Author Topic: Load Question for 45-70  (Read 446 times)

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Offline KyFarmer

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Load Question for 45-70
« on: November 29, 2008, 08:26:46 AM »
I'm trying to find a good load for my Buffalo Classic 45-70.  I have the Lee 405 gr.RNFP and the Lyman 500 gr. 458125.   

In checking the load manuals I notice that the Lyman manual shows a load for the 405 gr. with a max load of 38.5 gr. of IMR 3031.  This for the 1873 Springfield.  I checked a Hogdon manual and they give a load of 48 gr. IMR 3031for all rifles in good condition. This seems like a lot of difference in max loads to me.  I've tried Lyman's start load of 34 gr. but it didn't seem to be particularly accurate.  I'd like to see some of you fellows favorite cast loads for the Buffalo Classic. in 405 or 500 gr.  I have a variely of powders on hand.  IMR3031,  4198,  4895,  Unique,  and  WC872

Is it safe to use the Marlin 1895 data or should I stick to the Springfield data?  Is this action as strong as a Marlin 1895??

Kyfarmer

Offline quickdtoo

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Re: Load Question for 45-70
« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2008, 08:31:04 AM »
See What Load Level for the 45-70 in the Handloading section of the FAQs and Help sticky. In a nutshell, you can use any load that YOU can stand!! ;)

Tim
"Always do right, this will gratify some and astonish the rest" -  Mark Twain

Offline John Boy

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Re: Load Question for 45-70
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2008, 10:36:39 AM »
KyFarmer ... your 405gr (Hollow or flat base) will produce nice groups out the BC.
I dug into my reference database and here's the recipe I used for smokeless:
25.4g of XMP-5744 in WW cases with a CCI BR-2 primer. This gives 1299fps out of the BC with an SD of 3.31. ES was only 8.45!

I can help you out with an other excellent shooting bullets in the 500 to 535gr ranges, but you'll have to load the cases with 'orginal gunpowder';D  I'm a 98% BPCR shooter.  The bullets are Lee 457-500-3F with 65gr FFg:  and both the Lyman 457123 and Paul Jones Creedmoor [+ or -]  535gr with 70gr FFg.  I see no reason why these 3 bullets would not shoot accurately using smokeless ... 3031 - 4198 and 4895 powders with an alloy of 1:20.  Start with the minimum charges for the bullet weights and work your way up with 0.5gr increments.  Will cost you some range time but it's well worth the effort to determine what your rifle likes best.  Personally, for the 535gr bullets, I'd start with 4895 powder

Good Shooting!
Regards
John Boy