Henry Steel 45/70 Reloading question

Post by **jstanfield103** » Thu May 13, 2021 8:59 pm

Guy's
I am picking up a new 45/70 Steel Henry this Saturday. I have reloads that I used in a Henry Steel 45/70 that I traded and those bullets are .459 in diameter. Cast Lead from Oregon Trail. They always worked good. But about six months ago I purchased I open box of Hornady 45 Cal 350 GR RP .458 diameter interlock bullets. I believe these will be ok also since they are Simi Jacketed round. What does all the reloaders on here say about the .458 Diameter ?

Post by **Steve51** » Thu May 13, 2021 10:11 pm

I have used the Hornady 350 grain interlock flat nose bullets over 44.0 grains of H4198 powder and they do fine. Many reloaders use cast lead bullets that are .001 larger than the jacketed bullets they use. I also have used the MBC 405 grain cast lead bullets and I think they are .458 diameter.

Post by **BigAl52** » Thu May 13, 2021 10:28 pm

They will work just fine. I used reloader 7 under those in mine

Post by **jstanfield103** » Thu May 13, 2021 11:56 pm

Thanks I have some H4198 so I will give that a try. I see they have loads in Lyman for it. I figured the .458 would be better in the jacketed bullet for the 45/70 but was not sure. Can't wait to see how they work. Thanks for the info.

Post by **JEBar** » Thu May 13, 2021 11:59 pm

agree with Al .... I've used both in ours

Post by **Slugnut** » Fri May 14, 2021 10:31 am

the 350s' should be just fine. I reload for my friend with the Hornady 300g. HP with the IMR 4198 powder, which he shoots out of his Rossi lever. He clover leafs at 50yds. off a bench. Hornady makes good reloading products, you be satisfied, Kept us posted and good luck.

Post by **John E Davies** » Fri May 14, 2021 3:53 pm

Slugnut wrote: ↑
Fri May 14, 2021 10:31 am
Hornady makes good reloading products, you be satisfied

Yes, and no. I normally love Hornady stuff, I think their bullets and factory ammo are good quality at a great price. Unfortunately sometimes you run into products that just suck. For me it is the XTP bullets for .44 Mag, they are oversized at .430”, which is a fine size for lead bullets, but the jacketed XTPs stick hard in my cases. There is no way to get consistent seating depth when the bullet lurches down and stops at a random position. With .429 bullets like the wonderful Lehigh Extreme Penetrator solid copper ones, it is a non issue, they go in slick as can be. Maybe that is a fault of my Lee die set, has anyone else reloading for this caliber noticed this?

Anyway, try the Hornadys, but they aren’t magic. If they don’t work for you, trade them away. Bullets, cases, powders, and primers …. the new currency!

John Davies
Spokane WA

Post by **jstanfield103** » Sat May 15, 2021 3:02 am

Thanks guy's.
New Currency is right.

Post by **JEBar** » Sat May 15, 2021 10:59 am

jstanfield103 wrote: ↑
Sat May 15, 2021 3:02 am
Thanks guy's.
New Currency is right.

yep

Post by **Grunt67** » Sat May 22, 2021 7:39 pm

Slugnut wrote: ↑
Fri May 14, 2021 10:31 am
the 350s' should be just fine. I reload for my friend with the Hornady 300g. HP with the IMR 4198 powder, which he shoots out of his Rossi lever. He clover leafs at 50yds. off a bench. Hornady makes good reloading products, you be satisfied, Kept us posted and good luck.

I load Hornady 300 gr JHP , over IMR 4198 40.5 grs. Henry H010 blue steel. Shots very accurate. Every rifle shoots different. YMMV.

Post by **jstanfield103** » Sat May 22, 2021 11:21 pm

Grunt,
Thank you very much

Post by **Grunt67** » Sun May 23, 2021 12:52 am

Sure. Hope that works for you. Load up a few & give it a try. I've got a pic of the target if I can find it.

This was 3 shots @ 25 yds. off Led Sled rest.

: IMG_20140226_114502_633.jpg (57.1 KiB) Viewed 1005 times

Post by **jstanfield103** » Sun May 23, 2021 8:01 am

can't ask for any better than that

Post by **JEBar** » Sun May 23, 2021 10:07 am

Steve51 wrote: ↑
Thu May 13, 2021 10:11 pm
I have used the Hornady 350 grain interlock flat nose bullets over 44.0 grains of H4198 powder and they do fine. Many reloaders use cast lead bullets that are .001 larger than the jacketed bullets they use. I also have used the MBC 405 grain cast lead bullets and I think they are .458 diameter.

I've tried 300 to 500 gr bullets .... the first and second pictures below shows a :

Nosler 300 gr Ballistic Silvertip --- https://www.shootersproshop.com/loading ... -50ct.html

400 gr Barnes Buster --- https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010409631

500 gr Acme Round Nose Coated ---- http://www.acmebullet.com/45-70-Hard-Ca ... uct_id=649

our Henry CCH 45-70 didn't like the 500 gr'ers .... they didn't stabilize, rather they tumbled as seen in the third picture .... if I ever go after an elephant or dangerous bear, I'll load the Barnes Busters .... for all other critters and for range work I use the Noslers .... as Steve noted, for hunting rounds we use 44 gr of IMR 4198 to push our 300 gr Noslers .... they are accurate .... picture four shows an old target using them, 17 rounds at 100 yards ... the group was much tighter and spread out with the recoil pounding .... for our range load we drop the powder charge to 31.1 gr.