The .45-70 can launch a 405 gr. bullet at 2,100 fps from a 22" barrel?
Who did this?
A munitions factory with calibrated equipment? A firearms maker with a large staff of ballisticians?
What kind of pressures does this produce?
Was this load fired in a Marlin, or the much-stronger Ruger No. 1 or 3?
I have my doubts about the statment of 2,100 fps for a 405 gr. bullet from the Marlin's 22-inch barrel.
I've been reloading for my Marlin 1895 since I bought it in 1977. The oft-quoted load of 53.0 grains of IMR3031 under a 405 gr. is too much for my particular Marlin. Cases are bulged around the web and primers are flattened. This load produces about 1,800 fps in my Marlin.
I know that there was a huge controversy over in the Marlin site, regarding obviously dangerous loads posted by someone who reloads for the .45-70. It continues to raise a ruckus. Readers were warned that these loads are almost certainly dangerous, despite the poster's claim.
I'd be very suspicious, and leery, of anyone who claims to get 2,100 fps with 405 gr. bullet in the Marlin with a 22" barrel.
And if they do get it, I doubt very much they get it SAFELY.
I wish people would stop trying to make a .458 Winchester Magnum out of the .45-70. Before all this "Magnumitis" infected the .45-70 community, hunters had been taking all kinds of big game with the .45-70 and its big, 405 gr. bullet at about 1,300 fps in factory loads.
Myself, when I vacation at my cabin in British Columbia, Canada, I load my Marlin with the Lyman 457193 hard-cast 420 gr. bullet at about 1,650 feet per second for bear medicine. My cabin's in grizzly country. I've never had the occasion to use it and hope I don't.
But I've seen how this bullet penetrates in wooden and have no doubts it will do the job IF PLACED CORRECTLY.
For dangerous game, I want a load that will deliver the goods but doesn't have so much recoil that my barrel is pointing skyward should I need a crucial, second shot.
The 405 gr. at 2,100 fps in a Marlin? I doubt it can be SAFELY done.
