45/70 "shot"?

[troy_mclure]

on one of the firearms forums i visit i read about loading 2 or 3 .458 round balls in a .45/70 cartridge.

anybody know about this?

[jlwilliams]

  I've heard of that too, but from what I gather it doesn't work verry well.  The balls spread enough to give you three misses.  Multi balls through a rifled barrel just doesn't work as well as shot through a shotgun.  That's the real greatness to a combination gun like the old Savage over/under rifle shotgun combo.  That way you really can have a rifle and shotgun for whatever you're hunting. (One of those is high on my want list, BTW)

[jhalcott]

there were some "factory" loads like this some years ago. The were SUPPOSED  to be great self defense loads. One brand was made for the 410 shotgun. It was often touted as THE load for the 410 derringers. Accuracy was spotty at best, giving 3 to 5 feet patterns at 10 yards.They did work a lot better in the14" 45-70 cntender though!

[jlwilliams]

  Darn near any 45-70 load will do well for a self defense load.    What it lacks in WhizBang modern-ness it makes up for in big old chunk of lead.