45-70 BP handloads ????

[dr catfish]

hi ya'll
i'm new to the list and have a question. I handload 45-70 and have had good luck with RL-7 and IMR-4198 pushing 300gr hornady jhp's. my dilemma is that
for giggles and laughs, I tried loading some brass with 70gr goex FFG with 300gr
hornady jhp's and to my surprise the accuracy was incredible "1/2 group @ 100yds". mind you that I do lather up my bullets with SPG lube, this load penetrated through a jackson mississippi phone book @ 75yds with no problem.
I know your supposed to use lead bullets for black powder cartridges. Is this
a dangerous load for my handi-rifle ?

p.s I'm not shooting large amounts of this load ,now that my rifles sighted in
i't will likely only be shot when i'm putting meat in the freezer.                                                  thanks in advance
                                                                James C.

[Cornhusker]

My experience with Pyrodex/BP in a 45-70 Buffalo Classic has been with 500 grain lead bullets.  As long as you are compressing the Pyrodex/BP and not leaving any air space between the bullet and the powder, your load is correct.  I have read that some don't like to use Pyrodex/BP with copper jacketed bullets due to pitting concerns in the barrel. 

[Nobade]

BP and jacketed bullets work fine together as long as you clean the bore frequently. It usually doesn't take many shots before they start going all over.

When I was a kid we used to shoot our 30-30 rifles with BP, since that was all we had. Worked just fine!

[45454]

Welcome  !
For some real fun,try 70gr, 2F (by volume and drop tubed) 405gr LFPs.
Those are more comfortable to shoot,than the 300gr
non-Trapdoor loads.Could fire only 8 at the range.
All of my loads are "Trapdoor Only".
Most of which are 45-70-405.Of these,I fired 24 from each rifle:An NEF Handirifle
and an original 1884 Springfield Trapdoor.
Yep, full power loads.These are not weak as some would believe.
Now, the 500gr (45-70-500) are a whole lot different !
Kicks on both ends.
If shooting jacketed,no need for lube.
Lead,yes you need lube for shooting BP.
This lube keeps the fouling soft.
The "crayon" lube for smokeless sure ain't gonna cut it.
I have used American Pioneer Powder 2F for the early loads.
Ran out of it some 2 years ago.I do like it.
Found a source of GOEX.Still have some left.
Been experimenting with smokeless.Still keeping in the Trapdoor range.
You might do some reading on the BlackPowder Forums here.
There's a wealth of info.
You have a good week.