Contender rifles in .45/70....what are you doing with yours?...

[alan in ga]

OK, strange maybe to want a rifle barrel for almost a single reason: I enjoy paper patching .451" pistol bullets intended for use in .45 Colts and loading them into .458 bores such as 45/70s, .458 Win Mag, and a custom .458 American [.458x2" before it was commercialized in almost same form as the .450 marlin.
Speer's factory swaged 250gr SWC lead bullet is a great plinker in a 45/70 when paper patched as are other "lighter than 300 grain bullets.

Got to wondering what you guys with 16" to 23" 45/70 CONTENDERS are shooting in yours. When not shooting PP bullets I bought 300 and 350 gr JHC bullets for deer. Also bought some Remington 405 JSPs a dozen years ago when Midway and other gun supply distributors were selling bulk Remington factory bullets so cheap.
I don't care to shoot very warm loads in the 45/70 in a single shot because of excessive recoil. I've also had a Handi Rifle in 45/70, and a 12.5" pistol barrel in Contender, but not a 'rifle barrel'.......yet.
What ya shootin' in yours? [yes, this could lead to my finding/buying a 23" factory 45/70 Contender barrel....been close a couple of times!] : )

[Hopalong7]

alan, My 18" Katahdin gets a pretty steady diet of 330gr cast Gould HP's over 777 and loves it.  I would prefer using real black, but it's gotten hard to come by and this barrel has that *%#* funny thing on the end of it(unfortnately), and the real stuff would be a little harder to clean up.  I keep a small can of soapy water handy and just stand the end of the barrel up in it for a while, then clean the whole thing with alcohol and Ballistol.  I also shoot smokeless with the same bullet.  The way the price and availability of jacketed bullets has gone, I don't shoot much anymore unless I cast it myself.
   I would love to try some paper patching myself with the 777 load.  What type and thickness paper are you using.
Walt

[Spokerider]

I'm making the lightest backpacker carbine that I can........a Contender carbine with a 12" barrel........and yes, it's legal. I'm looking to shoot 18000 CUP loads with it.
I want to shoot cast exclusively, and have just slugged the bore at .459" I'm looking to choose a mold for boolits between 350gr and 375gr. From making up a couple of dummy rounds and checking where to seat the bullet, I can see that the throat is not long, unlike the 44 mag Encore barrel I have with the endless throat length. The Meister .459 bullet has to be seated deeper than the crimp groove to stay .010 off the lands.
 
Paper patching sounds interesting. Never done it. What are the advantages over a lubed cast boolit .001 over bore?

[Camp Cook]

When I first purchased my T/C Custom Shop 22" bull s/s 45-70 barrel I used it both for hunting and defense while fishing northern rivers in British Columbia, Canada.
 
I have loaded/shot bullets from 300gr X - 425gr Beartooth Piledrivers I now have two basic loads 325gr Hornady FTX @ 1850fps and 425gr Piledrivers @ 1600fps.
 
Shot this coastal blacktail @ 34 yards used the 325gr FTX load.
 

 
I've also been thinking of a shorter 45-70 barrel appr 14" but not sure if I want it on a Contender frame or a 15" on my Encore frame.
 
If I go for the Encore barrel I can use all of my 300gr - 550gr loads and really have a short thumper.