most accurate factory ammo for your nef in .45-70?

[fish280]

just about positive i'm gonna get a syn-stocked one purty soon. i'll reload for it, but i'll be wanting to try a box or two of factory for just[-in-case situations, like i left my handloads at home. when a box o' factory costs as much as a set of lee dies, i don't want to have to buy three or for factory loads to find a good one. many thanks.

[John Traveler]

I've really excellent accuracy from the Federal Premium 300 grain ammunition in .45-70.  Yeah, I know, they are not all that cheap, but they were much better compared to the standard .405 grain Remingtons, Winchesters, and Federals.  All of these rounds are loaded to pressures safe for 1873 Trapdoor Springfields.

[Joel]

When I first acquired mine, I bought a box each of standard Rem, Fed and Win 300 gr JHP's.  Both the Win and Fed grouped at 1 1/4" at 100 yds.  The Remington's were all over the paper.  Always liked Remington components; never had much luck with their factory loaded stuff, except in 30-40 Krag.

[EDG]

I can't answer your question since I have never fired a 45/70 factory load.
At $1.00 per shot you are not likely to shoot it much with factory ammo. The 45/70 is fun gun but it takes reloading to shoot it at a reasonable cost. In a light rifle the recoil of factory level ammo can be tiring too. On the other hand you can shoot it for less at factory levels. You can also reduce the loads to heavy handgun levels with cast bullets for inexpensive shooting. I shoot a lot of these. If you cast your own bullets you can load it for about $.05 a shot. Of course if you have a strong rifle you can boost the loads to far exceed factory ammo. Such loads are very effective on game and are less expensive than factory ammo but are not economical enough for a lot of plinking.

Ed

[Graycg]

There's a gent who I often see at the range and he bought a Marlin guide gun in stainless and shoots factory 45-70 Ammo, I asked him and he told me he's tried most if not all and finds that Federal markets a cowboy load with a 405 grain cast bullet packaged in an old fashioned style box.  He now shoots that regularly, he says it's the best accuracy and recoil isn't that bad at all.  I've seen him shoot and he shoots the factory open sights and groups around 2-3 inches at 50 yards.  I think he'd do much better with a scope or good receiver sight.

regards,
 Graycg