.  Big holes, dead right now.  I shoot an old Shikari, without even a recoil pad on it.  It doesn't beat my old shoulder up, while absolutely pounding the deer.  You don't have to try to make a 458 mag out of it.  Respect it's range and trajectory, and the old 45-70 works great!

[shakey]

Not to worry... it will work.

This is similar to the muzzleloader loads that I used for years with good results.  If possible,  I would use some sort of wadcutter or WFN bullet instead of the round nose.  But, the roundnose will certainly work.

Big, heavy, bullets are just about as reliable as it gets.

[Sourdough]

As Elmer Keith said "Big Bullets Make Big Holes". 

[burntmuch]

For deer I would try some 300grn rem jhp. Thats what Im shooting out of my 45/70. Got myself a real comfortable,&cheap load ,so I can do alot of shooting. The deer you hit is gonna think he was hit by a truck & die.

[JonnyC]

I have killed several  hogs with a trapdoor velocity 45/70. I use Rem 405 gr. bullets. One even was killed after I shot through a 6 inch diameter tree. { running shot- didn't see tree}. The hole will be almost .5 inch in diameter. This bullet size is used with solids in Africa to take much larger game.

[knight0334]

Considering that bison were taken with very similar loads(405gr soft cast @ 1100-1300fps MV) out beyond 300-400yards about 125 years ago, I'd say they'd work on deer.

[quickdtoo]

Big difference tween then and now tho, they didn't care much if they didn't hit what they were shooting at, they'd just shoot at another. Not that they weren't good at what they did, but I think the modern hunter would need to invest in some long range shooting at known ranges to make kills at those ranges, something most shooters wouldn't do. At that kind of range and the rainbow trajectoy of the 45-70, 25yds would easily make the difference between a hit or a miss, or worse, a wounded animal. Below is the 500yd trajectory of the 405gr Remington JSP starting out at 1330 fps.

Tim

Trajectory for Remington .458 dia. 45-70 Govt, 405 gr. SP at 1330 Feet per Second
At an Elevation Angle of: 0 degrees
Ballistic Coefficients of: 0.281   0.281   0.281   0.281   0.281
Velocity Boundaries (Feet per Second) of: 1064   1064   1064   1064
Wind Direction is: 0.0 o'clock and a Wind Velocity of: 0.0 Miles per hour
Wind Components are (Miles per Hour): DownRange: 0.0   Cross Range: 0.0   Vertical: 0.0
Altitude: 0 Feet with a Standard Atmospheric Model.
Temperature: 59 F
Data Printed in English Units
Range   Velocity   Energy   Momentum   Drop   Bullet Path   Wind Drift   Time of Flight
(Yards)   (Ft/Sec)   (Ft/Lbs)   (Lb-Sec)   (inches)   (inches)   (inches)   (Seconds)
0   1330.0   1590.5   2.39   0.0   -1.5   0.0   0.000000000
25   1285.2   1485.1   2.31   -0.63   2.34   0.0   0.057373330
50   1243.2   1389.7   2.24   -2.57   4.87   0.0   0.116716840
75   1204.3   1304.0   2.17   -5.92   5.99   0.0   0.178022677
100   1168.5   1227.6   2.10   -10.77   5.62   0.0   0.241259860
125   1135.9   1160.0   2.04   -17.2   3.65   0.0   0.306375017
150   1106.3   1100.5   1.99   -25.32   0.0   0.0   0.373295912
175   1079.8   1048.4   1.94   -35.22   -5.42   0.0   0.441932543
200   1055.9   1002.5   1.90   -46.98   -12.71   0.0   0.512187558
225   1034.2   961.6   1.86   -60.68   -21.94   0.0   0.583976711
250   1014.2   924.8   1.82   -76.42   -33.21   0.0   0.657229341
275   995.7   891.4   1.79   -94.26   -46.59   0.0   0.731885807
300   978.5   860.8   1.76   -114.3   -62.16   0.0   0.807895559
325   962.3   832.7   1.73   -136.61   -79.99   0.0   0.885215657
350   947.1   806.6   1.70   -161.27   -100.18   0.0   0.963809610
375   932.7   782.2   1.68   -188.35   -122.79   0.0   1.043646463
400   919.0   759.4   1.65   -217.92   -147.89   0.0   1.124700049
425   906.0   738.0   1.63   -250.08   -175.58   0.0   1.206948402
450   893.5   717.8   1.61   -284.88   -205.91   0.0   1.290373345
475   881.5   698.6   1.59   -322.4   -238.96   0.0   1.374960378
500   869.9   680.4   1.56   -362.73   -274.82   0.0   1.460697569