45-70 brass?

[aldar]

I picked up a 45-70 not to long about and have a few quick questions. I guessing with a straight walled case, stretching isn't to big a problem right? and how many times should you be able to reload this brass safely?

[stimpylu32]

aldar

That will depend on the load your using , with a hot load you may get as many as 10 loads from a case , while with a light plunker load you can get upwards of 40 or more . I have some that I load a light load of Unique in and have almost 45 loadings in those cases . and have only trimmed them once .

Your chamber size will have a lot to do with how many times you get to use the brass , if it is on the larger size you will work the cases more in resizing them and shorten the case life .

stimpy

[aldar]

Thanks Stimpy

[Castaway]

Your brass will split at the neck long before you have to worry about a case head separation.  I've lost count of the number of times mine have been loaded.  I have annealed the necks before, not so much as to reduce the neck splits, but to get more consistent neck tension.

[FLS]

What about neck sizing only?  I can usually get 2 -3 reloads out of my 30-06 before having to full length?  Does this not work in 45-70?

[bull]

Neck sizing could help, might even improve acuracy. Problem is that while the 45-70 is a straight walled case, it does taper. Therefore you will not resize the neck, in standard dies anyway, untill you actually full length size the whole case. I have neck sized .45Colt and .44mag, and they work fine by just short sizing the portion of the case that holds the bullet. But they do not taper like the 45-70 does. This leaves the remainder of the case at as fired dimensions. If you had special dies made up it could work for the 45-70. But would most likely be cost prohibitive when compared to the benefits.

[EsoxLucius]

You can extend the life of your 45-70 brass by using a Lyman Neck Die for sizing (pull out the expander button), a Lyman 'M' Die for expanding, and moderate loads (28,000 PSI) for shooting.  Good luck!

Lyman Neck Die, less than $25
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=466760

Lyman 'M' Die, less than $15
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000157349053

[BBF]

 I just got my second Handi in 45-70 and using Lee Dies I just size the brass enough to get a grip on the bullet. I do have a Lee Factory Crimp die on the way just to remove the flare from the expander die.